ORLANDO, Fla. – The rivalry is real -- and some good-natured banter between Jaguars fans and Titans fans is certainly to be expected. But one UPS driver in Orlando delivered an unexpected message to a homeowner -- who happened to be a rival fan.
Jeff Nickel, who lives in Orlando, said he can’t stop laughing after watching his doorbell camera. In the video, you can see a UPS driver dropping off a package at the door. However, he had to pass by a hanging Tennessee Titans flag.
The delivery driver, instead of filling out the “Sorry, we missed you” notice he posted to the front door wrote “Go Jags!!” and then held it up to the doorbell camera, pointing at it repeatedly before sticking it to the door.
Nickel said when he got home he looked around to see if a neighbor punked him. He added they have some Buffalo Bills fans across the street and thought it might be them.
Nickel turned to his wife and asked if she picked up a package; to which she said yes. That is when he noticed the pure Jags fan banter. He said he laughed all day about it and mentioned it’s the kind of rivalry we need more of.
Nickel said “Well played, UPS driver” while adding “Titan Up!”
That delivery driver was Declan Meehan. He too lives and works in Orlando but he’s from Jacksonville and is a longtime Jags fan.
Meehan told News4JAX the delivery was one of his last of the day on Friday, and a Titans flag is not a typical sight in Central Florida, so he couldn’t help but represent for his hometown team.
“We’re in the middle of Orlando, Florida, and that’s a far way away from Nashville, Tennessee,” Meehan said. “So I was like, ‘I’m going to have a little fun with this guy, you know, poke at him a little bit.’”
Meehan said he finished his shift and thought that would be the end of it.
“I got a text from somebody that said, ‘Hey, go look on Twitter. Someone tagged you in something.’ And it had just blown up. I mean, I had no idea,” Meehan said.
I am him!! I’ll be at the game tomorrow, Budzone https://t.co/0oZiNxeVqx
— Declan (@DeclanMeehan13) January 7, 2023
The doorbell video has gone viral, thanks to Nickel posting it to Reddit with the title: “Under attack by Jags fans in Florida.”
Even city of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry chimed in. Re-posting the tweet and saying, “This will echo into eternity!”
This will echo into eternity! #DUUUVAL #Jaguars https://t.co/uuUiNQlHaU
— Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) January 7, 2023
Jags fans praised Meehan. Some even said he deserves a raise.
As luck would have it, both Nickel and Meehan are going to be at the game Saturday night.
Meehan said he heard from Nickel early in the morning, saying he and his wife thought the note was “hilarious.”
“Gotta love the internet,” Nickel said of being able to track down Meehan.
He suggested he and Meehan should meet up before the game Saturday before they cheer on their respective teams.
“We’ll come find you and we’ll buy you a drink, but ‘TITANS UP,” Meehan said Nickel told him. “I was like, ‘Nah, Jags got you by a million. Jags by a million -- but I’ll take the drink though.”
Goodluck finding me at the game today 💀😂 #DUUUVAL https://t.co/kHSaYid6K8 pic.twitter.com/oGBPpXCeyQ
— Declan (@DeclanMeehan13) January 7, 2023
Meehan said Jags and Titans fans from all over have hailed him as a hero online. He said it feels good to know sports can bring people together.
“Like we can still kind of have this back and forth. Everybody can still be casual and everything about it,” Meehan said. “That’s part of why I love football because you can have that by the end of the day.”
Meehan said the joke won’t be going away just yet.
“I’m going to ring his doorbell and give him a loud, ‘DUUUVAL’ and leave another note,” Meehan said. “I got unfinished business, as Trevor Lawrence will say. ‘Job’s not done.’”
