Buckner & Garcia was a musical duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and the late Gary Garcia from Akron, Ohio. Their first recording was made in 1972, when they performed a novelty song called "Gotta Hear the Beat", which they recorded as Animal Jack. Later, in 1980, they wrote a novelty Christmas song titled "Merry Christmas in the NFL", imagining Howard Cosell as Santa Claus. Performed under the pseudonym Willis the Guard & Vigorish, the song reached No. 82 on the Billboard charts despite limited airplay after Cosell found the song offensive. In 1981, the duo wrote a sentimental country theme to back the poem "Footprints in the Sand", performed by Edgel Groves. The duo also wrote the lyrics for extra verses of an extended version of the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song in 1982.