The only thing more Detroit than their hometown heroes, the Lions, is D-town legend Eminem. So it was fitting that on the first night of the 2024 NFL Draft in a packed Hart Plaza on Thursday (April 25), Slim Shady was on hand to help kick off proceedings. The reclusive hip-hop icon took the stage with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to open the prime-time proceedings that aired on NFL Network and ESPN, with the two men walking across the massive, neon-lit stage to follow Em's success in 2010. I'm not afraid.”
Marshall looked completely devastated as he walked out, raising his arms and appearing to shout as he took center stage wearing a black Lions hoodie and 2024 playoff hat, pounding his chest and shaking his fist in front of a crowd of 275,000. But before getting the crowd fired up, Shady and Goodell appeared in a 90-second clip of the commish practicing his induction speech, with the beloved Lions running back Barry Sanders asking if he was nervous and wondering what the sweater was all about of the boss.
“Mom's spaghetti,” they said in unison as a host of Lions bigs debated who should join him on stage. “We only got one shot to nail it, one shot,” Goodell said urgently, in yet another Eminem reference. Pick up a hidden Shady, who emerged from behind a magazine to grill Goodell with the pointed reminder of the fans' traditional greeting to him: “You know you're still going to get booed right?” Marshall asked.
“I'm not afraid,” Goodell assured him, tripling the Eminem references. “I'm afraid for you.” The pair were then seen walking slowly on stage as Em asked what the plan was. “Two words: rap battle,” Goodell said as the rapper looked on in confusion.
After Goodell's traditional boos did come down like a monsoon, Eminem shouted, “Detroit, what's up! Is here! Make some noise for the Detroit Lions,” as he welcomed current team stars Aidan Hutchinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown and quarterback Jared Goff, as well as Hall of Fame veterans Sanders and Calvin Johnson to the director amid rapturous cheers.
Check out footage of Em's performance below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/eminem-first-night-2024-nfl-draft-detroit-1235667201/
