CINCINNATI, OH. (Top40 Charts/ RCA) - Sure, he's in the midst of the most attended Country Tour for the first half of 2007 – playing to over a half million fans on his SRO Flip Flop Summer Tour, but boys will be boys, and today
Kenny Chesney lived every guy's ultimate fantasy. Signed to the New Orleans Saints as a free agent, the wiry 5' 6' songwriter hit
Paul Brown Stadium for the pre-season walkthrough with the Saints – running the drills, doing the game plays and enduring the normal smack talk in the huddle.
'It was a great day,' says the three consecutive Academy of Country Music and reigning two time and current Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, who'd hosted several members of the team at his capacity show the night before at Riverbend Amphitheatre. 'I worked my tail off… but when you get out there with those guys, they have so much heart, man… It's no wonder they were able to really become a force for the city of New Orleans after Katrina – and for the country.'
The announcement of the dark horse at the morning press conference – who would be wearing the number seven and was something of an athlete – was covered by ESPN, Fox's 'Cold Pizza,' Sports Illustrated and various other media outlets. Chesney then went through all the drills – including catching several passes from All-Pro Quarterback Drew Brees before the mid-day break and assessment came down.
Following that, Head Coach Sean Payton inquired the Luttrell, Tennessean's ability to catch a punt. Confessing it'd been a while since he'd done that, the man unanimously voted NFL Coach of the Year issued a challenge: Chesney catches the punt, no practice on Monday, but should the former Gibbs High Eagle fumble, it would be a double practice instead.
Preceding the kick, Chesney asked the game-changer Reggie Bush for advice, to which he replied, 'Yeah, don't drop the ball.' With everyone in position, the punt was off. The kick happened… the ball flew… the musician dropped back… and with the ball in the air, everyone watched and waited to see if Chesney would make the catch. To everyone's surprise, he did. The players were ecstatic, and Reggie Bush shouted, 'Man I love country music!'
All things considered – especially with Chesney's commitment extending through the Sept. 11th release of Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, which has already yielded the 4 week No 1 and holding 'Never Wanted Nothin' More' and several more weeks of his Cruzan sponsored tour to go – it was quite a day. Tragically, though, Coach Payton said they were having difficulty coming to financial terms and it appeared that negotiations were breaking down, so Chesney would not make the roster.
Chesney will be back in football stadiums sooner than later, as he's headlining Detroit 's Ford Field tomorrow night. The Detroit Lions' home marks the sixth and final NFL Stadium on Chesney's tour, which also included the NFL venues in Boston , Cleveland , Philadelphia , Pittsburgh and Seattle .
'He was a lot faster than I thought he was gonna be,' Brees said of Chesney's performance. He ought to see Chesney onstage.
