After tying the knot on March 24 in Nashville, Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd celebrated their one-month anniversary by releasing video footage from the big event.
Set to the R&B song “I Want to Love You Baby” by Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson, the new clip, which Maren posted on Instagram, shows the happy couple and attendees enjoying themselves before, during and after the ceremony.
“One month ago, I married my best friend and we threw a kickass wedding. Hope y’all enjoy. 🎥: @alexmferrari 💍💍,” said Maren in the Instagram post.
DALLAS, Texas – Rashaan Gaulden is ready for the next level. His nearly four years at the University of Tennessee have prepared him for the NFL and the former Vol defensive back is expected to hear his name called this weekend at the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“There’s a relief and a calmness about it all because of all of the hard work I know I put in these last few months and the relationships I’ve built,” said Gaulden, who is ranked among the Top 100 draft prospects by NFL Network analysts Mike Mayock and Gil Brandt. “I know I’ve made good impressions on the people I have met throughout the process. I feel like I can be the right guy for a number of teams, and now I just have to see which team values me the most. I’m ready to find out where I’m going to be.
“I’m ready to get to work.”
Gaulden leads a group of Vols with a great chance to be selected that also includes running back John Kelly (Brandt’s No. 122 prospect), defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie, punter Trevor Daniel and tight end Ethan Wolf, among others. Several Vols who go undrafted are expected to sign free agent contracts, too.
Tennessee had 30 alumni in the NFL last season and that number will increase this weekend.
The 2018 NFL Draft begins Thursday night with Round 1 at 8 p.m. Rounds 2-3 will be on Friday night beginning at 7 p.m. The draft will wrap up on Saturday with Rounds 4-7 starting at 12 p.m.
The NFL Network, FOX, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will broadcast the draft.
Gaulden, who had 65 tackles and three forced fumbles for UT in 2017, is in Dallas this week as part of a select group of rookies who will take part the NFL Players Association Rookie Debut, which includes several different events before the draft, featuring draft prospects interacting with current and former NFL players.
He will fly back home to Nashville on Thursday morning and watch the draft with close friends and family that night and on Friday before hosting a party on Saturday.
Gaulden credits Tennessee for molding him into an NFL player on and off the field.
“It’s all about connections, and I’ve built some great relationships during my time at Tennessee,” Gaulden said. “From my professors to the academic staff to the trainers to the equipment managers, and all of the support staff – they’ve prepared me for this and I’m very grateful. They’ve always had my back.
“The support of the Tennessee fans means a lot, too. I know I have a lot of people in my corner.”
Tennessee NFL Draft Prospects
Rashaan Gaulden, Defensive Back
Gaulden is a versatile defensive back who lined up at safety, nickel back and cornerback for the Vols during his career, finishing with 140 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, over 36 games with 19 starts. Gaulden had a breakout 2017 redshirt junior season, where he totaled 65 tackles to go along with three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, six passes defended and one interception. Draft Rankings
No. 93 by NFL Network Analyst Mike Mayock
No. 73 by NFL Network Analyst Gil Brandt
No. 228 by ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper
No. 212 by ESPN’s Scouts Inc.
No. 18 safety by Mel Kiper
No. 32 cornerback by Scouts Inc.
John Kelly, Running Back
Kelly had a breakout junior campaign in his first year as a starter in 2017, leading the Vols in rushing (778 yards) and receptions (37) in 11 games. The Detroit, Mich., native scored nine touchdowns for the Vols and opened the season with 128 yards and four touchdowns in a double overtime win over Georgia Tech. For his career, Kelly rushed for 1,573 yards and 15 touchdowns, while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Kelly added 43 receptions for 350 yards. He played in 33 games with 12 starts. Draft Rankings
No. 122 by NFL Network Analyst Gil Brandt
No. 258 by ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper
No. 154 by ESPN’s Scouts Inc.
No. 19 running back by Mel Kiper
No. 15 running back by Scouts Inc.
Trevor Daniel, Punter
Daniel finished second nationally in punting average with a Tennessee record 47.5 average in 2017, breaking a 35-year old mark of 46.9 set by Jimmy Colquitt in 1982. The Dickson, Tenn., native also set the UT career record for punting average (45.9) during his tenure – which began as a walk-on. Daniel redshirted and did not play his first two seasons on Rocky Top before taking over the punting duties in 2015. He went on to play in 38 games and boomed 76 punts over 50 yards in his career. Draft Rankings
No. 236 by ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper
No. 5 punter by Mel Kiper
Kahlil McKenzie, Defensive Tackle
McKenzie had a standout junior season in 2017, making 36 tackles and four TFLs over 11 games with nine starts. The son of Oakland Raiders general manager and Tennessee alum Reggie McKenzie, Kahlil McKenzie appeared in 31 games at defensive tackle over his Tennessee career and totaled 72 stops. Draft Rankings
No. 296 by ESPN’s Scouts Inc.
