Hlas: Beathard brothers parts of sports/music double-dynasty

IOWA CITY - C.J. Beathard said Tuesday that his brother 'has been killing it.”

The night before in a phone interview, Tucker Beathard used the exact same phrase when talking about C.J., Iowa's starting quarterback.

They're both right. The two are having big years so far. C.J. is unbeaten as a starter for the Hawkeyes. At 20, Tucker has a recording contract with Big Machine Music and Dot Records in Nashville, and has already performed all over the nation.

He'll play in Denver Thursday night, and at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas Saturday and Sunday.

Next Aug. 27, Tucker will be one of the acts at the first-ever concert in Kinnick Stadium. It will be headlined by country superstar Blake Shelton and promoted by former Iowa/NFL star Dallas Clark.

'(Tucker) called me a couple weeks ago and said he was opening for Blake Shelton here in Iowa City next summer,” C.J. said. 'He said it was a stadium gig and I said ‘I don't know about that.' He was like ‘I'm pretty sure that it is.' I was like ‘I don't think Kinnick's having any big concerts anytime soon. Maybe it's the basketball arena.' ”

No, it is indeed Kinnick. But that won't be Tucker's Iowa City debut. Oct. 31 will be a Beathard doubleheader in Iowa City, with the Maryland-Iowa football game in the afternoon, and Tucker performing at downtown's First Avenue Club that night.

'Ever since C.J. decided to go to Iowa, it's been a fantasy of mine to someday play there while he's still playing football there,” Tucker said. 'It's awesome.”

The Beathard brothers are parts of a fairly remarkable family double-dynasty in football and music. Bobby Beathard, C.J.'s grandfather, was a longtime NFL general manager. Bobby's brother, Pete Beathard, quarterbacked USC to the national-championship in 1962 and had a long pro career.

C.J.'s uncle, Kurt Beathard, is the offensive coordinator at Illinois State. Another uncle, Jeff Beathard, is a scout for the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

But Casey Beathard, the dad of C.J. and Tucker, veered toward songwriting after he was done playing football at Elon University. He became one of Nashville's most-successful lyricists, writing or cowriting over 20 songs that have charted in country's Top Ten.

Casey has penned songs for many of country's biggest stars, including Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Eric Church.

C.J., Tucker, and youngest brother Clay had their own band as kids. 'We played wherever we could,” Tucker said. 'Talent shows, backporch parties. C.J. played guitar and sang. I'd play drums, and my little brother played guitar. We wrote our own songs.

'They kind of quit when they got real serious into sports. That's when I picked up the guitar.”

Not that Tucker wasn't a good athlete himself. He quarterbacked for Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tenn., where C.J. had starred before him. But he suffered a torn labrum, so that stopped him from throwing the ball around.

His best sport had actually been baseball. He had a scholarship offer to play baseball at Middle Tennessee State, but his siren song was music.

Tucker signed his recording deal not long after graduating from high school in 2014, and has already spent a lot of time on the road. He said by the end of October he'll have performed in 25 states.

'He's had that in him since he was young,” C.J. said, 'a music-inclined ability to play any instrument, really. He's really good at what he does.”

Tucker writes what he plays, citing 'a love of songwriting like my dad has. I've always been a huge fan of his work.”

About his brother the Hawkeye, Tucker said 'I couldn't be happier. Me and both brothers are really close. Me and C.J. are only 14 months apart. We support each other enormously.

'Watching him do his thing and be good at what he's doing makes me the happiest brother in the world.”

And what about young Clay? Well, he's the current quarterback at Battle Ground. The senior is averaging about 300 passing yards per game for a 5-0 team.

'He'll get a chance to play somewhere,” Tucker said. 'Whichever school gets him will feel lucky to have him.

'He's been killing it.”

Comments: mike.hlas@thegazette.com

Twitter: @Hlas