Who is your choice for ESPN’s GameDay Celebrity Picker in The Grove? Coach Kiffin would like Katy Perry
OXFORD, Miss. – Saturday, ESPN’s Gameday will host its show from The Grove prior to No. 12 Ole Miss taking on No. 11 Texas A&M.
The staple of the show hosted by Rece Davis along with Desmond Howard, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, is the segment in which the hosts predict the day’s games. To add a twist, ESPN adds a guest celebrity picker, someone with ties to the university that is the site of the show.
In 2014, Gameday visited Oxford the day Alabama came to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Singer Katy Perry served as the guest celebrity picker and was an enormous success on the show. She was later seen inside the stadium watching Ole Miss take down top-ranked Bama, 23-17, as well as celebrating on the Square later in the evening.
The Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator that day was Lane Kiffin, now the head coach at Ole Miss. Not one to shy away from what works, Kiffin mentioned his choice for ESPN’s celebrity picker.
“That’s a no-brainer,” Kiffin said.
“I just like when things have worked before. Like, when coaches come up with plays and want to run it, I say ‘Well, show me it being run before.’ I’ve seen this script before, this movie where Katy Perry shows up and Ole Miss wins. I was on the other side of it. It worked before, let’s do it again.”
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin on his choice for GameDay celebrity picker
A look at Perry’s touring schedule shows she is available Saturday. Her next four concerts are scheduled in Las Vegas beginning Dec. 29.
But she is a busy young lady, so if she cannot make it to Oxford, whom should take her place on the panel?
Here are a few other ideas:
A Manning
There are four to choose from. Archie and Eli of course have their numbers retired at Ole Miss. Cooper has a great personality and sense of humor (and a son that is a pretty good football player), and Olivia the matriarch who knows a bit about football herself.
Eli Manning and family celebrate his jersey retirement at Vaught-Hemingway. (Photo: Josh McCoy)
A Kessinger
Should ESPN shift from football to a former Ole Miss baseball/basketball star, Don Kessinger is the obvious choice since his number was retired last season at Swayze Field. But Keith, Kyle or Carolyn Kessinger would be cool too.
What a moment. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EZW07Y3pAx
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2021
Brett Young
Staying in the music arena, the country singer once was a pitcher for the Ole Miss baseball team. His video for his song, “Catch,” is set on the Ole Miss campus. A check of his concert schedule indicates no shows in the near future.
Morgan Freeman
The veteran actor is a big Ole Miss fan and lives less than an hour from campus. In his movie, “Angel Has Fallen” he portrays the President of the United States and in one scene, dons an Ole Miss cap.
Bo Wallace
Wallace was the Ole Miss quarterback that day in 2014 when the Rebels beat Alabama. If Katy Perry is lucky, Wallace could be the winning lottery ticket.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
