The largest crowd in the history of Lipscomb University gathered over two days in Allen Arena at three separate shows to see Miss Kay, Phil and Si Robertson from A&E’s Duck Dynasty for the 2013 Don Meyer Evening of Excellence.
Over 14,000 people attended the Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening shows.
The trio from the hit reality series came as this year’s headliners for the fifth annual Don Meyer Evening of Excellence. Past headliners include NFL star Tim Tebow, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens.
During the Saturday night show, the masses packed into Allen Arena to be greeted by Lipscomb trivia scrolling on the gigantic screens above the Duck Dynasty-themed stage, which had four large recliners at the center.
After a welcome from university President Randy Lowery and Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson, a brief video about Coach Don Meyer was shown.
Coach Meyer came to the stage shortly after to introduce the group from Duck Dynasty, whom Meyer called ‘friends’ to everyone in the audience.
Following another short video that introduced the evening’s guests, Miss Kay, Phil and Si came out to a chorus of applause and duck calls from the audience.
Hutcheson joined the three on stage for a Q-&-A, where topics ranged from why people watch the show (which Phil attributes to people getting enjoyment out of watching a ‘functional family’ for a change) to Phil and Si’s infamous beards.
Hutcheson also discussed the story behind Phil and Miss Kay’s marriage, Si’s days in the army and Miss Kay’s noted cooking skills.
Since it was Si’s birthday, the crowd joined in on a special rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to Si.
During the Q-&-A portion at the Saturday night show, Tennessee Titans quarterbacks Jake Locker and Rusty Smith and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Hasselbeck joined Phil on stage for a duck calling lesson.
Phil and Miss Kay’s son, Al Robertson, then joined the stage to share a few humorous stories about his family.
Soon after Al, Miss Kay and Si left the stage, and the show concluded with Phil offering a roughly thirty minute sermon that addressed the need for Christ in our culture.
Photo credit: Whitney Jarreld