Key Takeaways
- Rappers often choose their NFL teams based on hometown pride, family ties, or personal moments.
- Artists like Wiz Khalifa, E-40, and Saweetie have turned their fandom into music, performances, and public moments.
- These fandoms reflect deeper ties between Hip Hop, sports culture, and personal identity.
Rappers, like plenty of us, take their football seriously. It’s been one of America’s most popular sports since 1972, with baseball and basketball trailing behind. While many artists show love to their hometown through songs and videos, pledging allegiance to an NFL team is another level of loyalty.
Typically, rappers choose their teams in a few ways. Many go with the hometown heroes, like Big Sean and Eminem with the Detroit Lions, or LL COOL J repping the New York Giants. Some inherit their team through family. For example, JAY-Z became a Dallas Cowboys fan thanks to his dad. And occasionally, artists branch out further from home, with Lil Wayne or Snoop Dogg picking teams miles away from their own turf.
Without further ado, here are 14 rappers and their favorite NFL teams.
1. LL COOL J
LL COOL J had dreams of suiting up for the New York Giants. He played football growing up and said repping Big Blue was always “part of the dream” before music took over. “All those great games they had against the Steelers, it was unbelievable for me,” the “Doin' It” rapper shared with the NFL about his favorite team. “At the end of the day, I had to stick with New York, baby.”
2. Lil Wayne
“I’m a huge Green Bay Packers fan, since forever and a day,” Lil Wayne told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.” In 2023, he had the chance to live out every Cheesehead’s dream and walk out with the team during their game against the Lions. “Me and the coach, Matt LaFleur, are real, real good friends,” he explained how the opportunity came about. Believe it or not, it’s all because the Packers won the Super Bowl XXXI in his hometown of New Orleans.
3. Eminem
Everyone knows Eminem carries a special kind of Detroit pride, something that didn't happen overnight. So, it should come as no surprise that his loyalty to the city includes football, with the rapper being a huge Lions fan through thick and thin. On “Legacy,” he rapped, “Me against the world, so what? I'm Brian Dawkins / Versus the whole 0-16 Lions offense / So bring on the Giants, Falcons, and Miami Dolphins.”
4. JAY-Z
JAY-Z may be from Brooklyn, but we have his father to thank — or blame, depending on who you’re rooting for — for him loving the Dallas Cowboys. “It’s my pop’s team, so I couldn’t, you know [choose another],” he told “The Breakfast Club.” Hov explained that his dad “grew up in that era of those guys who wanted that whole cowboy lifestyle,” before joking, “All those guys was on coke.”
5. Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg bleeds black and gold. He’s been a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan since the ‘70s and even performed at the team’s post-game party following their Super Bowl XLIII victory in 2009. “I loved their attitude and the way they played and went out and won,” he said during “Talking Steelers Football.” Some of his favorite players around that time included Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Rocky Bleier, to mention a few.
6. Travis Scott
Broncos Country, let’s ride! Travis Scott is a Denver Broncos fan, though he still shows love to his Texas home teams (except the Dallas Cowboys).
7. Saweetie
Yes, Saweetie is a football fan! She wrote “Do It For The Bay” for her favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, and in 2025 made history as ESPN’s first-ever woman Monday Night Football music curator. Now that’s Bay-triotic!
8. DaBaby
Long before “Suge,” DaBaby went by Baby Jesus. Thankfully, he made the name switch, but not before blessing the Carolina Panthers with their own unofficial anthem, “Dab City.” He also shouted out the team’s then-quarterback Cam Newton: “I'm dabbin' like my name is Cameron / I just scored a touchdown and I'm dancing.” While the Panthers don’t have the same Super Bowl history as other franchises, black and blue are still colors DaBaby proudly reps.
9. Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa has one of the most iconic NFL anthems ever. He made “Black and Yellow” specifically with the Steelers’ colors in mind, and it just so happened to be his first-ever No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. Not long after, fellow Steelers fan Snoop Dogg, as well as T-Pain and Juicy J, jumped on the remix. Khalifa also had the honor of leading the Terrible Towel Twirl, a true rite of passage for Steelers Nation.
10. T.I.
T.I. is an Atlanta Falcons fan, and a very vocal one at that. In 2022, he called out the team for picking Rotimi’s “Rise Up” as their new anthem, since the actor-singer isn’t even from The A. “I mean, I would’ve did it,” he said, also suggesting Quavo, 2 Chainz, and Jeezy, among others. The Falcons made up for it the next year by having T.I. himself lead the team onto the field to “Bring Em Out,” so it all worked out.
11. E-40
“I’m a Niner forever like Rice and Lott / Niner empire until the world pop,” E-40 raps on his 49ers anthem “Niner Gang,” where he also name-dropped NFL legends like Merton Hanks, Ricky Watters, and the late Dwight Clark.
12. Method Man
Like plenty of other rappers here, Method Man rooted for a team far from home: the Bengals. "You wouldn't believe who my favorite team of all time is, though. It's the Cincinnati Bengals back in the day when they were playing and losing in the Super Bowl,” he shared with ESPN. Somewhere along the way, he decided to side with the New York Jets.
13. Big Sean
Expecting Big Sean to root for any team other than Detroit’s Lions would be insane. Speaking with the NFL, he revealed his dream roster: quarterback Jared Goff, running back Barry Sanders, wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Amon-Ra St. Brown, and head coach Dan Campbell. “He turned the whole city up,” the “IDFWU” rapper said of Campbell.
14. Lil Uzi Vert
Lil Uzi Vert practically soundtracked the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2022-’23 season with “Just Wanna Rock,” easily one of the city's biggest anthems since Meek Mill's “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro).” Of course, the Championships artist is also a huge Eagles fan. In 2023, Uzi led the team onto the field for their NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers.