2025 Detroit Lions: 4-1 Lions win battle of the big cats. (32 Viewers)

[BobbyLayne]

Baumgardner: These are not the Same Old Lions. Their owner made sure of it​

Spoiler: full article

By Nick Baumgardner
3h ago

In the summer of 1999, Dan Campbell climbed into a beat-up truck and drove it more than 1,500 miles to New York for his first NFL job. He was madly in love with football.

In the summer of 1988, Chris Spielman packed all the laundry he could carry into a beat-up truck that was filled with old fast-food wrappers, per legendary Detroit News sports writer Jerry Green,
and drove to metro Detroit for his first NFL job. And he was madly in love with football.

In the summer of 1973, Sheila Ford — who has likely never owned a bad-looking truck — graduated from Yale, just five years after the school began accepting women. She wanted nothing more than to work in the NFL, only to be told females needn’t apply. She, too, was madly in love with football.

What, exactly, does it take to fix the unfixable?

For the first time in modern history, the principal owner of the Detroit Lions — this city’s most beloved sports asset (apologies to the Red Wings) — is building the franchise around the only thing that has ever mattered: honesty. In football, honesty equals trust and trust equals love. The unconditional kind.

Detroit is second only to the Arizona Cardinals for the most losses in NFL history, with 702. Yet in August, the Lions announced they had sold out their Ford Field season-ticket allotment for the first time in the building’s 21-year existence. Detroit is a popular bet to win its first division title in 30 years. Fans locally have fallen for the club in ways not seen by an entire generation.

There are many reasons for that. None, however, is bigger than the promise that Hamp, the second-oldest daughter of William Clay Ford Sr., made to her hometown three summers ago.

In August 1957, the greatest head football coach in Detroit Lions history told a room of wealthy supporters expecting a pep talk that he was done with them.

“Tonight, I’m getting out of the Detroit Lions organization,” coach Buddy Parker announced, per the Detroit News. “I’ve had enough.”

Parker’s decision was stunning. He’d guided the Lions within one game of an NFL championship three-peat in 1954, and after a down year in 1955, Parker rebuilt his defense around Joe Schmidt and had Detroit looking like a contender again. Then, just like that, he was gone. Not from football, though. Later in the month, Parker signed a five-year contract to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers. To this day, he is the only former Lions head coach to get another head coaching job in the NFL.

If anyone brought a curse on the Lions, it’s not Bobby Layne — it’s Buddy Parker, the Hall of Famer who couldn’t take another minute.

Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson may find that familiar.

William Clay Ford Sr. — the 31-year-old grandson of the Henry Ford — joined the Lions’ board of directors in 1956. By January 1961, he found himself in position to take control of the now aimless franchise by way of an American staple: a proxy war. It was a fight he won with ease.

By 1963, with the franchise still struggling to do anything (including sign its top three picks the year prior), Ford bought out the board for a reported $6 million and became sole owner of the Lions. Ford was a self-admitted crazed football fan, but he also never claimed to be an expert. Those he’d need to hire. One of his first moves was to name Russ Thomas, a former Lions lineman who played less than three years before working as a team scout/radio commentator, as de facto general manager.

Thomas would keep that spot for 25 years until he retired in 1989 and was replaced by Chuck Schmidt, who had no actual football experience.

The Lions lost roughly 55 percent of the 338 games presided over by Thomas. Perhaps no one outside of Ford (who died in 2014) has had a larger historical impact on the fortunes of the Lions, during and after their tenure, than Thomas. His reputation as a football negotiator more interested in financial savings than wins and losses followed him, and the Lions, like a shadow.

For years, Thomas was allowed to handle the team’s draft and contract negotiations more or less unchecked, leading to constant squabbles with coaches and personnel. Even after Ford removed draft responsibilities from Thomas’ job (handing them to the head coach instead), the GM — who once lost eventual Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff on a draft contract after trying to force him to work an offseason job as part of his deal — was still allowed to negotiate every contract. And that’s where the true control lived.

The Matt Millen era, from 2001 to 2008, is also notable. Millen — who was not unlike Thomas in terms of work ethic and style — had the title of president/CEO, but he was also the de facto GM. The Lions went 31-84 under his watch, the worst eight-year record in the modern NFL.

Since 1967, the Lions have employed just two general managers with both real football playing and scouting experience. Ford picked the first two: Thomas and Martin Mayhew.

His daughter picked No. 3:

Brad Holmes.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Spoiler: part 2 of 2

On June 23, 2020, nearly a lifetime after being told “no” by the game she loved, Sheila Hamp became principal owner of the Lions, taking over for her 94-year-old mother, Martha.

