From The Gridiron to Guitars: 3 Country Musicians Who Were College Football Players

Arguably the most American cultural pairing is that of college football and country music. Over the years the two have become inseparable and to fans of both, when one is isolated from the other it seems the world just might fall off its axis. That said, this pairing doesn’t just come out of thin air. Rather it has been years in the making and it is thanks to the religious following country music and college football have in the south.

Given their religious similarities, artists such as Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Darius Rucker are all publicly die-hard college football fans. However, some artists’ admiration goes beyond the stands. Instead, these three country musicians were bashing skulls far before they were plucking strings. Here are three artists who played college football before they were country music stars.

1. Riley Green

Between 2007 and 2009, Green played quarterback for Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. Residing in the NCAA FCS Division 1 conference, Green made quite a name for himself during his two years. After redshirting his freshman year, Green played in two games his sophomore season and started two games his junior year. During his two starts, Green completed 55 of 100 passes for 612 yards and four touchdowns.

However, in 2009 Green stepped away from the football field to pursue his music career. Despite his early departure from the sport, Green still is an avid football fan both for his alma mater and for Auburn University.

2. Chase Rice

Unlike the other musicians who played college football, Chase Rice was one of the only ones who had a shot of making the NFL in some capacity. Playing all four years at The University of North Carolina, Rice was a crucial player both on special teams and on defense. His career stats are too lengthy even to mention.

Even though Rice had a good chance of football becoming his career, the ACM-nominated artist decided his soul was in music. Following his college football career, Rice has garnered numerous No. 1 hits and become a staple in the bro-country genre.

3. Gavin Adcock

The Nashville newcomer has been recently taking over country music by force. He is no stranger to using force as Adcock played four years of college football at Georgia Southern University. Between 2017 and 2021, Adcock played nose tackle for the Eagles and put up some fairly large numbers.

Following a knee injury in 2021, Adcock used his recovery time to take writing songs more seriously. Consequently, Adcock has entered the scene by storm and released numerous songs that have acquired 235 million US streams. He is country music’s newest Outlaw and will seemingly be that for years to come.

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