No. 30 defensive tackle by Scouts Inc.
No. 28 defensive tackle by ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper
Ethan Wolf, Tight End
Wolf finished his career at No. 2 among tight ends in Tennessee history with 91 receptions and No. 3 in receiving yards (998). The Minster, Ohio, native started 47 games and appeared in 50 contests. He scored seven touchdowns and averaged 11.0 ypc. Draft Rankings
No. 29 by ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper
Other Draft Eligible Vols
LB Elliott Berry
KR Evan Berry (2015 All-American)
WR Jeff George
TE Jakob Johnson
LB Colton Jumper
OT Brett Kendrick (Kiper’s No. 26 offensive tackle)
CB Justin Martin
PK Aaron Medley
CB Emmanuel Moseley
OL Jashon Robertson
WR Josh Smith (Kiper’s No. 119 wide receiver)
OL Coleman Thomas
DT Kendal Vickers (Kiper’s No. 46 defensive tackle)
CB Shaq Wiggins (Kiper’s No. 64 cornerback)
UT Athletics
A GoFundMe page has been created for Sharita Henderson, who was shot multiple times at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tenn., on April 22 after a lone gunman opened fire, killing four people and injuring several others.
Sharita was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center in critical condition and underwent multiple surgeries. Currently, she is in stable condition.
Sharita is a member of the promotions department at WQQK (92-Q), which is the sister station of WKDF (103.3 Nash FM) and WSM (Nash Icon 95.5). All of the stations are owned by Nash Country Daily’s parent company, Cumulus Media, which broadcasts shows such as Ty, Kelly & Chuck, Nash Nights Live and American Country Countdown With Kix Brooks.
Sharita’s GoFundMe account, which is hoping to raise $10,000 toward her medical expenses, notes that Sharita is “an amazingly kind woman and one of the sweetest people around.”
Click on the image below to donate to Sharita’s GoFundMe account. NCD is wishing Sharita a speedy recovery.
Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line scored their 14th No. 1 single as their collaboration with Bebe Rexha, “Meant to Be,” ascended to the top of both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart.
“Meant to Be,” which was co-penned by Bebe, Josh Miller, David Garcia and FGL’s Tyler Hubbard, was recently nominated for Top Country Song at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards on May 20.
“From day one, this song was just meant to be,” says Tyler. “Bebe jumped in on a canceled writing session last minute and now it’s going down in history.”
The tune has also resided atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 21 weeks, which is the third longest reign in the history of the chart, behind Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” (34 weeks) and FGL’s “Cruise” (24 weeks).
“It’s been nothing but good vibes to see it take off and inspire,” says Brian. “Its message is a positive one and [that’s] why I think it’s connecting with those who hear it. We can’t thank country radio enough for all of the support.”
In support of their new sophomore album, Port Saint Joe, Brothers Osborne stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on April 23 to perform their current single, “Shoot Me Straight.”
The new tune, which is currently No. 37 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after 15 weeks, was penned by Lee Thomas Miller and John and TJ Osborne.
“We thought this lead single off of our new record would be a really great representation of just kind of what’s to come on this new record, but also was kind of a good little second story to ‘It Ain’t My Fault,’” says TJ. “The song is really being about the double entendre of just the saying, ‘shoot me straight,’ ‘give it to me straight,’ but also make it burn like a shot of whiskey and shoot me straight. It’s one of the songs that kind of ties the last record into this one.”
The singer/songwriter siblings recently took home two trophies at the 53rd ACM Awards, including Vocal Duo of the Year and Video of the Year for “It Ain’t My Fault.”
Watch Brothers Osborne perform “Shoot Me Straight” on The Late Show.
It’s been almost four years since Maddie & Tae strummed their way into country music consciousness with their breakout No. 1 hit, “Girl in a Country Song.”
The duo found success with subsequent songs, including Top 10 single, “Fly,” and Top 25 single, “Shut Up and Fish,” but they haven’t released a new single since 2016’s “Sierra,” which failed to chart higher than No. 47.
