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by Blair Lovern

Gene Duncan/WDC

In the new MNF video Chris Burney supports the newest, principal Cowboy - No. 81, Terrell Owens.

Yeah, it's eight billion degrees outside but guess what, sports fans? NFL training camp starts this week. ESPN's new Monday Night Football starts September 11 with a couple of anomalies: First, there will be two games on Week 1 (Minnesota at Washington at 6 p.m. CST, San Diego at Oakland at 9:15 p.m. CST.) Second, an all-star musical lineup recorded a new Monday Night Football theme song, which includes Bowling For Soup guitarist Chris Burney.

So how did Burney get this gig with Hank Williams Jr., Rick Nielsen, Steven Van Zandt, Little Richard, Joe Perry, Bootsy Collins et al.?

"One of the founding vice presidents of ESPN's kid is a big fan of our band," said Burney, a big fan of ESPN.

Bowling For Soup has done the theme song, "(Ready or Not) Omaha Nebraska," for College World Series the past two years, and the band has been on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. But for Burney, playing the new MNF song was pure, unmitigated good fortune.

"The idea came up about six months ago," Burney said. "They wanted to do it this time with a band - last time it was just Hank himself. So the idea happened, but it didn't get hammered out for a while and I got a call about two weeks before I did it. It was pretty much one of the most incredible things I've done in my life."

New Bowling For Soup CD

The title is The Great Burrito Extortion Case. "It's all done and we're shooting for October," Chris Burney said of the release.

Where does the title come from?

"We were drunk in a bar watching CNN with the sound off, and one of the headlines came across the screen: 'The Great Burrito Extortion Case.' I said it out loud and said, 'That is hilarious, we have to use that for our next record.' And the guys in he band said, 'Uh, OK.' "

In June, Bowling For Soup was recording its upcoming CD in Los Angeles when Burney was asked to lay down his part of the MNF track in the studio there under the supervision of Little Steven, the song's co-producer. Then he flew to Florida to record the video in front of a live audience at the House Of Blues in Orlando.

(Check out some photos from Orlando, from a Joe Perry perspective.)

"It was quite a sight to see those people together," Burney said. "It was really, really cool - just an honor to work with everyone. Basically, you're just hanging out with those people all day because you're only shooting the video half the time. The rest is just chillin', listening to stories."

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Joe Perry and Rick Nielsen didn't know poor Burney was in the band. (But Burney was the one who set their guitars in the right key, because these slackers didn't have a tuner.)

And tuning guitars.

"Rick Nielsen, I let him know right off the bat he was one of my idols. He was embarrassed, though, because he doesn't know who I am or anything like that. So I saw him and Joe Perry tune guitars by ear and I told them, 'I've got a tuner if you want me to tune it up for you.' I've got to say it was quite a thrill for me to tune Rick Nielsen's guitar. And then Joe Perry walks by and Rick says, 'Hey, guitar man, can you tune his, too?' So I tuned up Joe Perry's guitar.

"Then the next thing you know I'm onstage and I'm standing next to Rick Nielsen and he looked at me kind of shocked. He said, 'I'm sorry about that, I didn't know you were in the band.' But he was real nice, everyone was."

Burney said he's a big sports fan. In the MNF video he wears a Cowboys jersey - No. 81, Terrell Owens.

"I'm nuts, I pretty much watch ESPN all day. I wish I didn't have to get cable, just get ESPN. I don't really need the other channels."

The MNF all-star video will air before kickoff of the Redskins/Vikings game September 11.