Then, she made a promise.

“I don’t plan to meddle,” she said that day, before getting to the truly important matter. “But I plan to be informed.”

When Ford bought the team, the NFL and AFL were still three years away from their historic merger. The NFL was hardly a mom-and-pop shop, but it was not the global behemoth it is now. Back then, Ford was also leading Ford Motor Company’s design team while serving on its board of directors, not fully retiring from the auto business until 1995. For most of Ford’s run, the Lions were an expensive side hustle.

His personal investment was more or less in ceremony, until a decision needed to be made. That resulted in frantic, reactionary moves that only served to keep the cycle of heartbreak spinning. If an owner has more investment in the business of a team than its competitive health, everything’s doomed.

The Lions are not a hobby or a side project for Hamp, who became one of the team’s vice chairs when her mother took ownership in 2014. Based solely on her actions since becoming principal owner, it’s fair to suggest that, for Hamp, the Lions are closer to family.

When the Lions hired ex-GM Bob Quinn (who personally hired coach Matt Patricia) in 2016, the process was a mess. Martha Ford, approaching 90, had been team owner less than two years, and the lack of a concrete plan was obvious. That led to the NFL appointing a third party, Ernie Accorsi, to help. The vision for Detroit’s future wasn’t really concocted in Detroit, but in a sterile office someplace else.

The result was a disaster. And by the time she fired both on Nov. 28, 2020, Hamp told team president Rod Wood the new search had to be different. This search, they felt, had to transcend usual business. Hamp wanted it to stay in the family. But not the Ford family. The Lions family.

A short time later, Wood called Chris Spielman, one of the greatest Lions to ever wear a helmet. One of the family’s proudest members.

Spielman was a young star on the 1991 Lions team that went 12-4 and beat Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys in the playoffs. A year later, Spielman’s Lions watched the playoffs at home as Dallas — which took care of its young talent — took its first step toward becoming the team of the ’90s.

Detroit’s ’91 team followed an inspired run to the NFC Championship Game with heartache. Eight months after Mike Utley was paralyzed during a game, fellow starting guard Eric Andolsek died after being hit by a truck in Louisiana. A month earlier, ace defensive backs coach Len Fontes, brother of Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, died of a heart attack.

And there was also resentment. A data dump in 1992 stemming from an NFL antitrust lawsuit revealed Wayne Fontes was one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the NFL. Nearly every key player from the 1991 team eventually left because the Lions wouldn’t pay them.

Thus, the 1991 Lions are known as a singular entity in Detroit, rather than the start of something bigger. The last Lions team to win a playoff game.

Spielman himself, a fan favorite who epitomized literally everything the area stood for during that run, was eventually allowed to leave for the Buffalo Bills after the 1995 season for a deal worth $2 million annually. The Lions replaced him with an older player for less money. Ford raised ticket prices in 1996, and the Lions went 5-11. For the 1997 regular-season finale at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions still managed to sell more than 80,000 tickets — 18,000 in three days to avoid a local TV blackout — to see Barry Sanders break the 2,000-yard season rushing mark.

If you’ve ever asked yourself why Detroit Lions fans still exist after all this, why anyone bothers to scrounge an ounce of hope after being kicked in the teeth more times than they can count — the answer is simple: This place and the people that make it are just tougher than you.

“Don’t be surprised if you see me back here someday in some capacity or other,” Spielman told the Free Press the day he left in 1996.

A week after Wood’s initial call to Spielman, the two spoke again. Spielman was in Cincinnati set to call a Cowboys-Bengals game for Fox. At some point, Wood asked if Spielman would talk with Hamp. Already excited about the possibility of rejoining his favorite franchise, Spielman said absolutely. Along the way, Hamp and Wood told Spielman things would be different this time. They talked of their plan to listen, to collaborate and to be invested. Hamp told Spielman this mission — the fixing of the unfixable — had become personal for her. She asked him for help and told him that, with trust and communication, they could give Detroit its football team back for the first time in 75 years.

When Spielman hung up the phone inside his Cincinnati hotel room that Saturday, he had enough energy to run through a padlocked door. His first move after the call was to find his Fox producer.

“Hey,” Spielman said. “This is my last game. I’m going to the Lions.”

Four days later, just as he had more than 30 years ago, Spielman put some stuff in a car and drove it to Detroit without so much as a blink.

“I have zero regrets,” Spielman told The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “It’s been an amazing journey and it’s been amazing because we’re at a point where we’re, I believe, legitimate contenders.”

