Tagged: ‘Charlie Daniel…’

posted by on September 17, 2012 3:00 PM

With Manning and Ryan in the lyrics, sing along to MNF version of
The Devil Went Down To Georgia

Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos and Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons will face off tonight on MNF.
(Photo credit: Christian Brandan/Barbara Blake/ESPN Images)

The stage is set for tonight’s big Monday Night Football game in Atlanta.

It’s Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos versus Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s a marquee matchup featuring two of the league’s top teams and best quarterbacks. One a legend. Another a rising star.

Manning is 11-3 in 14 career starts on MNF, throwing 29 touchdown passes.

As a team, the Broncos are playing under the Monday Night lights for the 21st consecutive season, the NFL’s longest current streak.

In this first-ever MNF meeting between the Broncos and Falcons, ESPN’s production team will open the telecast with Charlie Daniels singing a special version of his 1979 hit song, The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

Below are the game-specific lyrics that Daniels recorded last week in anticipation of Peyton’s trip to Georgia.

Peyton went down to Georgia right out on the Falcons’ home field
He was in a bind cause in the back of his mind he knew Ryan was the sho-nuff deal

The boy said my name’s Matty and it might be a sin
But I’ll make you a bet that you’re gonna regret cause I’m the best there’s ever been

Ryan you’d better step up proud and give it all you’ve got
Cause Peyton’s loose in Georgia and that Denver D is hot
But if you win you’ll make it one step closer to the goal
Down that long hard highway to the Super Bowl

When Matty finished Peyton said you’re pretty good ‘ol son
But sit down on that sideline and I’ll show you how it’s done

Fire on the Mountain run boys run, Ryan and Manning gonna have a little fun
Chicken in the breadpan picking out dough
Broncs and the Falcons getting ready to go

Note: For more, ESPN Playbook interviewed Daniels about his involvement in this week’s game.

Country music legend Charlie Daniels (cowboy hat, center) and The Charlie Daniels Band. (Photo courtesy of The Charlie Daniels Band)

Filed in: Behind The Scenes, MNF Open

posted by on September 15, 2012 11:30 AM

ICYMI: The week on Front Row

Jim Calhoun retired as the University of Connecticut’s basketball coach Thursday, closing a 26-year career at the school (40 overall) with three national titles. UConn announced Thursday that assistant coach Kevin Ollie, who played point guard for Calhoun from 1991-95, will replace the Hall of Famer.

In the video above, Calhoun sits down with Andy Katz to talk about his career at UConn, what he’ll miss most and his decision to retire.

ICYMI: Highlights from the past week on Front Row

• John Clayton’s “This is SportsCenter” commercial continues to amuse, delight and astound. And this week, Front Row had the outtakes.

• Rich Froning and Annie Thorisdottir — the 2012 CrossFit Games King and Queen — stopped by ESPN’s Bristol campus. They spoke with Front Row about ESPN’s coverage of CrossFit, the pressure to perform and their impressions of the ESPN campus.

• In a historic week for SportsCenter, we met the ‘DaDaDa, DaDaDa’ guy. SportsCenter theme composer John Colby shares the story of the song’s birth, its evolution and what the song means to him today.

• Country music legend Charlie Daniels and The Charlie Daniels Band will have a starring role in ESPN’s Monday Night Football “open” next week (Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m. ET). The open will feature some new lyrics for Daniels’ 1979 hit song ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’.

Row of Four
Our favorites from across ESPN over the past week

• To honor his dear friend on the occasion of the 50,000th episode of SportsCenter, Chris Berman offered this special tribute to the late Tom Mees.

• Of all the accolades Peyton Manning has received in his career, this one may be the greatest.

• Notre Dame faces Michigan State on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET live from Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich. on ABC. ESPN’s Mike Golic and Magic Johnson decided to place a friendly wager on the game, listen to the terms of their agreement here.

• Enjoy an array of photos in this gallery from ESPN Images.

Filed in: Week In Review

posted by on September 13, 2012 2:30 PM

Charlie Daniels provides next MNF open with new version of ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’

Country music legend Charlie Daniels and The Charlie Daniels Band. (Photo courtesy of The Charlie Daniels Band)

Country music legend Charlie Daniels and The Charlie Daniels Band will have a starring role in ESPN’s Monday Night Football “open” next week when Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos travel to Atlanta to face Matt Ryan and the Falcons (Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m. ET).

The open will feature Daniels’ 1979 hit song The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

Originally written as a narrative about the Devil, who comes to Georgia to procure souls, Daniels recorded new lyrics for the song this week at Twin Pines Studio in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., that highlight the MNF matchup and both teams’ star quarterbacks.

Said Daniels: “I’ve been watching Monday Night Football since it started and to be a part of it kind of makes me feel proud. I had to watch the lyrics real close because I’ve done those same Devil Went Down To Georgia lyrics for 33 years.” continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes