“Middle Fingers Up”: Fans Out Shaquille O’Neal’s Anti-Taylor Swift Behavior as Tailgate Concert Raises the Roof Despite Disappointment

That’s DJ Diesel:0 and Taylor Swift: 1. Shaquille O’Neal is a Swiftie but when it comes to tailgating, he’s competitive. O’Neal sported his massive DIESEL-MDE necklace when he hit Echostage in Washington on January 27. He led the pre-game festivities on the Baltimore Ravens end before his side fell 10-17 against the Kansas City Chiefs last night. He led the fans on an anti-Taylor Swift campaign (without malice) only for the results to backfire. Now the Chiefs are heading to the Super Bowl while fans turn to Shaq for comfort.

The NBA legend is the Great Gatsby of football festivities. Apart from his annual Shaq’s Fun House celebrations for the Super Bowl weekend, he leads tailgating parties too. He was rooting for the Ravens at the pre-game concert in front of Jimmy’s Famous Seafood tailgate while Taylor Swift was inside the arena.

At one point, Shaq enlisted the crowd to send a message to Travis Kelce’s girlfriend. Early into his set, he told the headbangers to be loud enough for the ‘Shake it off’ singer to hear, “We comin’ for that [expletive], Taylor!” He proceeded to tell the fans to throw their middle fingers in the air.

To be clear, it was completely playful. Shaq is a big (literally) fan of Swift. He’s, however, clear in his loyalties regarding football teams. But his wish to see the Chiefs’ lucky charm fail didn’t pan out. The Chiefs won the AFC Championship and are heading to the Super Bowl LVIII in February. The couple celebrated the win on the field and Shaq was decidedly silent.

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Ravens fans obliged Shaq’s every demand at the pregame event. Afterward, they exposed his shenanigans online. However, for most, tailgating with Shaq overshadowed the disappointment of missing the Super Bowl.

Shaquille O’Neal’s fans win bragging rights

Baltimore fans won’t get to boast about making the Super Bowl. But they have the rarer opportunity to say they were at a DJ Diesel concert. Rarer still, they got to share the stage with Shaq and even got noticed by him. His official DJ Diesel Instagram page reshared the post by a tailgater who raved, “Saw my FAAVVVV” to their clip of Shaq’s set.

O’Neal has a tradition of bringing out fans on stage during his sets. One guy gleefully showed it on his Instagram claiming, “GOT TO GO ON STAGE WITH @djdiesel (SHAQ) and get his signature as well🔥🔥🔥🔥 best f**king night hands down.” If it’s not obvious he has serious bragging rights, he earned comments like. “DUDE THATS SO SICK!!!”

Another one of his performance staples is inviting all the ladies to the mosh pit. He also looked starstruck meeting twin sisters in Ravens’ purple merch. “Shaq had to meet the twins,” one of the sisters said with the photographic evidence of the encounter.

Big Diesel made many forget the defeat, including someone working within the Ravens community. In a lengthy post summarizing his season, he wrote, “Had you told 13 year old me that I’d be on the same stage with @shaq & some GOATs,” including some NFL veterans, “...that boy would’ve lost his mind.” A witty one summarized, “We just Shaq’d our pants.” That’s just Big Diesel’s presence.

What are your thoughts on DJ Diesel’s concerts? Are you excited about Shaq’s Fun House on February 9th? Let us know in the comments below.

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