However, Spielman did not hire Campbell or Holmes. Hamp did, bringing both on board in January 2021. She insisted she wanted to “do right by” the Lions and set the franchise up for an honest shot at success for the first time in forever. That was enough for Spielman, who worked his contacts and assisted Hamp and Wood throughout both searches. The culture they’ve created revolves around simple things: collaboration, telling the truth, being yourself and loving football. Detroit things.

In 2021, after being saddled with a salary cap in hell, a quarterback (Matthew Stafford) who wanted out, another (Jared Goff) nobody else wanted and a roster gutted to the studs, the new group Hamp assembled started its first season 0-10-1. At 1-5 in year two, a frustrated Hamp called an impromptu news conference only to let reporters know — in case they were wondering — she was still all-in on Campbell, Holmes and every person in her building.

The Lions went on to win eight of their final 11 games, beating Aaron Rodgers in his Lambeau Field swan song and missing the playoffs by a hair. In the visiting locker room after the finale, Campbell — nose red from the cold, snow cap still atop his 6-foot-6 frame — told a young locker room suddenly oozing confidence that “this is just the beginning.” Standing to his right, more than a foot shorter with an even bigger grin, was Hamp.

MCDC postgame speech Week 18

“I’m just telling you, I’m just freakin’ telling you — I’ve been around as a player and a coach in this league,” Campbell shouted as he pulled Hamp in for a hug. “We’ve got the best owner. Everything you could possibly need, every resource — she thinks about you guys all the time, man, she knows everything about you, she’s rock solid and as good as they come.

“She’s competitive. And, boy, she loves to win.”

What does it take to fix the unfixable? Tough people. True believers.

A coach who eats kneecaps. A general manager who lives to scout talent. A selfless assistant who just wants to help. And an owner who wants nothing more than to make her family and city proud as she gets to live a dream.

Win or lose in 2023, these are not the Same Old Lions. And that’s pretty easy to fall in love with.

 

[Da Guru]

Spoiler: part 2 of 2

On June 23, 2020, nearly a lifetime after being told “no” by the game she loved, Sheila Hamp became principal owner of the Lions, taking over for her 94-year-old mother, Martha.

Then, she made a promise.

“I don’t plan to meddle,” she said that day, before getting to the truly important matter. “But I plan to be informed.”

When Ford bought the team, the NFL and AFL were still three years away from their historic merger. The NFL was hardly a mom-and-pop shop, but it was not the global behemoth it is now. Back then, Ford was also leading Ford Motor Company’s design team while serving on its board of directors, not fully retiring from the auto business until 1995. For most of Ford’s run, the Lions were an expensive side hustle.

His personal investment was more or less in ceremony, until a decision needed to be made. That resulted in frantic, reactionary moves that only served to keep the cycle of heartbreak spinning. If an owner has more investment in the business of a team than its competitive health, everything’s doomed.

The Lions are not a hobby or a side project for Hamp, who became one of the team’s vice chairs when her mother took ownership in 2014. Based solely on her actions since becoming principal owner, it’s fair to suggest that, for Hamp, the Lions are closer to family.

When the Lions hired ex-GM Bob Quinn (who personally hired coach Matt Patricia) in 2016, the process was a mess. Martha Ford, approaching 90, had been team owner less than two years, and the lack of a concrete plan was obvious. That led to the NFL appointing a third party, Ernie Accorsi, to help. The vision for Detroit’s future wasn’t really concocted in Detroit, but in a sterile office someplace else.

The result was a disaster. And by the time she fired both on Nov. 28, 2020, Hamp told team president Rod Wood the new search had to be different. This search, they felt, had to transcend usual business. Hamp wanted it to stay in the family. But not the Ford family. The Lions family.

A short time later, Wood called Chris Spielman, one of the greatest Lions to ever wear a helmet. One of the family’s proudest members.

Spielman was a young star on the 1991 Lions team that went 12-4 and beat Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys in the playoffs. A year later, Spielman’s Lions watched the playoffs at home as Dallas — which took care of its young talent — took its first step toward becoming the team of the ’90s.

Detroit’s ’91 team followed an inspired run to the NFC Championship Game with heartache. Eight months after Mike Utley was paralyzed during a game, fellow starting guard Eric Andolsek died after being hit by a truck in Louisiana. A month earlier, ace defensive backs coach Len Fontes, brother of Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, died of a heart attack.

And there was also resentment. A data dump in 1992 stemming from an NFL antitrust lawsuit revealed Wayne Fontes was one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the NFL. Nearly every key player from the 1991 team eventually left because the Lions wouldn’t pay them.

Thus, the 1991 Lions are known as a singular entity in Detroit, rather than the start of something bigger. The last Lions team to win a playoff game.

