There are a number of songs fans have come to associate with college football over the years, for better or worse. Tonight, the sport may finally get the iconic theme song it has long deserved.
Five-time Oscar-winner John Williams, the greatest movie score composer of all time (no, we will not be debating this point), has written a three-and-a-half minute theme for the College Football National Championship Game called “Of Grit and Glory” which will make its debut during tonight’s broadcast on ESPN. The theme marks just the second time Williams has composed music for live sports events, with the other being his iconic theme for the Olympics.
No clips from the theme are available online as of the writing of this post but ESPN director Martin Khodabakhshian told Variety that the theme conveys “the feeling behind the night, fear and anticipation, triumph and failure,” which we assume means it’s going to be awesome. Williams recently announced that his score for this summer’s Indiana Jones film will likely be his final major work as a composer so college football fans are being treated to one of the final pieces of music that the GOAT himself will likely ever create.
