DETROIT (AP) — Eminem stood alongside Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson before the Detroit Lions hosted a playoff game for the first time in three decades, soaking up an electric atmosphere at Ford Field.
“The energy in the building was amazing,” Johnson said in a telephone interview, taking a break from snowboarding in Utah. “You could feel it. I wish we could’ve had that kind of experience.”
He’s not alone.
Detroit was an NFL powerhouse a long time ago, winning three league titles from 1952 to 1957 in the pre-Super Bowl era, but the franchise had only one postseason win since.
Until last Sunday’s victory.
The Lions beat the Matt Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in a wild-card game that whipped the crowd into so much of a frenzy that the decibels were almost as loud as a jet engine.
Detroit’s party might get kicked up a notch.
The Lions are hosting Tampa Bay on Sunday, playing a second home playoff game in one 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 expected to attend the divisional game along with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and one of the team’s biggest fans: Eminem.