Spielman himself, a fan favorite who epitomized literally everything the area stood for during that run, was eventually allowed to leave for the Buffalo Bills after the 1995 season for a deal worth $2 million annually. The Lions replaced him with an older player for less money. Ford raised ticket prices in 1996, and the Lions went 5-11. For the 1997 regular-season finale at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions still managed to sell more than 80,000 tickets — 18,000 in three days to avoid a local TV blackout — to see Barry Sanders break the 2,000-yard season rushing mark.

If you’ve ever asked yourself why Detroit Lions fans still exist after all this, why anyone bothers to scrounge an ounce of hope after being kicked in the teeth more times than they can count — the answer is simple: This place and the people that make it are just tougher than you.

“Don’t be surprised if you see me back here someday in some capacity or other,” Spielman told the Free Press the day he left in 1996.

A week after Wood’s initial call to Spielman, the two spoke again. Spielman was in Cincinnati set to call a Cowboys-Bengals game for Fox. At some point, Wood asked if Spielman would talk with Hamp. Already excited about the possibility of rejoining his favorite franchise, Spielman said absolutely. Along the way, Hamp and Wood told Spielman things would be different this time. They talked of their plan to listen, to collaborate and to be invested. Hamp told Spielman this mission — the fixing of the unfixable — had become personal for her. She asked him for help and told him that, with trust and communication, they could give Detroit its football team back for the first time in 75 years.

When Spielman hung up the phone inside his Cincinnati hotel room that Saturday, he had enough energy to run through a padlocked door. His first move after the call was to find his Fox producer.

“Hey,” Spielman said. “This is my last game. I’m going to the Lions.”

Four days later, just as he had more than 30 years ago, Spielman put some stuff in a car and drove it to Detroit without so much as a blink.

“I have zero regrets,” Spielman told The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “It’s been an amazing journey and it’s been amazing because we’re at a point where we’re, I believe, legitimate contenders.”

However, Spielman did not hire Campbell or Holmes. Hamp did, bringing both on board in January 2021. She insisted she wanted to “do right by” the Lions and set the franchise up for an honest shot at success for the first time in forever. That was enough for Spielman, who worked his contacts and assisted Hamp and Wood throughout both searches. The culture they’ve created revolves around simple things: collaboration, telling the truth, being yourself and loving football. Detroit things.

In 2021, after being saddled with a salary cap in hell, a quarterback (Matthew Stafford) who wanted out, another (Jared Goff) nobody else wanted and a roster gutted to the studs, the new group Hamp assembled started its first season 0-10-1. At 1-5 in year two, a frustrated Hamp called an impromptu news conference only to let reporters know — in case they were wondering — she was still all-in on Campbell, Holmes and every person in her building.

The Lions went on to win eight of their final 11 games, beating Aaron Rodgers in his Lambeau Field swan song and missing the playoffs by a hair. In the visiting locker room after the finale, Campbell — nose red from the cold, snow cap still atop his 6-foot-6 frame — told a young locker room suddenly oozing confidence that “this is just the beginning.” Standing to his right, more than a foot shorter with an even bigger grin, was Hamp.

MCDC postgame speech Week 18

“I’m just telling you, I’m just freakin’ telling you — I’ve been around as a player and a coach in this league,” Campbell shouted as he pulled Hamp in for a hug. “We’ve got the best owner. Everything you could possibly need, every resource — she thinks about you guys all the time, man, she knows everything about you, she’s rock solid and as good as they come.

“She’s competitive. And, boy, she loves to win.”

What does it take to fix the unfixable? Tough people. True believers.

A coach who eats kneecaps. A general manager who lives to scout talent. A selfless assistant who just wants to help. And an owner who wants nothing more than to make her family and city proud as she gets to live a dream.

Win or lose in 2023, these are not the Same Old Lions. And that’s pretty easy to fall in love with.

I agree 100% the Lions are not the same. That being said they still have a lot to prove. The hype is big this season and it is hard not to get carried away.

Right now looking at schedule 11 wins should be achievable. Vegas does not think so.

OU in Vegas is 9.5 wins for Detroit. I like over.

 

[Snotbubbles]

The opener against the Chiefs, is one of those games that if you win, can propel a team to go on a run and have a magical season.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Spoiler: part 2 of 2

On June 23, 2020, nearly a lifetime after being told “no” by the game she loved, Sheila Hamp became principal owner of the Lions, taking over for her 94-year-old mother, Martha.

Then, she made a promise.

“I don’t plan to meddle,” she said that day, before getting to the truly important matter. “But I plan to be informed.”

