NFL Kicks Off With Soundgarden, Pharrell, Ariana Grande
The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks kick off the 2014-15 NFL season on September 4 against the Green Bay Packers, and the league is giving them a proper coronation.
Pharrell Williams and native sons Soundgarden will perform at a free concert held outside Seattle’s CenturyLink Field – where the 12th Man is always “Happy” – and Ariana Grande will sing the National Anthem before the ‘Hawks and the Pack take the field (that part isn’t free). Richard Sherman will then yell at the camera or something.
It all begins at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be aired during NBC’s “Football Night in America” pregame show (Bob Costas is a huge Screaming Life fan). The NFL Network will also broadcast the pregame festivities, and the show will be available through NFL Mobile from Verizon. For more information on the 2014 Kickoff Celebration, check out NFL.com
It all leads up to the first game of the season, which gets underway at 8:30 p.m. ET. This is the 10th time the NFL has honored the Super Bowl champs by holding the opening game in their home stadium on a Thursday in primetime.
The Seahawks and the Packers last met in CenturyLink during the 2012 season, in a game that ended with the now-infamous “Fail Mary” play, which effectively ended the lockout between referees and the league. Hopefully things will turn out better this time…especially if you’re a Packers fan.