Detroit Lions
Jared Golf
Before the Detroit Lions hosted a playoff game for the first time in thirty years, Eminem stood with Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, taking in the electrifying atmosphere at Ford Field.
Taking a break from snowboarding in Utah, Johnson said over the phone, “The energy in the building was amazing.” It was palpable. I wish that kind of experience had been possible for us.
He is not by himself.
Before the Super Bowl era, Detroit was an NFL powerhouse, capturing three league titles between 1952 and 1957. Since then, the team has only won one postseason game.
The Lions defeated the Los Angeles Rams, captained by Matt Stafford, 24-23 in a wild-card game that sent the crowd into a frenzy so intense that the noise level was on par with a jet engine.
The party in Detroit can get a little more intense.
For the first time in franchise history, the Lions are hosting Tampa Bay on Sunday in their second home playoff game of the season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, singer Bob Seger, actor Jeff Daniels, and actor, writer, and producer Keegan-Michael Key—all from Michigan—are anticipated to attend the divisional match, as well as Eminem, one of the team’s biggest supporters.
Recently, the rapper used to Instagram to express himself and his devotion. He wrote that his New Year’s resolve was for the Lions to win the Super Bowl and that he was asking Stafford for a favor.
“Will you please just give this one to us?”Last week, Eminem posted a question.
Eminem is now jokingly pleading with head coach Dan Campbell to start him in the match.
Eminem declared, “I’m going to be there that night.” “I’ll suit up and in the third quarter I’ll score the winning touchdown for us.”
Detroit might get one step closer to making its first Super Bowl appearance if it defeats the Buccaneers, as FanDuel Sportsbook has the team favored by nearly a score.
The Motor City is home to many devoted followers, but it has also drawn in some new ones and interacted with them in the digital era.
About ten years ago, Sweta Patel, an Indian resident of a Detroit suburb, had no idea what a first down was. Thanks to certain encounters on social media and in person as a season ticket member, the 41-year-old Patel has grown her understanding of the game and passion for the organization.
Lions teammates wished her a speedy recovery after she shared on social media that she had undergone knee surgery. Not long after he was hired, Patel received a call from Campbell himself, informing her that she had miscarried in 2021.
She remarked, “He’s just a man of the people.” “That video of him practically breaking out in song just gave me a sense of comfort.”
Millions of Michigan fans, like Mike McCord, have been waiting a long time for their favorite team to win anything to cheer them up.
When his late father, Darris McCord, a Pro Bowl defensive lineman, helped Detroit defeat Cleveland at Briggs Stadium—later renamed Tiger Stadium—for the 1957 NFL championship, the 68-year-old McCord was a small child.
McCord started going to games more than six decades ago, and his family has owned season tickets for more than 50 years. Riley, his 36-year-old daughter, has inherited his passion for the Honolulu Blue and Silver.
“Fifty years is a long time,” he remarked. “Mostly thin, but we’ve been through thick and thin.”
During the worst nine-season run in the league since World War II, the Lions reached their lowest point in 2008, becoming the first 0-16 franchise in NFL history. Football historians had to search all the way back to the Dayton Triangles of the 1920s to locate a team that suffered such frequent defeats during one especially vile period of futility.
Mike McCord was prepared to forfeit his seat in the 22nd row behind Detroit’s bench behind the 40-yard line when head coach Matt Patricia was dismissed during the 2020 season.
In an attempt to get the family’s four tickets renewed, McCord’s daughter had a personalized coffee cup emblazoned with the phrase “One More Year” beneath the team’s emblem produced.
Riley McCord remarked, “We had no idea what that next season was going to look like.” “Well, I have that cup.”
Three years ago, team owner Sheila Ford Hamp started to turn the team around when she hired general manager Brad Holmes and Campbell, finally finding a winning mix in the front office and on the sidelines.
The Lions gained confidence by winning eight of their final ten games to end the previous season. In 2023, they exceeded a great deal of anticipation by tying a team record with 12 wins in the regular season and winning a division title for the first time in thirty years.
McCord remarked, “Detroit is a great sports town.” “The Tigers were able to win it. The Pistons have triumphed in it. The Red Wings have emerged victorious. Many positive things have been witnessed, but never from our Lions.
We’re hoping that this year will bring about that pain’s ultimate relief, and I believe they can. That’s the positive aspect. We might yet win it all because we are still in it.
___