When Ford bought the team, the NFL and AFL were still three years away from their historic merger. The NFL was hardly a mom-and-pop shop, but it was not the global behemoth it is now. Back then, Ford was also leading Ford Motor Company’s design team while serving on its board of directors, not fully retiring from the auto business until 1995. For most of Ford’s run, the Lions were an expensive side hustle.

His personal investment was more or less in ceremony, until a decision needed to be made. That resulted in frantic, reactionary moves that only served to keep the cycle of heartbreak spinning. If an owner has more investment in the business of a team than its competitive health, everything’s doomed.

The Lions are not a hobby or a side project for Hamp, who became one of the team’s vice chairs when her mother took ownership in 2014. Based solely on her actions since becoming principal owner, it’s fair to suggest that, for Hamp, the Lions are closer to family.

When the Lions hired ex-GM Bob Quinn (who personally hired coach Matt Patricia) in 2016, the process was a mess. Martha Ford, approaching 90, had been team owner less than two years, and the lack of a concrete plan was obvious. That led to the NFL appointing a third party, Ernie Accorsi, to help. The vision for Detroit’s future wasn’t really concocted in Detroit, but in a sterile office someplace else.

The result was a disaster. And by the time she fired both on Nov. 28, 2020, Hamp told team president Rod Wood the new search had to be different. This search, they felt, had to transcend usual business. Hamp wanted it to stay in the family. But not the Ford family. The Lions family.

A short time later, Wood called Chris Spielman, one of the greatest Lions to ever wear a helmet. One of the family’s proudest members.

Spielman was a young star on the 1991 Lions team that went 12-4 and beat Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys in the playoffs. A year later, Spielman’s Lions watched the playoffs at home as Dallas — which took care of its young talent — took its first step toward becoming the team of the ’90s.

Detroit’s ’91 team followed an inspired run to the NFC Championship Game with heartache. Eight months after Mike Utley was paralyzed during a game, fellow starting guard Eric Andolsek died after being hit by a truck in Louisiana. A month earlier, ace defensive backs coach Len Fontes, brother of Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, died of a heart attack.

And there was also resentment. A data dump in 1992 stemming from an NFL antitrust lawsuit revealed Wayne Fontes was one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the NFL. Nearly every key player from the 1991 team eventually left because the Lions wouldn’t pay them.

Thus, the 1991 Lions are known as a singular entity in Detroit, rather than the start of something bigger. The last Lions team to win a playoff game.

Spielman himself, a fan favorite who epitomized literally everything the area stood for during that run, was eventually allowed to leave for the Buffalo Bills after the 1995 season for a deal worth $2 million annually. The Lions replaced him with an older player for less money. Ford raised ticket prices in 1996, and the Lions went 5-11. For the 1997 regular-season finale at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions still managed to sell more than 80,000 tickets — 18,000 in three days to avoid a local TV blackout — to see Barry Sanders break the 2,000-yard season rushing mark.

If you’ve ever asked yourself why Detroit Lions fans still exist after all this, why anyone bothers to scrounge an ounce of hope after being kicked in the teeth more times than they can count — the answer is simple: This place and the people that make it are just tougher than you.

“Don’t be surprised if you see me back here someday in some capacity or other,” Spielman told the Free Press the day he left in 1996.

A week after Wood’s initial call to Spielman, the two spoke again. Spielman was in Cincinnati set to call a Cowboys-Bengals game for Fox. At some point, Wood asked if Spielman would talk with Hamp. Already excited about the possibility of rejoining his favorite franchise, Spielman said absolutely. Along the way, Hamp and Wood told Spielman things would be different this time. They talked of their plan to listen, to collaborate and to be invested. Hamp told Spielman this mission — the fixing of the unfixable — had become personal for her. She asked him for help and told him that, with trust and communication, they could give Detroit its football team back for the first time in 75 years.

When Spielman hung up the phone inside his Cincinnati hotel room that Saturday, he had enough energy to run through a padlocked door. His first move after the call was to find his Fox producer.

“Hey,” Spielman said. “This is my last game. I’m going to the Lions.”

Four days later, just as he had more than 30 years ago, Spielman put some stuff in a car and drove it to Detroit without so much as a blink.

“I have zero regrets,” Spielman told The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “It’s been an amazing journey and it’s been amazing because we’re at a point where we’re, I believe, legitimate contenders.”

However, Spielman did not hire Campbell or Holmes. Hamp did, bringing both on board in January 2021. She insisted she wanted to “do right by” the Lions and set the franchise up for an honest shot at success for the first time in forever. That was enough for Spielman, who worked his contacts and assisted Hamp and Wood throughout both searches. The culture they’ve created revolves around simple things: collaboration, telling the truth, being yourself and loving football. Detroit things.

