James Rogers has worked with Challenger, the only eagle trained to fly into stadiums, for many years during his singing career in the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area. Rogers will perform his song “Fly Eagle Fly” on Saturday at Finley Stadium and Challenger will fly in.If you go* What: UTC Mocs vs. Wofford; James Rogers will perform at halftime.* When: 1 p.m. Saturday.* Where: Finley Stadium.* Admission: $10-$30, military personal and family free with ID.
When James Rogers walks on the Finley Stadium field at halftime Saturday to sing his song “Fly Eagle Fly,” it will represent one of the biggest do-overs in his life.
One of the most popular acts in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for three decades, the now-retired Rogers sang the same song at Chamberlain Field in 1976 as part of both the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s homecoming festivities and the country’s bicentennial celebration. It didn’t quite go as he planned.
“I got laryngitis and bronchitis three days before,” Rogers says. “It has always stuck in my craw. I mean, what are you going to do? Ask everybody to come back later when I feel better?”
So, for the past 38 years, he’s regretted his less-than-perfect performance.