I’ve seen my fair share of celebrity booze offerings in recent years. But when that celebrity is former Lion Nate Burleson, and that spirit, LionBlood Orange Vodka, is produced by Ferndale’s Valentine Distilling Co., I knew it would be worth a taste.
After his 11-year NFL career as a wide receiver — including four seasons with the Lions from 2010 to 2013 — Burleson pivoted to broadcasting. He joined CBS Sports in 2017 as a studio analyst for The NFL Today (where he won two Emmys), is in his fourth season as co-anchor of CBS Mornings, and hosts Hollywood Squares and Nickelodeon’s NFL Slimetime.
A signature liquor brand had been on his mind since his days in Detroit, he says. But it was just a matter of waiting for the right time and wading through the competition.
At first, Burleson says, “There were a few people I met with that saw me as a mark. Because I did my research, I knew that they were trying to play me for a fool, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.” He set the idea on a shelf for a while, then came back to it a few years later. That’s when he met Rifino Valentine, who founded Valentine Distilling Co. in 2007.
Valentine was skeptical at first — he’d already received numerous requests to do commercial distilling. “And I’d usually just say, ‘No, go away,’” he says.
But Burleson offered to fly out to Detroit to meet with Valentine, and the two hit it off, spending a full day together before truly diving into the business partnership. “I want to make sure I’m just dealing with good people,” Valentine says. “I’ve run my whole business like this for almost 20 years. By the end of it, I was like, ‘All right, this is somebody I want to work with. I like him.’ Nate is just such a good guy.”
Says Burleson, “Once he realized I was passionate about this, he immediately embraced me. And I just love it. It’s everything that I thought it would be. We both are in it for the right reasons. We wanted to make a vodka that didn’t have any — excuse my language — bullshit in it. And we did.”
LionBlood, like Valentine’s other vodkas, is made without preservatives or corn syrup, using only Michigan-grown beet sugar. Burleson and Valentine spent almost two years in testing to achieve a flavor and formula they both felt proud to put their names behind, with Burleson flying back to Detroit every few months to sample another batch.
That testing, and the dedication to quality, paid off for Burleson and Valentine.
LionBlood carries a rating of 94 from Wine Enthusiast, noted for its clear appearance and its citrus scent and taste coming from the orange and a hint of elderflower. It’s a knockout in cosmopolitans or added as a kicker to a mimosa.
Both dedicated to quality and integrity in their product, Burleson and Valentine are looking forward to a continued partnership. Says Valentine, “We’ve both got skin in the game — equal parts skin in the game, 50-50 — and I really like it.”
Burleson, not surprisingly, uses a football analogy. “He’s like the quarterback that just wants to play ball, and I’m the diva receiver, like, ‘Yo, throw me the ball. I’ll do the dance for us, and then I’ll talk to the media in the locker room.’ So we really do make a perfect team.”
Here’s hoping this unlikely pair keeps us well supplied with more team spirits.
This story originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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