<p id=”par-1_103″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/victoria-fuller-chase-rice-relationship.html/”>Chase Rice shocked fans </a>when he recently took to social media to announce he was taking a year off from touring to return to a former passion. The country music star seemingly joked that he was ready to return to the gridiron years after walking away from football without pursuing a career in the NFL. While Rice obviously isn’t going to return to college football as a 40-year-old linebacker, his joke has fans wondering why he pursued music over football in the first place. He actually was a standout on a competitive collegiate team. Apparently, it all came down to injuries and passion.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-chase-rice-jokes-that-he-s-ready-to-return-to-the-university-of-north-carolina”>Chase Rice jokes that he’s ready to return to the University of North Carolina</h2>
<p id=”par-2_99″>Chase Rice has spent more than a decade captivating country music crowds with his songwriting and guitar playing. He’s traveled the world as a musician and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/chase-rice-new-album-i-hate-cowboys-all-dogs-go-to-hell-deals-death-father-subsequent-partying.html/”>released extremely successful albums,</a> but a piece of the musician remains in Chapel Hill. In a recent Instagram story, Rice quipped that he’d be taking the next year off from touring so he could return to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play football. The post was clearly a joke, but there is more to it than that. He remains passionate about football and the team he once played for.</p>
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<p id=”par-3_70″>Chase Rice joined the UNC Tar Heels in 2005 as a walk-on. He played in 44 games across multiple seasons as a rotational linebacker and was known, at the time, for his explosive speed and contributions to special teams. While playing football for the university, he also pursued a degree in communications. After wrapping up his college career in 2008, he moved away from football and found success in music.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-did-he-pursue-music-instead-of-football”>Why did he pursue music instead of football?</h2>
<p id=”par-4_68″>Chase Rice clearly still loves the game, based on his statement about returning as a sixth-year player. Still, Rice never declared for the NFL draft, and he was never considered a draft prospect. He also never bothered to pursue free agency as a road into the NFL after graduating from UNC. While it might seem like he simply loved music more, there is far more to the story.</p>
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<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Chase Rice Talks College Football, Relives Playing Days Under Butch Davis at UNC” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/zs_YaxpjZx4?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-5_90″>Rice initially had dreams of joining the NFL. He realized he would never play in the league after an ankle injury in his junior year of college sidelined him. The injury was so severe that it kept him off the field for the season, and when he finally returned, he didn’t feel like the same player he once was. He had limited playing time, his ankle didn’t allow him to move as he once did, and he wasn’t big enough or healthy enough to reach the next level of play.</p>
<p id=”par-6_80″>Once he realized that, he switched over to music, which he had picked up as an outlet while injured. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/chase-rice-partnership-with-coors-banquet-personal-one.html/”>The guitar</a> became a safe place and a passion. It eventually turned into his career. Rice seems to have found more than enough success as a music artist. Still, it is clear that he still wonders what could have been. During a chat with <a href=”https://www.the-independent.com/news/chasing-dreams-from-unc-linebacker-to-country-music-star-chase-rice-nfl-north-carolina-richard-quinn-new-york-b1833595.html”>The Independent</a>, he admitted that it still breaks his heart that he never played in the NFL.</p>