ETSU Football Fans Not Happy After Darius Rucker “Wagon Wheel” Performance Turns Out To Just Be Him Awkwardly Walking Around Midfield

Honestly, I'd be more upset about having to hear "Wagon Wheel" for the millionth time. Maybe it's because I live in Nashville so I have to hear that damn song every time I step outside my house. But you can't convince me that there's a more overplayed song than "Wagon Wheel." And look, it's not even that I hate the song. I actually really liked it when it was first released by Old Crow Medicine Show. And I didn't even mind the Darius Rucker version that he released back in 2013 - until I started hearing it everywhere I went. Of course I get it. It's a catchy song, it's light, it's fun, it's easy to sing along to...it's no surprise that it's a hit. But damn if it isn't overplayed all to hell by now. Anyway, that's my rant. And it looks like at least some people don't feel the same way, because football fans at East Tennessee State University seemed to be excited when it was announced that Rucker would be performing his hit song during halftime of their home game against Western Carolina this past weekend. If you're not familiar, ETSU is located in - where else - Johnson City, Tennessee. And this season, the school started a new tradition of playing "Wagon Wheel" at the end of the third quarter of their home football games, like LSU does with "Callin' Baton Rouge" or Alabama with "Dixieland Delight." According to the announcement from the school this week, Darius himself was going to be on hand to help with the new tradition: "Rucker, a three-time GRAMMY Award winner, will sing "Wagon Wheel" at the end of the third quarter on Saturday." And to be fair, they weren't lying, because Darius Rucker was in fact there to sing "Wagon Wheel" at the end of the third quarter. He just didn't have a microphone or anything, and was singing along on the field to his own pre-recorded track.

@cyndi_buchanan1Remember that time when Darius Rucker walked around the football field while everyone samg his song. That was interesting…🤣🤣🤣♬ original sound - Cyndi Davis Buchanan

I mean, at least he did sing "Wagon Wheel," even if nobody could hear him singing to himself as he walked awkwardly around the field and waved at fans. But I'm not sure that's what everybody was expecting... https://twitter.com/ETSUHoopsNation/status/1855333856712306769 https://twitter.com/ETSU_Buckeye/status/1855332446549549235 https://twitter.com/hoops83657/status/1855392434798182882 Well it turns out the school heard some of the criticism, and their athletic director Dr. Richard Sander addressed the controversy at a press conference today, explaining that it was the singer's management who wouldn't allow him to sing: "I'd also like to clear up a little bit of the situation with Darius Rucker. First of all, there were so many lies, innuendos, mistruths that were put out on social media... The reality of that is we did not pay Darius Rucker one cent. We didn't pay for his expenses, we didn't even give him a game ticket. He came here because he had heard about us playing 'Wagon Wheel' after the third quarter. He wanted to be a part of it. He cares a great deal about this community. Thought he could come here and support the ETSU Bucs and northeast Tennessee. So he did it all on his own. He let us know that he would participate in the third quarter situation. Initially to be perfectly honest, he thought he could sing 'Wagon Wheel,' but his management team called us and said that they didn't want him to do that. So that's kind of what happened... I appreciate Darius Rucker being here... He was extremely gracious to everybody he came in contact with." Hey, as somebody who went to a smaller school myself, I've learned that you have to take what you can get.

@ravenmitchell Darius Rucker at the ETSU football game #dariusrucker #football #wagonwheel ♬ Wagon Wheel - Darius Rucker