Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel Put His Own Spin On Morgan Wallen’s “98 Braves” Lyrics After Beating Ohio State

It's the thought that counts, right? Some grace is in order for Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was fresh off a thrilling 32-31 win over Ohio State in Eugene and requested to reflect on the many twists and turns of his college football journey in an emotionally charged moment. As somebody who never gave up on his dreams by transferring from UCF to Oklahoma and then to Oregon, Gabriel had just broken through for his biggest win yet. Rather than give the standard boilerplate answer you could also excuse him for, Gabriel got creative by going for a Morgan Wallen lyrical reference. The reporter's question began with a preamble about how Gabriel has played on three different coasts as a college QB. Before the actual inquiry could finish, he interrupted with a little line from "98 Braves." https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1845323135626969259 Now the actual words from that bit of "98 Braves" are as follows: "We got close / But close doesn't cut it." I can't say for certain if Gabriel is a diehard country music/Morgan Wallen fan and just simply didn't know the exact words to the catchy tune. My take is, Gabriel's whole point was to give a shout out to Wallen and relate it to his own life story on the fly. If so, that type of improvisation is mighty impressive. Gabriel is a native of Hawaii, but it's clear he has an affinity for Wallen and country music, despite the contents of "98 Braves" dealing with a baseball team based in Atlanta. That's right. The song is a bittersweet tune that pays homage to the 1998 Atlanta Braves team who won 106 games but lost to the Padres in the NLCS, failing to even qualify for the World Series. Wallen is a big sports fan who often has celebrities at his concerts, even walking out onto the stage with him. Baker Mayfield was the latest to do it. The song also likens the Braves' heartbreak to how seemingly destined real-life romance doesn't always work out. I actually connect so hard with "98 Braves." As an impressionable pre-teen growing up in Canada at the time, we got TBS up there, and the Blue Jays stunk. So it was either the Jays or the Braves. That's how I got spoiled by Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Atlanta's myriad of ridiculously great pitchers. Chipper Jones was my hero. And so on. Crazy that the Braves' core of players only managed to win one World Series. Oh well. One's better than none! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSuP5r8gdog