Phillip Phillips headlines ESPN party ahead of College Football Playoff National Championship Game
From Staff Reports
ATLANTA — Like the general public — especially in the football-mad South — well-known celebrities often wear their college football loyalties on their sleeves.
“American Idol” winner — and Leesburg native/University of Georgia Bulldog fanatic — Phillip Phillips is one such celebrity. So when Phillips got the call to headline the ESPN “Allstate Party at the Playoff” event Saturday ahead of the National Collegiate Athletic Association College Football Playoff championship game, he jumped at the opportunity.
More than 1,200 guests, including well-known athletes, celebrities, college administrators, industry VIPs and ESPN announcers, came out to celebrate tonight’s pending college football championship game featuring Phillips’ Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The kickoff party was held at the Georgia Freight Depot in Atlanta.
Phillips, who spoke frequently of the excitement of Georgia’s Rose Bowl victory over Oklahoma and the UGA-Bama championship game prior to his set on the “Blue Carpet,” played for about an hour.
Georgia defeated Oklahoma 54-48 in a double-overtime Rose Bowl thriller to earn its spot in the championship game, while Alabama crushed Clemson 24-6 in the Sugar Bowl to punch its ticket to the game, which will be played at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium. Both bowl games were played on New Year’s Day.
Phillips mentioned on Twitter this week that he is the same age, 27, that his father was when Georgia won its last national championship in 1980.
Monday’s championship game kicks off at 8 p.m.
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