NFL Germany's 'Country Roads' tradition, explained: How John Denver song became singalong favorite

David Suggs

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NFL Germany's 'Country Roads' tradition, explained: How John Denver song became singalong favorite image

Danke schön, NFL.

Football has enjoyed quite the journey to the German hinterland in recent years, finding a treasure cove of fandom which would fit right at home within the confines of the United States.

Whether in Berlin or Frankfurt, it seems the NFL has found a winner in Germany. If you need any evidence, just look to the stands. Not only are they filled to the brim, but they're also teeming with rhythm.

Their hymn of choice? "Take Me Home, Country Roads," John Denver's elegy to the serene landscape that scrawls across the Mid-Atlantic. It seems the iconic track is a hit among those hailing from Deutschland; the Deutsch Bank Park concourses swayed back and forth to the tune as it spilled out of the stadium speakers when the Chiefs bested the Dolphins in Week 9.

So, what gives? Where did such a tradition start? And how did Germans get so invested in a song pertaining to somewhere thousands of miles away?

MORE: What time is it in Frankfurt, Germany?

Here's what you need to know about the classic anthem taking the (German) world by storm.

NFL Germany Country Roads tradition 

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a world-renowned track. And it seems to have made an especially significant impression to those living in and around Bavaria; Germans have come to embrace the song as part of their own culture over the years, much to the confusion of many an American onlooker.

The song has been a staple of some of Germany's biggest events, namely Munich's Oktoberfest. Shrouded in the intoxicating allure of beer and lederhosen, the track just seems to get the masses moving.

So when The Shield first decided to take its talents to the lush forests of Central Europe, it was little surprise that the song accompanied it.

The first iteration of NFL Germany was accompanied by a stirring rendition of the track, one that even caught the attention of such luminaries as Nick Mangold.

The tradition has stuck in the matchups since. When Kansas City bested Miami, it did so with a swarm of Frankfurters crooning the folksy melody in unison.

John Denver Country Roads lyrics

Almost heaven, West VirginiaBlue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah RiverLife is old there, older than the treesYounger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze

Country roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roads

All my memories gather 'round herMiner's lady, stranger to blue waterDark and dusty, painted on the skyMisty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye

Country roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roads

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I hear her voice in the mornin' hour, she calls meThe radio reminds me of my home far awayDrivin' down the road, I get a feelin'That I should've been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roads

Country roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roads

Take me home, (down) country roadsTake me home, (down) country roads

Is Country Roads about West Virginia?

Contrary to popular belief, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" isn't about West Virginia. At least not entirely.

The song was initially conceived as a brainchild of Denver and songwriting couple Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. The track came to develop not as a ballad to the Mountain State, but rather as a verse to honor the lush landscape that sprouted up across Clopper Road, a (formerly) picturesque highway in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Here's how the story goes: Danoff and Taffy started writing the tune while driving down Clopper Road to attend a family reunion in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Danoff detailed the serendipitous journey in a eulogy to Denver he wrote shortly after Denver's death in a plane crash in 1997.

That night, he helped us finish writing a song that changed all of our lives. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was inspired by a drive to a family reunion in Gaithersburg along Clopper Road -- which back then was still a country road. When we first sang the song together the following night, it seemed as though the audience would never stop applauding. Next show same thing. We knew we had a hit.

David Suggs

David Suggs Photo

David Suggs is a content producer at The Sporting News. A long-suffering Everton, Wizards and Commanders fan, he has learned to get used to losing over the years. In his free time, he enjoys skateboarding (poorly), listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and D’Angelo, and penning short journal entries.