In 2021, after being saddled with a salary cap in hell, a quarterback (Matthew Stafford) who wanted out, another (Jared Goff) nobody else wanted and a roster gutted to the studs, the new group Hamp assembled started its first season 0-10-1. At 1-5 in year two, a frustrated Hamp called an impromptu news conference only to let reporters know — in case they were wondering — she was still all-in on Campbell, Holmes and every person in her building.

The Lions went on to win eight of their final 11 games, beating Aaron Rodgers in his Lambeau Field swan song and missing the playoffs by a hair. In the visiting locker room after the finale, Campbell — nose red from the cold, snow cap still atop his 6-foot-6 frame — told a young locker room suddenly oozing confidence that “this is just the beginning.” Standing to his right, more than a foot shorter with an even bigger grin, was Hamp.

MCDC postgame speech Week 18

“I’m just telling you, I’m just freakin’ telling you — I’ve been around as a player and a coach in this league,” Campbell shouted as he pulled Hamp in for a hug. “We’ve got the best owner. Everything you could possibly need, every resource — she thinks about you guys all the time, man, she knows everything about you, she’s rock solid and as good as they come.

“She’s competitive. And, boy, she loves to win.”

What does it take to fix the unfixable? Tough people. True believers.

A coach who eats kneecaps. A general manager who lives to scout talent. A selfless assistant who just wants to help. And an owner who wants nothing more than to make her family and city proud as she gets to live a dream.

Win or lose in 2023, these are not the Same Old Lions. And that’s pretty easy to fall in love with.

I agree 100% the Lions are not the same. That being said they still have a lot to prove. The hype is big this season and it is hard not to get carried away.

Right now looking at schedule 11 wins should be achievable. Vegas does not think so.

OU in Vegas is 9.5 wins for Detroit. I like over.

I feel like Campbell is keeping them on an even keel. You hear it over and over again from the players, too. 1) they haven't accomplished jack, and 2) last year means nothing, every year is it's own deal.

Fans are off the hook optimistic. Nationally they are getting a level of attention that seems unprecedented. You live there so you probably have a better sense than I do but just the level of positivity from national media and the people who showed up at camp - boy, I just don't remember that happening in years past. Ever.

End of the day, they're 30 years removed from their last division title and haven't won a playoff game in 32. You want respect, you have to go out and earn it. All the feel good stories in the world mean nothing unless it translates into success on the field. Y1 they had a pass, complete tear down. Beginning of Y2 was an unmitigated disaster but they finished strong. Now it's time to be actual contenders, to actually be a good team that is tough to beat. It's all right there for them but until you do it they deserve to be doubted bc all we've known for 66 years is utter futility.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Justin Rogers
@Justin_Rogers

Checked in with a source on the Buggs' tweet and early impression is there's no change with his status with the Lions. Until I hear something different, I'm thinking it's nothing.

7:07 PM · Sep 3, 2023

Buggs was the only Lion not in camp, he deleted his profile picture in a Lions uniform, deleted any reference to being a Lion, and put out a cryptic tweet about change.

I would be shocked if it was nothing. There is way too much smoke there. To put on my speculation hat, if it was about a trade with TB, it would be a done deal and the radio silence would be unneccessary. Now if the deal was with KC and was planned to be executed after Thursday.....

That would be an all-in move.

[Rogers]: "Another source tells me no IR for Buggs. What was thought to be an injury from the preseason game that kept him out of practice (including by me) was an illness."

 

[jon_mx]

Justin Rogers
@Justin_Rogers

Checked in with a source on the Buggs' tweet and early impression is there's no change with his status with the Lions. Until I hear something different, I'm thinking it's nothing.

7:07 PM · Sep 3, 2023

Buggs was the only Lion not in camp, he deleted his profile picture in a Lions uniform, deleted any reference to being a Lion, and put out a cryptic tweet about change.

I would be shocked if it was nothing. There is way too much smoke there. To put on my speculation hat, if it was about a trade with TB, it would be a done deal and the radio silence would be unneccessary. Now if the deal was with KC and was planned to be executed after Thursday.....

That would be an all-in move.

[Rogers]: "Another source tells me no IR for Buggs. What was thought to be an injury from the preseason game that kept him out of practice (including by me) was an illness."

Sounds like Buggs is throwing a tantrum over getting passed up by Benito Jones. While I understand some frustration, seems on the childish side.

 

[BobbyLayne]

AFAIK there are not - and have never been - any credible reports of Benito Jones (who barely made the 53 man) passed Buggs. Isaiah outsnapped him 755-311 last year and is a starter. Jones is rotational guy who will be fighting Levi Onwuzurike & Brodric Martin for snaps.

