Cobb’s old football pal lands Lambeau anthem gig

Country singer Jackie Lee has a running joke that he’ll forever be famous for playing high school football with somebody Green Bay Packers fans might have heard of: wide receiver Randall Cobb.

The two played together for the Alcoa High School Tornadoes near their hometown of Maryville, Tenn.

“There’s a couple of newspaper clippings from back when we played where I was the center, so I snapped the ball to Randall. I said my claim to fame forever was that Randall Cobb touched my butt every play,’’ he says, laughing.

But Lee is finding his own success since moving to Nashville and landing a record deal with Broken Bow Records, where his labelmates include Jason Aldean. He’s played the Grand Ole Opry, and on Sunday, he can add singing the national anthem at Lambeau Field to his list of I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-to-me moments.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited,’’ he said of his gig before the Packers-Detroit Lions game. “I’m a big football buff, so all the history that has happened on that field, it’s gonna be pretty great.”

It won’t, however, be his first run-in with Lambeau. He was in Green Bay twice this summer as part of his radio tour to help introduce himself to the stations playing his debut single, “She Does.’’ When he was in town in June, he did a 1¹/₂-mile run from his hotel over to the stadium.

“I walked all the way around that thing, and it was just so bizarre to me that you have that little bitty town and right in the middle you have a ginormous stadium,’’ he said. “I actually FaceTimed Randall, and I had the phone really close to my face and said, ‘Guess where I’m at.’ And he said, ‘Where?’ And I pulled the phone away, and he goes, ‘Dude, no way!’’’

That was a few days before Cobb had to report to training camp, so Lee had fun showing off to his buddy that he was in Titletown and he wasn’t. The two have remained friends since high school and make a point to call each other whenever they’re in the other’s city. In July, Lee was in town for just four hours for a radio station visit but texted Cobb as soon as he got off the plane. The two managed to squeeze in lunch together at Cheesecake Heaven near the stadium.

With his country music career still in its infancy, Lee has been doing mostly small acoustic shows to get his name out, “trying to win over people station by station,’’ he said. He’s been singing and recording since he was 6 years old. Sunday’s game won’t be his first crack at the national anthem. He’s done it several times at University of Tennessee basketball games, where crowds average about 22,000 people. It’ll be quadruple that number at Lambeau Field.

He fully expects to be nervous.

“Oh my goodness, yes. I really have been singing for a long time, but I always get a little anxious, nervous, whatever you want to call it before I get onstage. I think that’s good. I’m glad I still get that way. I don’t think I’m above anything I do, but it kind of brings a new level of respect, and especially, like I said, Lambeau Field. That’s just top notch.’’

He remembers vividly what it was like when he was recently invited to play the Grand Ole Opry, such a mind-blowing milestone that he says he’s glad people took photos so he knows it really happened. His knees were shaking. His hands wouldn’t stop sweating.

“It was just an overwhelming experience,’’ he said. “The Opry is my Lambeau Field, if you will. It is just the mecca.”

Lee grew up with a father who listened to nothing but “stone-cold country’’ — artists like Johnny Paycheck, Farron Young and Keith Whitley.

“But my mom was an ’80s pop girl. She was listening to Michael Bolton, Michael Jackson, Michael McDonald and Bob Seger and all those guys’’ Lee said.

“I remember we’d be getting ready for a football game and all my friends, including Randall, would be listening to the rappers like Yung Joc and Lil Wayne, and I”m over there listening to Michael Bolton ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.”’

Lee, whose family is close with Cobb’s (both attend the same church), isn’t surprised to see how well his former teammate has done for himself in the NFL.

“We all knew Randall was going to make it, because Randall has integrity and Randall has one of the hardest work ethics I’ve ever seen,’’ he said. “I feel like if you’re really going to know something about someone it’s going to be when you see them in the locker room every single day in high school during football practice, and Randall went up and above the call every single day. He completely deserves everything he’s earned.’’

So does that mean Lee has nothing to spill about his hometown buddy — something Packers fans don’t know about No. 18?

“Most of the stories are locker room stories, and there’s a code that says if it happens in the locker room, it stays in the locker room,’’ he said, laughing. “Honestly, he’s a great guy. ... What you see is what you get with Randall.’’

Concert news

The Kenny Chesney/Jason Aldean concert on June 20 at Lambeau Field just keeps expanding. In addition to the co-headliners and previously announced support acts Brantley Gilbert and Cole Swindell, Chase Rice and, just last week, five-piece band Old Dominion have also been added to the lineup, which will still have a 5 p.m. start. Primarily higher-end tickets still remain for the show at ticketmaster.com.

— kmeinert@pressgazettemedia.com and follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.