Maddie & Tae announced via Instagram that they are releasing a new song, “Friends Don’t,” on April 27. The new tune, which was penned by Maddie, Tae, Jon Nite and Justin Ebach, was co-produced by Jimmy Robbins and Derek Wells.
“Alright y’all. It’s been a crazy past couple of years but we are so excited to announce that we have a brand new single coming out NEXT WEEK!! 🙊🎶🙌🏼 Keeping this a secret has been one of the hardest things we’ve ever done haha but we wanted this release to be extra special for y’all (our sweet, sweet fans). Thank you for being so patient & supportive. You’ll never truly know how much that has meant to us. Gosh we love yall 💕FRIENDS DON’T. 4/27. LET’S DO THIS. Pre-save it NOW at the link in our bio.”
Give Keith Urban a microphone and a crowd, and you’re gonna get some great soundbites.
On April 23, Spotify hosted a private Fans First party in Nashville for more than 150 of Keith’s biggest fans, and Keith treated them to a sneak listen of his upcoming album, Graffiti U, which drops on April 27.
In addition to performing acoustic versions of new songs “Female,” “Coming Home, and “Paint It on Sunday,” as well as a duet with wife Nicole Kidman on “Parallel Line,” Keith answered questions from the fans in attendance and shared a few amusing anecdotes, including his failed plan to play a song at one of his concerts in total darkness (he couldn’t see the piano keys) and being terrified before his performance of “Coming Home” at the ACM Awards on April 15.
“I was terrified—I had never played [“Coming Home”] live before and there are a lot of words,” said Keith with a laugh. “There’s a weird voice in my head that happens every time I play on a TV show and it happened at the ACMs when we did ‘Coming Home.’ The song starts and I’m walking up to the mic and the voice goes, ‘Don’t forget the words.’ Out of the blue, literally. My heart [pounds] and then it all comes out.”
In addition to hearing Keith’s tunes, fans were able to explore an art mural exhibition, which featured a series of murals created by a group of five acclaimed local artists, including Nathan Brown,Ty Christian, Brian Wooden, Eric “Mobe” Bassand and Aaron Martin.
Check out clips of Keith singing “Coming Home” and his duet with Nicole on “Parallel Line.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Legendary Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning will be one of the newest members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Hall of Fame when the four-person 2018 Class is inducted this summer.
The Academic All-America Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at 7:30 p.m. on June 28 at the CoSIDA and NACDA convention in National Harbor, Maryland. Manning will be inducted along with San Jose State two-sport athlete and civil rights icon Harry Edwards, former Washington State kicker and 21-year NFL veteran Jason Hanson, and former FIU and major league baseball player Mike Lowell.
Created in 1988, the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame recognizes former Academic All-Americas who received a college degree at least 10 years ago, have achieved lifetime success in their professional careers, and are committed to philanthropic causes.
“When I enrolled at the University of Tennessee I aspired to be the best student possible academically as well as the best athlete possible on the field,” Manning said. “I was fortunate to be selected Academic All-SEC in addition to being named Academic All-America. I admire all other individuals who achieved this status as well and I am honored again to join such a select group of former student athletes who are entering the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.”
Manning is the NFL’s only five-time Most Valuable Player and a 14-time Pro Bowl selection. He has earned his rightful place among the greatest quarterbacks in league history as a leader in nearly every statistical passing category. He also was the first starting quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with two different teams (Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos).
Prior to his standout NFL career, as the quarterback at the University of Tennessee, Manning epitomized the term “student-athlete.” In addition to setting 43 records at the school, conference and national levels, he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Manning was an Academic All-America® and Academic All-SEC selection in 1996 and 1997. By his junior year in 1996, he had earned enough credits to graduate, but bypassed the NFL draft that year to return to the Vol football team.
As a college senior, he was a First Team All-American, the Maxwell Award Winner, the Davey O’Brien Award Winner, the Johnny Unitas Award Winner, and the Best College Player Award Winner.
He led Tennessee to an SEC Championship as a senior in 1997 and earned consensus All-America honors. Following his senior season, Manning was honored with the Sullivan Award for the nation’s top amateur athlete based on character, leadership, athletic ability and the ideals of amateurism.
In 1997, he also won the Draddy Award, which honored the National Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Manning was selected by the Colts as the first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft and went on to help transform Indianapolis into consistent playoff contenders, leading them to eight division championships, two AFC championships, and one Super Bowl title. Manning then spent four seasons in Denver (2012-15), where he led the Broncos to two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl 50 victory. He also earned MVP honors following the 2013 season.
