Jurrell Casey said Monday that the way the Titans traded him to the Broncos after nine seasons in Tennessee was equivalent to throwing him away “like a piece of trash.”

The defensive tackle discussed the trade on the Double Coverage podcast, hosted by the New England Patriots’ Devin and Jason McCourty. Casey was a former teammate of Jason McCourty with the Titans.

“The part that is so crazy is that you give so much to them. Especially when you come up on free agency and have opportunities to go somewhere else. Especially the way it was going when we were there, 2-14, 3-13,” Casey said to Jason McCourty. “Those were some rough times. When you’re a loyal guy and you feel like things are going in the right direction and you’re that centerpiece, you got no choice but to fight it through. My mindset was to stick it out and things would get better.

“For us to get to that point to get better and to be a main focus of that and then you just throw me away to the trash like I wasn’t a main block of that … Coming off an injury the year before and playing the whole season for ya’ll. No complaints, I did everything you wanted me to do and you throw me like a piece of trash. At the end of the day, none of these businesses are loyal.”

Casey was a five-time Pro Bowler during his tenure with the Titans. He was named a second-team All-Pro in 2013 after he posted 10.5 sacks. Casey signed a four-year, $60 million contract extension with Tennessee in 2017.

The better days that Casey referred to were capped off by a magical ride to the AFC Championship Game last season. Unfortunately, he won’t get the opportunity to build on last season’s success. The Titans cleared up over $11 million in cap space by trading Casey to the Broncos for a seventh-round draft selection.

Casey said he was working out when he got a call from his agent that the Titans were going to shop him to other teams. He was disappointed that he didn’t hear the news from the team.

“It was a blow to the heart because I would have thought that one of them would have hit me up,” Casey said. “The part that hurt me the most was that I didn’t get a call until like 30 seconds before the trade went down. For three or four days I had some moments where I had to tell the wife to give me a minute and I had a lot of tears come out of there.”

The Titans open the season with a trip to Denver to face Casey and the Broncos on Monday Night Football.

A worker at the SoFi Stadium construction site in Inglewood, California, died at the scene after falling from the roof Friday, a spokesperson for the contractor confirmed.

Turner-AECOM Joint Venture, the site’s general contractor, said that an iron worker fell from the roof structure and that emergency responders were called immediately.

SoFi Stadium is home to the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers and is set to open for the 2020 NFL season.

“This is an extremely sad day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues at this extremely difficult time,” Turner-AECOM Joint Venture said in a statement. “We work extremely hard to prevent days like this and we have halted all construction activity. Counseling services will be made available to all workers on site to support them in the difficult days and weeks ahead.”

SoFi Stadium, the Rams and the Chargers released a joint statement about the accident.

“We are tremendously saddened by the loss of a construction worker at the stadium site today,” the statement read. “Our sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the individual who passed away.

“The safety of our construction team and all of our employees is the foremost priority of our organizations, and we will continue to work with our partners and local authorities to deliver on this commitment.”

It is uncertain when work on the site will resume.

The stadium, owned by Stan Kroenke, is scheduled to hold its first event on Aug. 14, when the Rams and New Orleans Saints play in a preseason game.

Stadium construction began in November 2016. It was initially estimated to cost $2.6 billion but now has a price estimated at more than $5 billion.

This is the first known incident that has resulted in a death at the construction site.

Numb — that was the first word Atlanta Falcons captain and safety Ricardo Allen used to describe his emotions as he watched the video of a fellow black man, George Floyd, being killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Allen’s heart ached as the officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd said, “I can’t breathe.” In Allen’s eyes, it was an all-too-familiar tale.

“I don’t see it as happening to just one person. I keep seeing it as a replay of what has happened hundreds of times,” Allen said. “… But over and over, when you keep seeing this kind of thing happen to black men, it makes you pretty mad.”

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Floyd’s killing was the tipping point in a series of killings of African Americans that have made the names Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor more meaningful and the cause taken up by Colin Kaepernick for social justice more powerful. Allen, one of the original organizers of the Falcons’ social justice committee in 2017, said he strives to educate himself with the goal of helping mend a fractured nation.

He gained an even better understanding of the fight against racial injustice — and the value of peaceful protests — during a 2018 trip to Selma, Alabama, on the anniversary of the historic tragedy.

Remembering ‘Bloody Sunday’

Allen joined fellow Falcon

On March 7, 1965, a group of around 600 protesters, led by civil rights activist and current U.S. Rep. John Lewis, attempted to walk from Selma to Alabama’s capital, Montgomery, in a peaceful demonstration for black voting rights. The group was confronted at the bridge by state troopers, who charged with billy clubs, tear gas and whips. Lewis suffered a skull fracture, 17 others were reportedly hospitalized and more than 50 suffered lesser injuries. Television cameras captured the violence, which caused a national outcry.

