Rams’ Kobie Turner living up to his nickname as ‘The Conductor’
Rams defensive end Kobie Turner, a 294-pound man strong enough to carry a piano on his back, can also play a tune.
The country saw it Sunday night when, on two separate occasions, NBC aired video footage of Turner expertly playing a complex version of the “Sunday Night Football” theme song. He learned it by ear, then set his phone to capture the clip.
The song was written by legendary songwriter John Williams and was originally called “Wide Receiver”, although NBC never adopted that name.
“He listened to it a few times and was able to play it and add his own twist,” NBC coordinating producer Rob Hyland said of Turner, who majored in music theory and composition at the University of Richmond.
“I was completely blown away. Kobie is so talented on the football field and just as talented with musical instruments. His nickname, ‘The Conductor,’ is very fitting.”
Turner had two sacks in Tampa Bay’s 34-7 loss. He was instrumental in the Rams having their best defensive performance of the year, allowing 70 passing yards and 193 total.
The idea to showcase Turner’s musical talents came about earlier this year, notably for “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime. There is a lot of crossover between these two production teams.
Reid Esocoff, whose father, Drew, runs the Sunday night show, suggested to Prime that Turner play the song for the Oct. 2 game against San Francisco. The segment got the green light and Amazon sent the score to the Rams star.
“It lasted about five minutes,” Turner recalled. “I was like, OK, I’m going to have to rearrange this. There’s like trumpets and strings, and I’m like, ‘I only do piano.'”
Turner did his part, but the video ended up in the editing room.
Enter NBC, which made the same request and assured the Rams they would air the video. This time, Turner didn’t want a score, just a recording of the familiar theme song.
“I picked it up by ear and rearranged it too,” he said, “Because it was another three-minute song.” I was wondering, how can I imitate that with just the keys and me in a solo take? It was a lot of fun.
He succeeded and the video aired twice, when NBC was going to air a commercial and after Turner made a big play.
“Any time I can learn something new and any time I can flex my musical muscles, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
After playing the song – on his first take, mind you – Turner paused, then appeared and did a strongman flexing in triumph.
I approached him.