Edit - don’t listen to me, I obviously don’t know anything about the Lions interior DL rotation

 

[Da Guru]

Spoiler: part 2 of 2

On June 23, 2020, nearly a lifetime after being told “no” by the game she loved, Sheila Hamp became principal owner of the Lions, taking over for her 94-year-old mother, Martha.

Then, she made a promise.

“I don’t plan to meddle,” she said that day, before getting to the truly important matter. “But I plan to be informed.”

When Ford bought the team, the NFL and AFL were still three years away from their historic merger. The NFL was hardly a mom-and-pop shop, but it was not the global behemoth it is now. Back then, Ford was also leading Ford Motor Company’s design team while serving on its board of directors, not fully retiring from the auto business until 1995. For most of Ford’s run, the Lions were an expensive side hustle.

His personal investment was more or less in ceremony, until a decision needed to be made. That resulted in frantic, reactionary moves that only served to keep the cycle of heartbreak spinning. If an owner has more investment in the business of a team than its competitive health, everything’s doomed.

The Lions are not a hobby or a side project for Hamp, who became one of the team’s vice chairs when her mother took ownership in 2014. Based solely on her actions since becoming principal owner, it’s fair to suggest that, for Hamp, the Lions are closer to family.

When the Lions hired ex-GM Bob Quinn (who personally hired coach Matt Patricia) in 2016, the process was a mess. Martha Ford, approaching 90, had been team owner less than two years, and the lack of a concrete plan was obvious. That led to the NFL appointing a third party, Ernie Accorsi, to help. The vision for Detroit’s future wasn’t really concocted in Detroit, but in a sterile office someplace else.

The result was a disaster. And by the time she fired both on Nov. 28, 2020, Hamp told team president Rod Wood the new search had to be different. This search, they felt, had to transcend usual business. Hamp wanted it to stay in the family. But not the Ford family. The Lions family.

A short time later, Wood called Chris Spielman, one of the greatest Lions to ever wear a helmet. One of the family’s proudest members.

Spielman was a young star on the 1991 Lions team that went 12-4 and beat Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys in the playoffs. A year later, Spielman’s Lions watched the playoffs at home as Dallas — which took care of its young talent — took its first step toward becoming the team of the ’90s.

Detroit’s ’91 team followed an inspired run to the NFC Championship Game with heartache. Eight months after Mike Utley was paralyzed during a game, fellow starting guard Eric Andolsek died after being hit by a truck in Louisiana. A month earlier, ace defensive backs coach Len Fontes, brother of Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, died of a heart attack.

And there was also resentment. A data dump in 1992 stemming from an NFL antitrust lawsuit revealed Wayne Fontes was one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the NFL. Nearly every key player from the 1991 team eventually left because the Lions wouldn’t pay them.

Thus, the 1991 Lions are known as a singular entity in Detroit, rather than the start of something bigger. The last Lions team to win a playoff game.

Spielman himself, a fan favorite who epitomized literally everything the area stood for during that run, was eventually allowed to leave for the Buffalo Bills after the 1995 season for a deal worth $2 million annually. The Lions replaced him with an older player for less money. Ford raised ticket prices in 1996, and the Lions went 5-11. For the 1997 regular-season finale at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions still managed to sell more than 80,000 tickets — 18,000 in three days to avoid a local TV blackout — to see Barry Sanders break the 2,000-yard season rushing mark.

If you’ve ever asked yourself why Detroit Lions fans still exist after all this, why anyone bothers to scrounge an ounce of hope after being kicked in the teeth more times than they can count — the answer is simple: This place and the people that make it are just tougher than you.

“Don’t be surprised if you see me back here someday in some capacity or other,” Spielman told the Free Press the day he left in 1996.

A week after Wood’s initial call to Spielman, the two spoke again. Spielman was in Cincinnati set to call a Cowboys-Bengals game for Fox. At some point, Wood asked if Spielman would talk with Hamp. Already excited about the possibility of rejoining his favorite franchise, Spielman said absolutely. Along the way, Hamp and Wood told Spielman things would be different this time. They talked of their plan to listen, to collaborate and to be invested. Hamp told Spielman this mission — the fixing of the unfixable — had become personal for her. She asked him for help and told him that, with trust and communication, they could give Detroit its football team back for the first time in 75 years.

When Spielman hung up the phone inside his Cincinnati hotel room that Saturday, he had enough energy to run through a padlocked door. His first move after the call was to find his Fox producer.

“Hey,” Spielman said. “This is my last game. I’m going to the Lions.”

