Eminem proved he bleeds Honolulu blue, dark steel grey and white. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rapper repeatedly showed up during the Detroit Lions run to a heartbreaking NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, showing beyond a doubt that he is a lion for life.
Which made his X post on Tuesday (Jan. 30) about shelving a planned diss track aimed at the team’s offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, that much funnier. After rumors floated that Johnson had turned down offers for head coaching positions in Seattle and Washington to stay in the Motor City, Slim Shady said he holstered his mic.
“Guess I should stop recording this diss track..!! Lol!!,” Eminem tweeted. “@ Ben Johnson Thank you for staying!!! We can’t break this team up ESPECIALLY since I’M on it!!! Coach Campbell we love you bro!!! Let’s run it back next year!!…I’m READY!!!! I promise you I WILL get us to the super bowl!!!”
After years of wallowing in also-ran status, the Lions had a magical season that put them on the brink of their first Super Bowl appearance. That dream was deferred, however, when they had a historic meltdown against the 49ers, blowing a 17-point lead on their way to Sunday’s 34-31 loss.
Eminem’s bit about being on the team was a callback to his earlier social media posts boosting his favorite ballers. Two weeks ago, he was spotted in a skybox when the Lions punched their first ticket to the NFC Championship game in 32 years, where the big screen flashed a September tweet from the rapper in which he wrote, “Let’s f–king go!!!! Detroit.” That got fans hyped while the stadium speakers blasted his iconic 8 Mile pump-up anthem, “Lose Yourself.”
The cameras then showed Slim Shady, decked out in Lions gear, jumping up to flex and scream before pounding his chest during the game in which the Lions topped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At the time, Em also responded to a meme featuring a picture of his 8 Mile character B-Rabbit driving around town with the caption, “[Lions QB Jared] Goff and the Lions pulling up to the NFC Championship game,” writing, “Can’t believe I did it again!!! @Lions.”
That tweet was the sequel to one Eminem posted the week before, telling Lions coach Dan Campbell that he was ready to suit up to help break the team’s three-decade playoff drought. “Yo, Dan, I’m reporting. I’m going to report. Third quarter,” the 5’8′, 150 pound rapper said. “I’m reporting, offensive line, eligible receiver. I’ll be the quarterback, the entire line, (the) offensive line. And the receiver, I will throw it to myself and score a touchdown. In the third quarter. Just give me a uniform. Or at least just a helmet.”
Bleeding blue clearly runs in the family, as evidenced by a family pic post from the rapper’s daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, from Sunday’s loss. Though Em was not in the shots, the 28-year-old Just a Little Shady podcaster shared pics of herself in a custom Lions jacket, as well as one of her with fiancé Evan McClintock, Em’s half-brother Nate, her sister Alaina Marie Scott and Alaina’s husband.
See Eminem’s post and the Mathers family pic below.