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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Joseph Salvador

Eminem Makes Desperate Plea to Matthew Stafford Ahead of Lions-Rams Playoff Game

Eminem is one of the best-selling artists of all-time, a 15-time Grammy winner and a long-suffering Detroit Lions fan. Ahead of his team’s wild-card game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the rapper made a desperate plea to his former quarterback Matthew Stafford, who will lead the Rams into Detroit. 

“Stafford, what’d I say? You owe me this favor, bro,” he said. “I was there for you when you won it. I was there for you. I was right there. I rapped for you, Stafford! Bro, I rapped for you! Can you just let us have this one? Just this one.”

Eminem is of course referring to Super Bowl LVI when he performed at halftime before Stafford led Los Angeles to a win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Stafford won his first Super Bowl in his first season with the Rams after the Lions had traded him there for Jared Goff and several draft picks. 

Now, in a twist of cruel fate, Stafford will be tasked with crushing Detroit’s dreams Sunday night. The signal-caller was drafted by the Lions with the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft and spent the first 12 seasons of his career there before the blockbuster trade in 2021. 

Detroit hasn’t advanced past the wild-card round since 1991 and nothing would be more poetically catastrophic than Stafford extending that streak. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on NBC. 

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