Now that’s funny…
Over the weekend, Darius Rucker caught some heat for his halftime performance (if that’s what you want to call it) of “Wagon Wheel” at the East Tennessee State University homecoming game against Western Carolina.
This season, ETSU started a new tradition of playing “Wagon Wheel” at the end of the third quarter of their home football games, so it seemed like an obvious choice to have Darius come perform it. Of course, ETSU is located in Johnson City, Tennessee, so football fans were excited to hear him perform it live, because the town is referenced in the song… which I’m sure most of us have heard more times than we could even begin to count by now.
The school advertised his appearance as follows:
“Rucker, a three-time GRAMMY Award winner, will sing ‘Wagon Wheel’ at the end of the third quarter on Saturday.”
Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t actually signing live into a microphone like everyone probably (and rightfully) assumed… he just awkwardly walked around the field lip-syncing to his own prerecorded song, with no microphone or anything:
@cyndi_buchanan1 Remember that time when Darius Rucker walked around the football field while everyone samg his song. That was interesting…🤣🤣🤣
It was honestly just weird, and obviously fans expected something different, so I think everyone, Darius included, walked away from that whole situation thinking it was quite strange.
And it looks like Darius wants to help make it all a little less awkward, because he announced on Twitter (X) this morning that he’s donating a total of $2,980 to the ETSU NIL fund, calculating “$10 for every second I stood at midfield during ‘Wagon Wheel’ thinking it was as awkward as y’all did.”
He added that he was really just wanted to “bring attention” to this great program and thank them for singing his song every week, and honestly, that’s a pretty classy (and funny) move from Darius.
You love to see him not taking himself too seriously, poking a little fun at the situation while also continuing to promote the school when he’s under no obligation to do so:
“Wanted to let y’all know I’m donating $2,980 to the ETSU NIL fund, $10 for every second I stood at midfield during ‘Wagon Wheel’ thinking it was as awkward as y’all did.
Really just wanted to be there to bring attention to this great program and say thank you for singing our song at the top of your lungs every weekend. I love you JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE! Go Bucs.”
It turns out that the reason he didn’t actually sing live was because his management didn’t want him to, according to the school, though he was initially slated to do just that. The school confirmed that they didn’t “pay him one cent” to be there, or for any of his travel or even his game ticket, though Darius was still willing to sing the song for everyone during the game.
His management later told the school he couldn’t sing it live, but he still wanted to show up and show his support.
He’s made the best out of a rather odd situation, and I give him a ton of credit for that… maybe next time just override your management and sing the song anyways, though:
Wanted to let y’all know I’m donating $2,980 to the @ETSU NIL fund, $10 for every second I stood at midfield during “Wagon Wheel” thinking it was as awkward as y’all did 🤣 Really just wanted to be there to bring attention to this great program and say thank you for singing our…
— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) November 12, 2024