A Brother in Brock
A 12/11/03 Times-Picayune article on an Evangel Eagles vs. West Monroe Rebels game begins: "A horde of former Evangel players was crowded around the sideline. Scott Stapp, the lead singer of the rock group Creed, was in attendance, dressed in an old Evangel letter jacket despite having no ties to the school other than knowing former Eagles quarterback Brock Berlin since childhood." January 1 2004 saw Scott cheering on Brock at the Orange Bowl in a Miami Hurricanes game against the Florida State Seminoles. A 9/27/04 article in Sports Illustrated shed some light on the relationship between the two:
After leading a heroic 16-10 overtime comeback last week against Florida State, Miami quarterback Brock Berlin embraced teammates, faced the media - and then called ex-Creed frontman Scott Stapp for a 15 minute chat. Though Stapp, 31, is eight years older than Berlin, the two have been friends for years; Stapp's family went to the church in Shreveport, La., where Berlin's father was pastor, and Berlin idolized Stapp, who was a star quarterback in high school… "We talked about how he got to this point and how proud of him I am," says Stapp, who moved to the Miami area in 2003 to be closer to Berlin. "Our lives have taken pretty similar paths--both as quarterbacks of a sort. We've been sharing the same ups and downs for a while now, him with Miami and me with my career. This was one of the highs." After the call Stapp jetted to New York City to work on his forthcoming solo album. If he needs some backup vocals, he knows where to look. "Brock can sing, too," Stapp says. "He can do pretty much anything."
You can read more about Scott’s friendship with the Berlins in SI’s Scott Stapp Playbook.
From Putts to Poker Faces
Back in October 2003 Scott was hitting two kinds of greens - the poker table and the golf course. The filming of Bravo TV's Celebrity Poker Showdown would see him ensconced in the Palms casino resort for a few days, but not before he checked out the PGA Tour that was in town. Las Vegas Review Journal reports Stapp and Creed drummer Scott Phillips signed up for the pro-am play in the Las Vegas Invitational, which took place October 6 to 10.
A day later, the Vegas paper spotted Stapp dining at Alize, the Palms' rooftop restaurant, with Phil, Gavin and George Maloof, the Palms owners.
Of course it was weeks before the show would air (the episode Scott played in would premiere on January 6 2004) and so Stapp fans got restless. Who better to go to for cool pre-show commentary than show host and professional poker player Phil Gordon? Phil was kind enough to answer our questions on the Ultimate Sports Adventure message board.
Posted 11/16/2003 by Phil Gordon: "While I can not divulge the outcome of the event, I encourage all the Scott Stapp and CREED fans to watch the show -- you will not be disappointed. Better than that, for those that haven't met Scott, I can tell you that he is a genuinely good guy, and an absolute BLAST to hang out with. We were out at the Ghost Bar together at the Palms a few nights during the show. And, he's very generous as well. He's donated a signed copy of a limited edition album -- 1/400 -- to USA's chosen charity, the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation."
A Buddy in Boomer
David "Boomer" Wells has been known to get reassuring phone calls from his friend Scott Stapp before a big game. In fact, the Times Herald-Record reports that on the day of Boomer's first game with the Yankees since 1998, the play went so well that Wells said he may give Stapp a call before his next start for good luck; maybe even see if he can get him to sing a song.
Scott also lends a helping hand at charity benefits. When Boomer held his annual Celebrity Softball Classic, Stapp was sure to show up and play ball.
And if you've seen the Creed pager videos from the days leading up to the release of Weathered, you'll know that Boomer was there with the band, knocking some balls around and giving the viewers tattoo tips while Scott got inked. You can watch these nuggets in our video section. Find more on Boomer in the Book Zone.
Serious About Softball
While gearing up to release Weathered, Scott found time to play shortstop for the JHMP Jets. And it's not just fun and games for the rocker. "We play to win,” Stapp says in a CreedINK article. “We don’t just come out here to have fun. If you’re not going to go all the way, why even bother to play?” The Jets went on to win the Fall 2001 City League Championship, and the photos speak for themselves.
Fall of 2001 was also marked by the 9/11 tragedy, and WAWOF rallied support for the NYC Orphanage Fund by holding a Celebrity Softball Slam in Orlando. The event was a success and raised a total of $100,000 for many causes, the one downside being that Scott woke up with a 102 degree temperature that day and could not make it to the game.
Though the days of Creed are past, Scott hasn't given up his passion for softball - he and his new band, along with other friends, have formed the Rockers, a team for Aventura's adult softball league.
Rock Star Spangled Banner
On December 7 1998 Creed won Billboard's Rock Artist of the Year Award but were not present at the ceremony. The band was in Tampa, where Scott Stapp sang the national anthem for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Green Bay Packers game.
In a November 2001 interview on K-ROCK radio, Scott had this to say about the experience: "I was very nervous, and very intimidated... I walked out there shaking, and you could tell right when I started the nerves were going. And then I just kind of pulled it out and it went OK and everyone seemed to like it. I've been asked to do it a few more times this year, for a couple of NBA games, but I've denied it after that first experience so many times... I tell you, it's scary."
That fear didn't prevent him from dazzling the audience at Game 4 of the 2004 World Series with a wonderful performance of "God Bless America." Yahoo Buzz noted: "His soul-stirring rendition of 'God Bless America' in Game 4 sent searches on the overly earnest now-solo artist higher -- embracing him with arms wide open and a 388% increase [in online searches]." You can see the video here.
Showing that time can overcome most anything, we will get an encore performance of the Star Spangled Banner on November 20, 2005 at the NASCAR Ford 400 race, according to a Wind-Up press release.