Detroit Lions Super Bowl Pick of Sports Illustrated
This is uncharted territory for Lions fans – to see the Lions on the cover of Sports Illustrated and reading Detroit Lions Super Bowl pick. How do you handle expectations as a fan here in Detroit? Are we getting jinxed by the cover and talk of having a real chance to win it all? Or should we just enjoy the ride and believe?
Detroit Lions Super Bowl – The Article
It’s a wonderful article about the evolution of the Detroit Lions under Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell – and how folks like Taylor Decker turned around the culture as well.
Think about where we were when Dan Campbell took over. The mistrust in the Lions runs deep over the years (and with good reason), so we go from Matt Patricia (bad hire) to an untested guy who looks more like a dude ready to get in a fight outside Joe Louis. Then he gets up there in front of the media and talks about biting off kneecaps and shows real emotion towards the city and this team.
We didn’t believe.
You know the rest if you’re a Lions fan, the initial struggles and coaching decisions – the unwavering faith he had not only in himself but the direction of the team. Sports Illustrated did a wonderful job capturing that energy and the creation (can’t say “rebirth” because other than 1991…what do we have in the Super Bowl era?).
But here we are – Detroit Lions Super Bowl. It’s okay to say it, to believe in it. The passion in this team isn’t diminished after last season and the heartbreaking loss in the NFC Championship game – as so beautifully captured in the article:
The end of The Season That Changed Everything is still painful. Campbell will never forget the date of the NFC championship game— Jan. 28, 2024—let alone the ending. That afternoon unfolded like a five-act play: i) ideal start; ii) 24–7 halftime lead over the 49ers; iii) Super Bowl prayers raised to the football gods; iv) historic collapse cemented with a 34–31 San Francisco triumph; and v) season of great promise ends, poof.
Campbell says that what’s burned in his memory is “them trying to get us off the field, so they can roll out everything—NFC champions, you know—and they’re just in a mad scramble. Here comes the ribbon. You guys go get … Those are the things I don’t forget. Just one of those small motivators. Personally, I don’t need [many of those and] neither does our team.”
In June, Goff is asked if the battered-but-still-standing quarterback and insane-but-still-brilliant coach shared a moment in the immediate aftermath of that postseason loss. Goff might as well have been told that Eminem doesn’t rank among history’s best rap artists. His face said what his mouth made far more diplomatic. Face said: Worst question in world history. Mouth said: No, because we didn’t win.
Goff is pressed for a deeper explanation. Why stew instead of celebrate? Couldn’t most teams only dream of that kind of season? Well, not exactly.
Here they were, the best story in pro football, forgettable losers turned lovable winners, the narrative as good as a team that never lost consecutive games last season. The never-quits, those fans who always rooted for the Lions, even if many of their membership retreated into the shadows, cheering out of public view, revealing their fandom only to those they could truly, absolutely, trust—they started marching back into the light. They followed the dawgs that Campbell promised, mimicking the swagger displayed by his players. (When’s the last time someone typed that sentence?) They were Detroiters. Which made them Lions fans.
Lions 2024 – Enjoy the Ride
How can you not love this team? They reflect back to us a version of this city (coaches, players, owners all on the same page and willing to fight for it) – again captured perfectly in the article from Sports Illlustrated. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of this season. And when it’s over just remember the parade route goes up Woodward and turn right towards Ford Field. GO LIONS!
