DETROIT — Eminem stood beside Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson before the Detroit Lions played a playoff game for the first time in three decades, taking in the tremendous atmosphere at Ford Field.
“The energy in the building was amazing,” Johnson said in a phone interview while on break from snowboarding in Utah. “You could feel it.” I wish we could have had that type of experience.
He is not alone.
Detroit was an NFL powerhouse long ago, winning three league titles from 1952 to 1957 in the pre-Super Bowl era. The franchise had only one postseason win, which came 32 years ago with Sanders in the backfield, and it had no success after the regular season with Johnson until last Sunday’s win.
The Lions defeated the Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams 24–23 in a wild-card game that whipped the crowd into such a frenzy that the decibels were almost as high as a jet engine.
Lions Finally Giving Fans, Including Eminem, Chance To Cheer For
Detroit’s party may get turned up a notch.
The Lions will host Tampa Bay on Sunday, their second home playoff game in a single postseason for the first time in team history.
Singer Bob Seger, actor Jeff Daniels, actor, writer, and producer Keegan-Michael Key, all from Michigan, are anticipated to attend the divisional game, along with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and one of the team’s biggest supporters, Eminem.
The rapper recently asserted himself and revealed his love on Instagram, claiming his New Year resolved to see the Lions win the Super Bowl and asking Stafford for a favour.
“Can you just let us have this one?” Eminem inquired in a post last week.
Eminem is jokingly begging coach Dan Campbell to put him in the game.
“I’m going to be there that night,” Eminem announced. “I will suit up, and I will score us the winning touchdown in the third quarter.”
If Detroit, favoured by nearly a touchdown on FanDuel Sportsbook, defeats the Buccaneers, it will move one step closer to potentially reaching the Super Bowl for the first time.
While there are many long-time fans in the Motor City, it has also attracted new ones and engaged them in the digital age.
Lions Finally Giving Fans, Including Eminem, Chance To Cheer For
Sweta Patel, born in India and now lives in suburban Detroit, had no idea what a first down was approximately ten years ago. The 41-year-old Patel’s understanding of the game and passion for the organisation has grown due to exchanges on social media and in person as a season ticket holder.
When she announced on social media that she was having knee surgery, Lions players wished her a quick recovery. When Patel revealed that she suffered a miscarriage in 2021, Campbell contacted her immediately after he was recruited.
“He’s just a man of the people,” she remarked. “His voice was almost cracking in that video, and it just really brought some comfort to me.”
Mike McCord and millions of others in Michigan have long waited for their favourite club to bring them joy.
McCord, 68, was a kid when his late father, Darris, a Pro Bowl defensive lineman, helped Detroit win the NFL championship in 1957 at Briggs Stadium, later known as Tiger Stadium, over Cleveland.
McCord began attending games over six decades ago, and his family has had season tickets for more than a half-century, passing on their love of the Honolulu Blue and Silver to their 36-year-old daughter, Riley.
“It’s been a long 50 years,” he explained. “We’ve been through thick and thin — mostly thin.”
The Lions struck rock bottom in 2008, becoming the NFL’s first 0-16 team and suffering the league’s worst nine-season skid since World War II. During a particularly dreadful period of failure, football historians had to look back to the Dayton Triangles of the 1920s to locate a team that lost so frequently.
When coach Matt Patricia was fired during the 2020 season, Mike McCord was willing to give up his seat on the 40-yard line in the 22nd row behind Detroit’s bench.
Lions Finally Giving Fans, Including Eminem, Chance To Cheer For
Trying to cement the deal on renewing the family’s four tickets, McCord’s daughter ordered a bespoke coffee cup with the words “One More Year” underneath the team’s logo.
“We didn’t know what the next season was going to be like,” Riley McCord explained. “So, I got that cup.”
Sheila Ford Hamp, the team’s owner, began to turn the team around three years ago when she finally found a winning mix in the front office and on the sidelines by hiring general manager Brad Holmes and Campbell.
The Lions gained momentum by finishing the previous season with eight victories in the last ten games, and they lived up to exceptionally high expectations in 2023, tying a franchise record with 12 regular-season wins and winning the division title for the first time in three decades.
“Detroit’s a great sports town,” McCord explained. “We have seen the Tigers win it. We’ve seen the Pistons win. We have seen the Red Wings win it. We’ve seen many positive things, but never from our Lions.
“We hope that 2018 is the year to finally relieve that anguish, and I believe they can do so. That is a nice thing. We’re still in it, and we may go the distance.”
Matthew Stafford delivers ching passes.
SOURCE – (AP)
