CRESTVIEW — For Rodney Schroeder, it's about giving credit where credit is due.
When he attended the Oct. 28 Crestview vs. Niceville high school football game, a friend told him, "You need to stay and listen. They play 'Amazing Grace' after the game."
Schroeder did stay, and he enjoyed the rendition enough to share it on Facebook.
"I posted it literally because I thought it was cool,” he said. I thought it was neat that they would play 'Amazing Grace' in a public school. I've been to a lot of high school football games and I've never seen that done. I put it on Facebook so that my friends in Ohio could see it."
A few hours later, the video had 100 shares, and by the next morning, "It had exploded," he said.
As of this writing, the video has 3 million views, 63,000 shares and 11,000 comments.
"I don't understand it,” Schroeder said. “It's just a God thing, in my opinion.”
In fact, numerous comments on the video state that's the appeal: a faith-based song performed at a public school.
When asked for his reaction to the song going viral, Crestview High School Band Director Jody Dunn said, "I think it’s great! These kids work hard and it’s nice for them to be recognized for it. The students think it’s great, too. They’re famous!
“Social media has made it possible to share performances with many more people than ever before. There are apparently a lot of people who enjoy listening to our kids play!"
What's new to those millions of viewers is old hat for the band. The Big Red Machine has played "Amazing Grace" at the end of its post-game concerts at all home games since about 1992, Dunn said.
When asked if it was a usual song to play at a football game, Dunn said, "It is something I played when I was in college at the University of Southern Mississippi. I have heard of it being played at other colleges and high schools, too."
Many Facebook commenters used words like beautiful, awesome, thrilling and amazing to describe the video. One person tagged talk show host Ellen Degeneres' Facebook account in hopes that she would feature the school on her popular daytime talk show.
Some said more schools should add "Amazing Grace" to their repertoire. Many of them said "Amen" or considered it a blessing from God.
The few negative comments the video generated were from people who had no interest in hearing religious music at a public school or venue, a potential violation of First Amendment rights.
The First Amendment to the Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
In some states, that would mean "Amazing Grace" is off limits.
Just this year, Holtville High School in Elmore County, Alabama pulled “Amazing Grace” from its repertoire following parents’ complaints, according to AL.com.
Was that going too far?
Laurel Hill resident and atheist Brandi Fickling said, "The song itself is not an issue, because students … choose to be in band or chorus and they do often play religious or Christian music. But the problem comes in when the band director makes them participate beyond that.
"For introducing the song as a prayer, which Jody Dunn has done multiple times at the performances, that is where the problem lies with the song. It can be played; that part is not a problem. The ending makes it more like a prayer than what's being played," Fickling said.
When asked whether a secular song conveyed the same qualities, Fickling said, "Probably not, but like I said, half the songs they choose to play is not the issue.
"The issue is when you start making it a religious practice — you have (then) crossed the line from it just being a piece of music."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview High band's 'Amazing Grace': Is it appropriate? (VIDEO)