Darius Rucker: A Thanksgiving Full of Food And Football

When you think of sports fans in country music, especially football fans, there really is no bigger football fan than Darius Rucker. Rucker has cheered for his beloved Miami Dolphins since he was a teenager.

So, when Thanksgiving Day rolls around each year, Darius is ready for his favorite pastime: watching football. He told us, "Thanksgiving Day is my favorite sports day of the year. It's crazy how much football you get to watch on Thanksgiving Day, so I really like that a lot. Thanksgiving is big for me."

Of course, that's not the only great thing about Thanksgiving. "My favorite part of Thanksgiving is easy – it's food. It's eating. It's hanging out with family and getting some great food 'cause that's really what Thanksgiving is about."

He concluded, "It's giving thanks for all of the great things you've got, and I always give thanks for the greatest thing I've got, and that's my family."

Darius recently released his first solo album in six years, Carolyn's Boy. We talked with him, and he told us about his new album, which is named for his late mother.

"It's probably the most personal I've ever written. So many things have been going on in the world and in my life in the past six years that I just kept writing songs about what was going on. And once I decided to name it Carolyn's Boy, the personal songs seemed to rise to the top of the heap. And so, (this is a) pretty personal record, but, you know, I love that. I love telling the truth."

Rucker discussed his mother, who was a nurse, who died in 1992. "She was my biggest supporter. She was always in my corner, you know, back when I was a real young kid trying to get in the rock and roll and country and being told that wasn't the music I was supposed to be listening to; she was my biggest supporter; 'Let him listen to what he wants to listen to.' I remember when I told her I was dropping out of college to play in Hootie, and I thought she was going to kill me. I really thought she was going to kill me. And she didn't. She said, 'If that's what you need to do…' She always believed that I was going to make it probably a lot more than I did."

Many country music stars love their sports teams, whether it be basketball, college football, or baseball. And when it comes to the NFL, let's just say that some country stars go all out for their teams of choice.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

A native of East Tennessee, Kenny Chesney is a Tennessee Vols fan when it comes to college football, but when it comes to the NFL, he's a lifelong fan of The Pittsburgh Steelers. While he has played Heinz Field (now called Acrisure Stadium) many times, he visited the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp in 2015 to watch his favorite team in action.

Rick Diamond/Getty Images 

Chris, who was based in Texas and played there almost exclusively before hitting it big in Nashville, is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. He was quite happy over the weekend (1/16) when his beloved Dallas Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to advance in the playoffs. He was so pleased he posted a video on his socials from a trip to Hawaii to cheer his team on.

Rick Diamond/Getty Images 

This North Carolina native loves his Panthers. He often wears Panthers gear on stage.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Blake loves the Arizona Cardinals and even took his then-girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, to a game in 2015 when they were dating. He always posts on social media about his team, and as they say, "He bleeds Arizona red." The now-married couple went to another game of Blake's fave team in November (2022) when his Cardinals played the Los Angeles Rams.

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Darius Rucker is definitely country music's most passionate NFL football fan. He famously said that he has two seasons, "football season and waiting for football season." A lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, he often sings that National Anthem at their games and did so this past September 2021 when the Dolphins played the Buffalo Bills. When he fronted Hootie and The Blowfish, he wrote the band's biggest song, "I Only Want To Be With You," in college when he was so upset that his Dolphins were losing, he started to cry, and his mother called him a baby. Rucker also has his own line of NFL wear.