[youtube]http://youtu.be/BoPYP-58SHU[/youtube]

ESPN’s ‘This is SportCenter’ ads are always for a laugh, and they’ve already made a foray into metal via sportscaster John Clayton’s ad portraying his as a Slayer fan that lives at home. Now Metallica has gotten involved in an ad. The premise is that now that Mariano Rivera, who used Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” as his entrance theme, has retired, the band’ is looking for something to do around the EPSN offices. The sports network already has a great sense of humor about itself – it’s good to see Metallica does too. The band played at Rivera’s retirement ceremony last year at Yankee Stadium, cranking out his signature (and their signature) “Enter Sandman.” The ad will make its debut tonight during the All Star Game’s Home Run Derby.

“Sometimes it can be quite freeing to put yourself at the mercy of others,” Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone about making the ad. “ESPN’s commercials have a tendency to be hilarious. We were like, ‘That sounds like a good time.’ The whole thing had an overriding impulsivity to it.” Apparently, the band filmed “a variety” of spots for ESPN, so we might not have seen the last appearance from the band in an ESPN commercial yet.