The field ahead of a College Football Playoff game at the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, 2022. Dec 31, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; The College Football Playoff (CFP) logo on the field at the 2022 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship between Georgia and TCU will sound a bit different at the start.

Per Variety, iconic composer John Williams has written an original theme for the game.

While no clips have yet emerged, here’s how the theme was described by Variety.

Titled “Of Grit and Glory,” it runs three and a half minutes and will score a specially created series of visuals that convey “the feeling behind the night, fear and anticipation, triumph and failure,” ESPN co-director and producer Martin Khodabakhshian tells Variety.

Williams’ new theme – previewed for Variety late Thursday – plays like a joyful overture, opening with fanfares and shifting seamlessly from martial urgency to anthemic splendor, all richly orchestrated and instantly memorable.

ESPN reached out to Williams in the fall to check his interest, and he soon got to work on the piece. The theme will be teased during ESPN’s NFL doubleheader on Saturday before its Monday debut. While the future of the theme past the title game is unknown, Variety surmised that the network “could theoretically use it in future college football broadcasts.”

This isn’t Williams’ first foray into the sports world. He composed the theme to the 1984 Summer Olympics and original theme to NBC’s Sunday Night Football, first used in 2006.

[Variety]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.