The first National Football League game played in Germany took place in Munich on Sunday between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks. Towards the end of the historic match, many of the the 70,000 fans at Allianz Arena sang along to the late John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
Co-penned with Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver had a hit with “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in 1971. In 2014, the West Virginia referencing song became an official anthem for the Mountain State.
But why in Munich? As ESPN Bucs reporter Jenna Laine noted, the tune is a popular drinking song with the Oktoberfest crowd. The 70,000 fans at the first NFL game in Germany sang the song as Tom Brady was on his way to leading the Bucs to a 21 – 16 victory over the Seahawks.
Check out “Take Me Home, Country Roads” at Allianz Arena below:
Just watch the entire stadium at Allianz Arena singing to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (very popular with the Oktoberfest crowd, I have learned) in the final two minutes pic.twitter.com/PwMUG2Z08n
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) November 13, 2022
