Scotty McCreery may have grown up in North Carolina, but he's been a Patriots fan for as long as he can remember. It all comes down to his dad, who is originally from New England and passed his love of the hometown teams onto his son. The pair was at Gillette Stadium for last year’s AFC Championship game and will return on Saturday, when Scotty will sing the national anthem ahead of the Patriots-Chiefs game. We caught up with him to hear his thoughts about the weekend gig, his favorite Patriots memories and how he thinks the team will do on Saturday.
*So, you're coming back to Gillette Stadium to sing this weekend. *
I can't wait. My first time up there was the AFC Championship last year. Hopefully I can bring that mojo back. That was fun.
Hey, maybe you were a good luck charm.
We'll see. I prefer to think it was my red Patriots toboggan [hat]. We started winning when I started wearing that toward the last part of the season. Then I wore it to Phoenix. I was burning up but I didn't let it go.
Your love for the Patriots comes from your dad, right?
He's from the very southern tip of Maine – Elliot in the Kittery area – and then Portsmouth, N.H. He grew up a Boston sports fan, so that's all he knew and he passed that down to me here in North Carolina. I'm like the lone wolf, but it's fun to be a Patriots fan down here because most folks, they're Pats haters for sure. That makes it more interesting.
What's your earliest memory of being a fan?
There's a picture of me somewhere in a **Drew Bledsoe** jersey. I was very young so I don't exactly remember the pre-Brady days but I was still a Boston sports fan as a young child. I'd say the earliest memory is Brady's first Super Bowl against the Rams. I remember having a big Super Bowl party for that and it was pretty fun.
In the last year, you've gotten to do some pretty cool things as a fan, like singing for the team during Super Bowl week and then going to the game. What's it been like to share those experiences with your dad?
It's been incredible. It wouldn't be as fun if I didn't have him along. He's coming back up there with me this weekend. You know, he's the one that kind of instilled the love for the Pats and even the Red Sox and the Celtics. The Bruins are my number two team. The Hurricanes are five minutes from my house so I've got to root for them. But yeah, he's the one that instilled those New England roots in me, so it's been awesome to have those father-son memories, traveling the country to go see our beloved Patriots and see all our New England sports teams. We've been to Fenway plenty of times; we finally got to Gillette last year and I'm just glad we get to go again this year.
Speaking of that, what are your thoughts on coming back as our anthem singer this weekend?
Well, I'll be honest, I think most singers will tell you that's about the hardest song to sing. I've been signing in the public eye for the last five years and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've done the anthem. I don't do it often because it is tough. Not that I'm not willing to do it, but it's not one of my big things I love to do. But when the Patriots called, I said "This is my team. I'm going out there and I'm going to do it." I hope New England's ready for a country national anthem. I can't wait. I was definitely excited when I got the call and was invited to sing. It's quite the honor.
In addition to singing here on Saturday, you have a lot of projects going on right now. What can people expect from you in the upcoming months?
"Southern Belle" is my single. We have it out there right now so I'm excited about that and hope folks are diggin' that. I hope to hear it up there on the stations in Boston. And I've got a whole album behind it. We've got 10 songs cut and probably another three to five we're going to write and cut. We'll get the album out there around summertime this year. We've got a book we're writing too, so we're doing that; we've got an album; "American Idol" is coming to an end so I'll be doing a few things with the show this year. It'll be a busy 2016, but busy is good. I can't wait to see the fans out there this year.
Finally, any predictions for the Patriots on Saturday?
I think it'll be a good game. I do, because the Chiefs are kind of hot right now. But being home and bringing back Mr. Edelman, I think we're going to take home the 'W.' We'll see how it goes.
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Dec. 5, 1976. Patriots 27, Saints 6The Patriots won their first five games against the Saints, including a one-sided victory in their second meeting and first in Foxboro. QB Steve Grogan ran for two touchdowns (10 and 11 yards) and threw two touchdown (a 12-yarder to Al Chandler and six-yarder to Ike Forte). The win marked the franchise's 100th victory and was the only time during the '76 season they prevented a team from scoring a touchdown.
Dec. 21, 1980. Patriots 38, Saints 27Trailing by three in the fourth quarter, the Patriots took the lead on a 22-yard TD run by Don Calhoun (16 rushes, 133 yards) and added insurance with a four-yard score by fellow RB Mosi Tatupu. QB Matt Cavanaugh threw for three scores in the Superdome.
Oct. 4, 1998. Patriots 30, Saints 27After Doug Brien's late game-tying field goal, the Patriots took over on their own 20 with 1:21 to go. Drew Bledsoe (1 TD, 3 INTs) completed his first four passes (for 52 yards), to help set up a 27-yard game-winning field goal by Adam Vinateri with six seconds left. With the victory, the Patriots, who totaled seven sacks – two by Ted Johnson – snapped a three-game losing streak in the series.
Nov. 20, 2005. Patriots 24, Saints 17Tom Brady threw three TD passes, including a 60-yarder to Andre Davis and a one-yarder to Mike Vrabel. New England led 24-7 before the Saints used a couple of late scores to make the game seem closer than it was.
Oct. 13, 2013. Patriots 30, Saints 27Down by four with 1:13 left, Tom Brady led an eight-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with an acrobatic 17-yard TD catch by Kembrell Thompkins in the back of the end zone with five seconds to go in the miraculous comeback win at Gillette Stadium. Stevan Ridley added 96 yards and two TDs to help prevent the previously undefeated Saints from a 6-0 start.
Nov. 25, 2001. Patriots 34, Saints 17Days after Bill Belichick chose Tom Brady as the official starter over a healthy Drew Bledsoe, TB12 proved his coach made the right decision, completing 19 of 26 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers (for a 143.9 QB rating) during a rainy afternoon in Foxboro. The win was the first of nine straight for the Patriots, who finished the season as Super Bowl XXXVI champs.
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