If I were a big country music star and happened to be in an NFL city for a couple concerts, you bet I’d absolutely capitalize and march onto the practice field. Luke Combs is probably too depressed about the Carolina Panthers to pay them much mind, but I get it.
Even if Joe Burrow has no clue who he is, Combs is dapping it up with plenty of other Bengals players at training camp on Thursday.
Luke Combs has joined us for Bengals practice on a very humid day. pic.twitter.com/rOtY0G2Vne
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) August 1, 2024
Luke Combs is at Bengals practice.
He has a concert in Cincinnati this weekend. pic.twitter.com/nWd0RELIyR
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) August 1, 2024
Country star Luke Combs at practice today meeting Mike Brown, Sam Hubbard and others
Luke plays at Paycor Stadium the next two nights pic.twitter.com/9BW5B8QRDU
— Chris Renkel (@Chris_Renkel) August 1, 2024
Country music star Luke Combs meets with Ja’Marr Chase & Tee Higgins at #Bengals practice this afternoon.
Combs plays at Paycor tomorrow & Saturday. | @WLWT pic.twitter.com/HmLG7rs5in
— Olivia Ray (@OliviaRayTV) August 1, 2024
That previous sentence isn’t a shot at Mr. Combs. Just more reflective of the fact that Burrow has not minced words in stating his disdain for country music.
Maybe now that Luke has collaborated with Post Malone, perhaps there’s hope yet of convincing Joe Brrr to broaden his musical horizons. Time will tell. Can’t hurt to come out in person to support the team, right? Because like yeah, who wouldn’t want to be tight with Joey Franchise? Burrow has so many nicknames that I can pretty much change how I reference him every single time. He’s that [Joe] Cool.
Happy fourth wedding anniversary to Luke Combs, by the way. As an admitted Bengals supporter, I literally can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by watching my guy Joseph Lee Burrow sling it all over the yard.
4 years ago today I got to marry the woman of my dreams. We have two amazing sons now and an incredible life we’ve built together. Nicole, you have changed my world for the better in so many ways I can’t even begin to put it in words. I love you! Happy Anniversary! pic.twitter.com/01CShSnwxC
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) August 1, 2024
The burning question for any non-native celeb visiting Cincinnati is as follows: Will you try Skyline Chili? It’s a Midwest staple. My own intestines can’t handle it, but Skyline is the official chili of the Cincinnati Bengals. Mr. Combs should get the full Cincy experience and get him some. Just maybe wait until after that second stadium show on Saturday night. And maybe don’t mix too much booze with it. Kind of self-explanatory when it comes to chili, ain’t it?
OK time to veer away from all things scatological for the remainder of this post. It’s neat that Combs is parlaying his music tour into a training camp tour in the style of national NFL reporters. Well maybe he isn’t. Maybe Combs just wants to see quality football and only goes to the good teams’ practices. Not that you can always tell who’ll be good in any given NFL season. When it comes to my Cincinnati Bengals, they most recently finished DFL in the AFC North with a 9-8 record and Burrow missing basically half the season. Safe to say they’ll be better as long as Joe is healthy. Scary thought for the rest of the league, just saying.
Combs has explained before that, despite his flirtations with other NFL cities, he’s a Charlotte/Panthers diehard.
I wear other teams hats and jersey on stage out of respect for the fans, the venue, and the city I’m playing in. I’ll always be @panthers til I die. Win or lose. https://t.co/YMbinsng2V
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) April 20, 2024
Alas, too bad the Panthers can’t put a better product on the field. This general arc of Combs’ Panthers-related tweets basically sum up the David Tepper experience. From fully believing in Bryce Young as the rightful No. 1 overall pick over C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson on draft night, to getting one’s heart curb-stomped, to shipping away yet another superstar player. Down bad is the only way to describe it.
.@panthers made the right choice last night. Time to do the same tonight and go get @_Dwfootball11
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) April 28, 2023
Oh @Panthers that’s just heartbreaking stuff there.
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) December 24, 2023
.@Panthers WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!? No first round pick for McCaffrey a few years back and now none for Burns?!?! Are we just fire bombing the whole team here or what? I usually don’t comment on these kinds of things but it’s just becoming slow torture at this point.
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) March 12, 2024
Who Dey Nation always has a spot ready for you, Luke.
