After signing a four-year, $92 million contract with the Tennessee Titans last week, wide receiver Calvin Ridley made an appearance on “The OTP,” the NFL team’s podcast featuring Mike Keith, the Voice of the Titans. By the conclusion, Ridley had tears running down his face.

The podcast included the replay of an interview that Keith did with Ridley in 2018, when Tennessee had the Alabama standout at its facility before the NFL Draft.

Early in the interview, the present-day Ridley was laughing at the braces of and the responses from his 2018 self.

But his 2024 countenance changed when Keith asked the 2018 Ridley whom he would be happiest for when he got drafted.

“My mom,” Ridley answered, “because she’ll be able to do things that she — she’ll be able to get a house. She can get a nice car. Just to be able to see her smile and make her feel better and know that she raised a great son and he’s going to take care of her now. My mom, really, I want her to be very proud.”

Back in the podcast studio, Ridley said: “That almost made me cry. I was about to say, ‘Turn that off.’”

When asked why it made him so emotional, Ridley said: “I don’t want to talk about it. I just don’t want to cry. That’s it.”

When Keith summed up how far Ridley had come in the intervening time — that he had been able to take care of his mom, now had a contract “that’s very special” and likely had “to be proud of this moment,” he also added: “Didn’t mean to hit you that way. Just thought it would be fun to look at it,” because by that time, Ridley had tears on his face.

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The Titans did pick an Alabama player with their first selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, but it wasn’t Ridley. Tennessee chose linebacker Rashaan Evans at No. 22. The Atlanta Falcons selected Ridley four picks later.

Ridley joined the Titans via NFL free agency after having 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. In his 66 NFL games, Ridley has 324 receptions for 4,358 yards and 36 touchdowns.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.