The events of “Bloody Sunday” inspired two subsequent marches from Selma to Montgomery, led by civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Only the third march was completed without interference. The events were instrumental in the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, prohibiting state and local governments to deny citizens equal rights to vote based on race.

“To get down there and see how they had to fight to cross the bridge for our right to vote, for me to actually get to walk and be around history, that’s just a blessing to soak up,” Allen said. “That’s something I want to be able to pass down to the next generation; to spread light to folks to know [the right to vote] wasn’t always like this. People fought for this and are continuing to fight for us to have equal rights.”

Former Falcons assistant general manager Scott Pioli invited and encouraged the players to attend the Selma event, which was sponsored by RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports Equality) to help raise awareness about civil rights and racism.

“When you learn the history and you’re exposed to the history, it allows you to be much more educated in order to fight for what’s right,” Pioli said.

Pioli, who also walked in Selma, said he has close relationships with all the players involved. He viewed Allen as the ideal representative based on his leadership skills.

“First of all, Ricardo is brilliant,” Pioli said. “And when I say brilliant, I mean that he’s both smart and thoughtful. He’s strong and he’s empathetic. He’s truthful and willing to be vulnerable. In the conversations that we’ve had, he’s expressed truths to me about his personal history with racism.”

The most memorable part of Selma for Allen was the time spent with Lewis, who is now 80 and living with pancreatic cancer yet still on the front line in the fight toward equality. Lewis says he was arrested at least 40 times during the civil rights movement, including in 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi, for using a whites-only restroom.

“I mean, he got his skull busted, which makes me feel the same way I feel whenever I hear about any brother getting hit across the head, or any human being treated wrong for trying to do right,” Allen said. “You’re getting attacked and beat down because of [thoughts] other people have made in their own mind about what your value might be in the world.

“With John Lewis, I just see a true dedication to the cause. Even right now, he’s not moving as good as he used to because he’s an older man, but he’s still out there every year marching and letting the world know that this is still important to him.”

The lessons learned in Selma, Allen said, can still be applied to the fight for change, starting with exercising the right to vote and educating oneself.

“I’m always for education because when you just get out and jump in and start talking about everything too fast, one of the things that’s going to happen is you’re going to get discredited,” Allen, 28, said. “You’ve got to try and educate yourself as much as you can. I don’t think I know everything, but I know that I’m trying my best to help the cause.”

Striving for progress today

When asked if he has been racially profiled, Allen, who grew up in a low-income area of Daytona Beach, Florida, snickered.

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve been racially profiled plenty of times,” he said. “I was stopped at Purdue University one time when I first got there. … I got my bookbag searched one time walking on campus and didn’t have anything in it.

“It’s sad because as a young black man, you’re kind of trained to go along with it because you don’t want no problems.”

Being “sized up” because of his race is something Allen said he can no longer accept. He hasn’t figured out the specific solution, but vowed even after Selma to make a long-lasting impact so black men of the future don’t endure an unfair standard.

“I don’t just want to make an impact one time, or once or twice,” Allen said. “I want to start working toward something where I can make an impact in the black community — social justice and equality — forever.”

It starts with open and honest dialogue, particularly with teammates. Racial injustice was at the forefront of the conversation when the Falcons held their virtual team meeting this past week. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was the special guest speaker and encouraged the players and coaches to be leaders, to be active.

Allen appreciated breaking into small-group discussions following the mayor’s pep talk. He admired how passionate his new defensive backs coach, Joe Whitt Jr., was in discussing racial issues. His teammate

Allen, who encourages his white teammates to speak out for equality and unity, also applauded quarterback Matt Ryan for posting a statement after Floyd was killed:

Patrick Mahomes, Saquon Barkley and Michael Thomas are among more than a dozen NFL stars who united to send a passionate video message to the league about racial inequality.

The 70-second video was released on social media platforms Thursday night and includes Odell Beckham Jr., Deshaun Watson, Ezekiel Elliott, Jamal Adams, Jarvis Landry, Stephon Gilmore and DeAndre Hopkins, among others.

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— Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) June 5, 2020

Thomas, the New Orleans Saints wide receiver who has led the league in receptions the past two seasons, was a key organizer of the video effort, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Thomas, who appeared to take a shot a teammate Drew Brees in a tweet after the quarterback’s comments on disrespecting the flag, later tweeted that he had accepted Brees’ apology, adding “Now back to the movement!”

Thomas opens the video with the statement: “It’s been 10 days since George Floyd was brutally murdered.” The players then take turns asking the question, “What if I was George Floyd?”

The players then name several of the black men and women who have recently been killed, including Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Eric Garner.

“I AM George Floyd,” Hopkins says.