Virginia Tech’s Seismographic ‘Enter Sandman’ Football Ritual Gave James Hetfield ‘Goosebumps’
College football fans can be a thunderous bunch, especially while riled up by the right song, and Virginia Tech's usage of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" as their football entry theme has become one of the sport's greatest musical traditions. In fact, the response at this year's home opener was so intense that it registered on a seismograph in the area and made headlines across the country. Reflecting on that insane moment, Metallica's James Hetfield shared his reaction after seeing the footage.
Hetfield was asked by SiriusXM Turbo host Shawn the Butcher (as seen below) if he'd seen the footage of pre-game ritual and the rumble in created as a result. "Even just talking about it, I've got goosebumps," stated Hetfield. "It was spectacular, The VT game, everyone was jumping – the military, the crowd, the team, I mean everybody!"
The singer elaborated, "I tell you, it has been kind of an eight-year progression with it, but to be a part of their lives, be a part of their team and to pump people up with that, there's no way. We could sit and try to write something that, 'Oh, we need a song to pump the crowd up.' You can try to do that, but it's not gonna work, it's just not."
While "Enter Sandman" has been used at sporting events over the years, the timing of this viral moment couldn't have been any better with Metallica building up to the 30th anniversary remastered box set saluting their historic self-titled "Black" album that featured the song.
"All of these things happen for a reason," said Hetfield. "It was out of our hands, out of our control. But I mean those fans of Virginia Tech, they're the ones that made that. I mean, they needed that. So they found our song and we got chosen for that so we're grateful."
The Virginia Tech Hokies went on to win their home opener against the higher ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, and while the opening was not quite an earthquake level event, as was pointed out on College Football Reddit Twitter account, it did clearly show up on the seismograph. Revisit footage of the thunderous entry ritual below.