When Riley Green stepped onto the set of The Pat McAfee Show, he didn’t just bring his Southern charm and country twang—he brought his football-throwing swagger from his days at Jacksonville State.
In a recent episode, Green, 36, impressed the crew by rifling footballs across the studio—albeit missing the target on every attempt. He even showed off his leaping skills but dunking a basketball—after taking off his cowboy boots and lacing up the Brooks shoes. “If you can dunk right now, we’ll get 30 people…$500 because Riley Green explosion, incredibly jacked and you’re incredibly talented.”
For Green, athleticism isn’t just a podcast or talk shos side show—it’s been a way of life for the former athlete who remains as shredded as ever. Before he was a chart-topping country artist, Green was a D1 quarterback who dabbled in construction worker in Jacksonville, AL, before hitting it big with songs such as “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” “I was still doing construction work at the time, so I was framing the house during the week, football, this, yeah, this is 25 years old,” he recalled. The discipline and grit from those days still fuel his music career. “I always worked out for that purpose. But you know, also, I just feel like there’s a lane in country music that ties really well, like you’re talking about in college sports.”
Green’s commitment to fitness hasn’t wavered since become a chart-topping country music megastar. His looks and physique may have even accelerated his popularity, especially with songs such as “You Look Like You Love Me” duet with Ella Langley.
Touring the country, he brings a gym trailer along, squeezing in workouts between shows. “We take a really nice trailer on the road, got a gym in it, you know. So it feels like nowadays, with modern technology, you can do that,” he tells McAfee. The connection between sports and country music, he believes, is more than surface deep. “Certainly, that’s a great fit with the demographic of country music. So it’s hunting. I’ve always loved hunting. I grew up hunting, and then, you know, I realized that I got a lot of fans from that.”