The Day Bob Seger Got The Detroit Lions Game Ball

Last week I briefly touched on an encounter I had with Bob Seger after a Detroit Lions game years ago. You can see that story here, about celebrities you picked that you'd like to see at the playoff game on Sunday.

In that story, I mentioned seeing Bob after a game during the Jim Schwartz era. Here's how that entire story goes.

I believe it was in 2010 or 2011. I was cutting my grass when I was thinking about what to do for dinner. I floated a text to some of my friends and thought I'd take the family up to Clarkston for something to eat. I was told they'd be coming by The Woodshop after the game and to meet there.

A little after the Lions' victory, Coach Schwartz stopped by, along with linemen, Stephen Peterman and Dominic Raiola. Uncle Kracker then showed up, with Kid Rock and Bob Seger.

I recall Bob being such a normal guy. He wore jeans with rips in the knees and was so easygoing. I'd met him before, but I don't think he remembered me, and that was fine. He talked to my kids, who were very young at the time, about school and other things calling them by name. Just a great guy.

Then he told me about the game ball. Yes, the coach had singled him out in the locker room and given him the ball. He told me that the coach went on about a person who'd meant so much to the area and a person people admired. He said right after that he threw him the game ball. The team cheered as he caught it. How do I know he caught it? Because he told me under no certain terms.

"Hell Yeah I caught it!" he said to me. He was so excited about that ball you'd have thought they threw him a Grammy award. You could tell at that moment how much this team and this city meant to him.

That guy has led a great life, but he could live anywhere. He chooses to live here. He's, as one of my friends would say, "one of us" and I was happy to see him at the game yesterday.

-Meltdown-

Bob Seger has a career that many artists only dream of, from selling millions of records to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

While Seger bid touring farewell in 2019, legions of fans still adore this "Beautiful Loser" and always will. In honor of his birthday on May 6, we take a brief look at 10 interesting Bob Seger statistics that might surprise you.

In June 2021, Seger spoke with David Fricke and reflected on his life in music and the December 2020 passing of longtime Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed.

Seger said Reed phoned him to tell him about his colon cancer diagnosis and said, "I listened really hard to him, and he said 'how grateful I am for my wonderful life.' ... I thought that was so beautiful, and I thought he was so brave. I don't think I could go out (on tour) without him."

As far as the touring part of his career goes, Seger said, "You know, I've had a great life, oh my goodness. I loved what I did. Never worked a day in my life, really. The hard parts were in sleeping in hotels, having rotten food."

However, it seems as though Seger isn't completely retired from music. He touched on his experience during the pandemic and how Bruce Springsteen offered some supportive words saying, "I was getting kind of down on myself, down on the world and down on everything. [Springsteen] said, 'Bob, go out there and start writing, start singing, start playing, start recording."

If you ever feel like getting lost in the wonder that is Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, you might want to wander over to the Seger YouTube Channel. Not only does the channel feature official music videos, but there's also various live clips of Seger over the years, which are real gems.

Much like with streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, Seger was one of the last few major artists to not have an official channel on the platform.

When the channel was first unveiled in January 2020, president and CEO of Universal Music Enterprises (parent company of Capitol Records) Bruce Resnikoff said, "What’s really important is that Bob is first and foremost a storyteller, and we now live in a world where artists are able to tell their stories and give their message to old fans and new fans in way that goes well beyond touring and live appearances. In the world of YouTube and videos, we get a chance for Bob to tell his story in way that’s very real to people, and to reach a much broader and younger audience."

Only one Seger album has topped the Billboard 200 Album Chart, and that was 1980's Against the Wind. And Seger's lone number one hit? That was 1987's "Shakedown" from the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack.

Seger's been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and has won only one, which came in 1981 when he won Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal for "Against the Wind."

Seger's catalog boasts 10 platinum studio/live albums, and they are:

Ample could be said about the amount of time it took for Seger to get inducted into the Rock Hall, but that rant could take a long time. However, we still think it's a massive oversight the Silver Bullet Band were snubbed.

Rolling Stone has an interesting piece on the history of the "Like a Rock" ad campaign for Chevy trucks, which ran from 1991 until 2004, and its impact on advertising during sporting events. He would tell Ultimate Classic Rock, "When Chevy asked for it, for a long time I turned it down, because I just didn’t want it to be in an ad. I’m really glad I did it now, because it sold a lot of trucks to save a lot of jobs, and, you know, this is my home state. So it’s a good thing. And people keep hearing it, so that’s great!"

Seger covered a diverse selection of tunes including Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," Ike & Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" and an absolutely beautiful rendition of the Christmas classic "The Little Drummer Boy."

According to IMDb.com, "Old Time Rock & Roll" has been featured in a wide variety of films/TV shows including WKRP in Cincinnati, Scrubs, Glee and more. Often, the use of "Old Time Rock & Roll" post-Risky Business was to reference the iconic scene of a young Tom Cruise in his underwear, as evident by this scene from ALF.

Seger would appear in season 32, episode 17 of the iconic animated series. It's pretty amazing it took so long for this to happen considering Homer Simpson's love of classic rock, especially fellow Michigan natives Grand Funk Railroad.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Seger's Greatest Hits was certified Diamond (selling 10 million copies) on May 30, 2017. Sure would be interesting how many units the compilation has moved since then.

Per Pollstar, Seger's farewell tour was the 3rd highest-grossing tour in North America in 2019 bringing in $97 million. The two artists that out-grossed him that year were Elton John ($157.4 million) and The Rolling Stones ($177.8 million.)

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