There are a lot of people who know that Kenny Chesney is one of the best country music singers of all time. My goodness, he's been the CMA's "Entertainer of the Year" four times in the last seven years. But something not too many know is that Kenny once played high school football for Gibbs High up near Knoxville.

He'll be the first to admit, "There's not a big highlight reel of me, I promise." But in the delicious way things sometimes go, especially for those among us who once were also lucky enough to play the game, Kenny has bridled his passion for football into a tribute of sorts called, "The Boys of Fall." Right now it's No. 8 on the Billboard charts and, just you wait, by Monday his newest hit is going to rise like a Saturn rocket.

As a matter of fact, the song is so wonderful that network giant ESPN will devote an hour to it on Sunday at 2 o'clock Eastern. I got a whiff of the special documentary, which centers on the song and some fabulous interviews, several weeks ago when I watched about an eight-minute video on YouTube. (search for "Boys of Fall - Kenny Chesney).

The ESPN special is going to be even better because the fun-filled Chesney has spent a lot of the last year visiting with legendary players like Joe Namath and Brett Farve, coaches John Madden, Nick Saban and Philip Fulmer, not to forget Peyton Manning and a slew of other greats. Many of them talk about the part of a soul that dies in a man when he takes the helmet off for the very last time.

"We've been working on this for 18 months. Over the years, I've become friends with people in the sports world that come to our shows. I wanted to talk to guys that mean a lot to the football world and (how the game) has shaped their lives forever," the famous singer told newspaper columnist Pete Cooper in an interview earlier this week.

Cooper, a writer for the Nashville Tennessean, wisely sensed the lyrics were written by a man who still gets goose bumps at the start of the season and Chesney agreed, telling him about his visit with Bill Parcells, a one-time Vanderbilt assistant who later coached winners of two Super Bowls.

Kenny said Parcells told him, "It was something like, 'Look, we're all just riding the train. One day they're going to ask us all to get off. And we shouldn't be bitter about that because the experience of being on the train is so great.' And that's life, too. No matter what level you make it to, enjoy it."

Obviously Kenny enjoyed making the song as much as he did making the football team:

THE BOYS OF FALL

"When I feel that chill, smell that fresh cut grass,

I’m back in my helmet, cleats, and shoulder pads.
Standing in the huddle, listening to the call,
Fans going crazy for the boys of fall.

"They didn’t let just anybody in that club.
It took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood,
To get to wear those game-day jerseys down the hall
The kings of the school, man, we’re the boys of fall.

Chorus:
"Well it’s turn to face the Stars and Stripes
It’s fighting back them butterflies.
It’s 'call it in the air,' alright
Yes sir, we want the ball.
And it’s knocking heads and talking trash.
It’s slinging mud and dirt and grass.
It’s 'I got your number,' 'I got your back.'
When your back’s against the wall
You mess with one man, you got us all
The boys of fall."

- - -

Maybe the best part of the documentary is the marvelous footage, much of it capturing the youth and the exuberance of Friday nights. But there are some fabulous clips from colleges and the pros and, at the very end, there is a grainy locker room tape of Alabama's famed Bear Bryant, telling his players they "all need to be leaders" before sending them back out following a halftime sermon of long ago.

As Coach Bryant stops to fetch his hounds-tooth hat, he pauses just a moment in the quietness for one more characteristic peek at the plays he'd just drawn on the blackboard. It is an absolutely monumental scene.

Trust me, anybody who ever knew anything about the "Boys of Fall" will be spellbound by the ESPN special this Sunday afternoon, but, just for giggles, yesterday's toughies better have a box of soft tissue handy because the memories will evermore play with your heart as you watch it.

royexum@aol.com