No one knew what was coming that day, except perhaps the Queen of Soul herself.
On a national-television platform during one of the biggest holidays of the year, one of the best singers in the history of the United States was about to perform its national anthem. And it had never been done like this before.
The 4 minutes and 34 seconds of music magic that came from Aretha Franklin on Thanksgiving 2016 actually began months earlier, when the Detroit Lions business-development staff began putting together a wish list of anthem and halftime performers for that year's Thanksgiving game against the Minnesota Vikings.