Jimmie Allen performs National Anthem at Detroit Lions Thanksgiving game

Today on Fox, the annual football game involving the Detroit Lions is airing — the same goes for a noteworthy National Anthem! The Lions have a history of getting iconic performers to come out for the anthem, with one of the most notable ones coming via Aretha Franklin a few years ago.

So what happened this year? Well, we had another worthy anthem, though we wouldn’t quite put it on the same legendary status as the famous soul singer. Here, we had Jimmy Allen deliver what was a solid performance from start to finish in front of a national TV audience. He hit the notes, and did his best in order to get the game off to a good start.

Of course, there is no gig harder than performing the National Anthem in front of a huge audience. Pretty much everyone picks it apart! Maybe one out of a thousand anthems actually garner a good bit of praise — almost everyone else is the subject of all sorts of internet scrutiny after the fact.

Later today, we imagine that the Dallas Cowboys are going to be featuring a National Anthem performance, as well — though they tend to deviate more towards an instrumental tradition rather than bringing in a new person every year. They tend to draw more headlines for their Halftime Show performance — after all, the Cowboys game is typically the most-watched sporting event on Thanksgiving. (Alas, none of the games featured this Thanksgiving are believed to be of triple-A quality. The Cowboys at least feature a couple of potential playoff teams.)

Happy Thanksgiving, episode! We hope you’re watching the game with all of your friends and loved ones.

What do you think about the National Anthem performance leading into the Lions game? Be sure to share right now in the comments below. (Photo: Fox.)