The NFL is still visibly trying to connect with its diverse viewership with its entertainment decisions —from its most recent Super Bowl Halftime Show curated by Dr. Dre, to its latest round of promos for the upcoming season, one of which features Lil Wayne, Pusha T, Saweetie, and more. Topping the promo off, there's also a cameo from the Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf, playing piano over the instantly recognizable piano loop from "Still D.R.E."
The song is obviously paying homage to Dre's dynamic, Emmy-nominated Halftime Show, which featured performances from 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Eminem Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Anderson .Paak, who played drums during the set. Dre recently admitted he very nearly pulled out of the show for fear of looking like a "sell-out" following the intense backlash the NFL faced after its treatment of Colin Kapernick for kneeling in protest of police terrorism.
“I was absolutely concerned about that,” Dre admitted to Workout the Doubt podcast. “I actually called a couple of close friends and said, ‘Listen, I’m gonna pull out. I’m not gonna do the show. Because I don’t know if I want that smoke. I don’t know if I want the backlash after doing the show and potentially looking like a fucking sellout or something like that."
But Nas eventually talked him out of it. “He called me up and was like, ‘Yo bro’ — you know, Nas has that voice — ‘Yo bro, you gotta do it. You gotta do this. It’s gonna be so powerful for fucking Hip Hop, for the culture, for you, for L.A. and the whole nine,'" Dre recalled.
The 2022 NFL Kickoff game will start at 8:20 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 8 at SoFi Stadium with the Buffalo Bills taking on the Super Bowl-winning Los Angeles Rams. You can check out the promo above.