Peyton and Ashley Manning established the PeyBack Foundation in 1999 to promote the future success of disadvantaged youth by assisting programs that provide leadership and growth opportunities for children at risk. The Foundation has become a consistent and viable contributor in Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee, Louisiana and beyond providing more than $13 million in grants and programs since its inception.
Among his charitable and community service national recognitions, Manning was honored as the recipient of the Byron “Whizzer” White Humanitarian Award and the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2005, the Bart Starr Award in 2015, and the Lincoln Medal in 2017. In February of 2018, Manning became the 10th recipient of the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football, which honors the legacy of Lamar Hunt, the Chiefs’ founder. The award aims to recognize those who have helped to shape the NFL.
In addition to winning his third consecutive ACM Award for Entertainer of the Year on April 15, Jason’s new album, Rearview Town, moved 183,000 equivalent units in its first week. Rearview Town marks the biggest debut for a country album in 2018, and secured Jason his fourth consecutive No. 1 album on the all-genre Billboard Top 200 chart. In addition, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
The 15-track offering was helmed by longtime producer Michael Knox and features a number of well-known songwriters, including Casey Beathard, Dallas Davidson, Jessi Alexander, David Lee Murphy and more.
“I think that obviously what got me to this point was recording the kind of music I like, and over the years we created our thing,” says Jason to NCD. “The way I’ve tried to describe this record is, on a lot of the albums before . . . you hear like a heavy rock influence, and on some it may be a little bit more of an R&B or hip-hop or whatever. And you’ve seen those scattered on a lot of the different records, and I think on this album, we kind of took all those and put them into one record.”
HENRY, GREGG NOMINEES FOR PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 23, 2018) – Parker Henry of the Tennessee football team and Meghan Gregg of the Volunteer softball team have been nominated for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship by the University of Tennessee.
The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes.
The Southeastern Conference will name the 2018 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 26.
Highlights of Tennessee’s nominees include:
Parker Henry, Football, Tennessee
Major: Finance and Political Science (Double Major)
CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team, 2017
CoSIDA Academic All-District, 2016 and 2017
Three-time selection to SEC Academic Honor Roll, 2015, 2016, 2017
East Tennessee Outstanding Finance Award, 2017
Sixth Tennessee football player ever to earn the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
Held a 4.0 GPA while double majoring in finance and political science
Second Tennessee football player ever to receive CoSIDA Academic All-District in back-to-back seasons, joining Peyton Manning (1996 and 1997)
Started 24 games as Tennessee’s primary holder during the 2016 and 2017 seasons
Joined the Tennessee football team as a walk on in 2015 after serving as an equipment manager
Was part of 22 victories including two bowl wins
Never missed a hold and helped placekicker Aaron Medley make 17 field goals in 2016-17 and true freshman Brent Cimaglia drill five field goals of 40+ yards in 2017
Awarded the University of Tennessee Medallion for Community Service for having over 100 hours of community service.
Volunteered with Habitat for Humanity from 2015-17
Led underprivileged middle school kids for a two-day weekend at Sevier Heights Baptist Church every February
Meghan Gregg, Softball, Tennessee
Major: Kinesiology with a concentration in Pre-Pharmacy
Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athlete, 2017
CoSIDA Academic All-American (3rd Team), 2017
SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll, 2015, 2017
NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete, 2015
5-time Dean’s List Member: Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017
NFCA Division I First-Team All-American, 2017
SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC First Team, SEC All-Defensive Team, 2017
USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top-3 Finalist, 2017
First-Team All-SEC, 2016
SEC All-Tournament Team, 2015, 2016
NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Top 25 Finalist, 2015
Currently ranks first in program history with a .731 career slugging percentage
Set Tennessee single-season RBI record with 79, 2017
Member of Student-Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC)
Active in Community Service including: Challenger Games, Voloween, MLK March, Softball Meet& Greet
Each year, the SEC, in conjunction with AT&T, an SEC official sponsor, provides the league’s male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $20,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 26 remaining male and female finalists for the award will also receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship.
The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 14 SEC institutions and are honored at the SEC Spring Meetings in Sandestin, Fla., in early June.
Last year’s McWhorter Award recipients were University of Alabama swimmer Anton McKee and Texas A&M University swimmer Sarah Gibson.
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