Four days later, just as he had more than 30 years ago, Spielman put some stuff in a car and drove it to Detroit without so much as a blink.

“I have zero regrets,” Spielman told The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “It’s been an amazing journey and it’s been amazing because we’re at a point where we’re, I believe, legitimate contenders.”

However, Spielman did not hire Campbell or Holmes. Hamp did, bringing both on board in January 2021. She insisted she wanted to “do right by” the Lions and set the franchise up for an honest shot at success for the first time in forever. That was enough for Spielman, who worked his contacts and assisted Hamp and Wood throughout both searches. The culture they’ve created revolves around simple things: collaboration, telling the truth, being yourself and loving football. Detroit things.

In 2021, after being saddled with a salary cap in hell, a quarterback (Matthew Stafford) who wanted out, another (Jared Goff) nobody else wanted and a roster gutted to the studs, the new group Hamp assembled started its first season 0-10-1. At 1-5 in year two, a frustrated Hamp called an impromptu news conference only to let reporters know — in case they were wondering — she was still all-in on Campbell, Holmes and every person in her building.

The Lions went on to win eight of their final 11 games, beating Aaron Rodgers in his Lambeau Field swan song and missing the playoffs by a hair. In the visiting locker room after the finale, Campbell — nose red from the cold, snow cap still atop his 6-foot-6 frame — told a young locker room suddenly oozing confidence that “this is just the beginning.” Standing to his right, more than a foot shorter with an even bigger grin, was Hamp.

MCDC postgame speech Week 18

“I’m just telling you, I’m just freakin’ telling you — I’ve been around as a player and a coach in this league,” Campbell shouted as he pulled Hamp in for a hug. “We’ve got the best owner. Everything you could possibly need, every resource — she thinks about you guys all the time, man, she knows everything about you, she’s rock solid and as good as they come.

“She’s competitive. And, boy, she loves to win.”

What does it take to fix the unfixable? Tough people. True believers.

A coach who eats kneecaps. A general manager who lives to scout talent. A selfless assistant who just wants to help. And an owner who wants nothing more than to make her family and city proud as she gets to live a dream.

Win or lose in 2023, these are not the Same Old Lions. And that’s pretty easy to fall in love with.

I agree 100% the Lions are not the same. That being said they still have a lot to prove. The hype is big this season and it is hard not to get carried away.

Right now looking at schedule 11 wins should be achievable. Vegas does not think so.

OU in Vegas is 9.5 wins for Detroit. I like over.

I feel like Campbell is keeping them on an even keel. You hear it over and over again from the players, too. 1) they haven't accomplished jack, and 2) last year means nothing, every year is it's own deal.

Fans are off the hook optimistic. Nationally they are getting a level of attention that seems unprecedented. You live there so you probably have a better sense than I do but just the level of positivity from national media and the people who showed up at camp - boy, I just don't remember that happening in years past. Ever.

End of the day, they're 30 years removed from their last division title and haven't won a playoff game in 32. You want respect, you have to go out and earn it. All the feel good stories in the world mean nothing unless it translates into success on the field. Y1 they had a pass, complete tear down. Beginning of Y2 was an unmitigated disaster but they finished strong. Now it's time to be actual contenders, to actually be a good team that is tough to beat. It's all right there for them but until you do it they deserve to be doubted bc all we've known for 66 years is utter futility.

Yep! There are not many gimmes in the NFL. If Lions end up 8-9 or 9-8 and miss playoffs is the season a failure?

The thing I do feel good about is having Teddy as the backup if Goff has to miss any games. Teddy can keep the train on the tracks if needed. That was not the case before.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Chiefs 34
Lions 27

 

[BobbyLayne]

Chiefs 34
Lions 27

wrong thread pal

Pittsburgh 38 San Francisco 0

I kid, I kid

I don't think week 1 makes or breaks the season, but I hope they upset KC

really tired of folks who casually root for the Lions bc they think it's a warm and fuzzy story about a down on their luck franchise/city

it's a good team FULL STOP they have a roster that can hang with anyone

and quick aside, the city doesn't need anyone feeling sorry for it; they've got a lot of good things going on

would be one of if the biggest regular season upset ever for the Lions - I've been a fan for 56 years and there just haven't been a lot of signature wins

I agree with @Snotbubbles upthread, could absolutely propel them to an amazing season

 

[BobbyLayne]

Yep! There are not many gimmes in the NFL. If Lions end up 8-9 or 9-8 and miss playoffs is the season a failure?

The thing I do feel good about is having Teddy as the backup if Goff has to miss any games. Teddy can keep the train on the tracks if needed. That was not the case before.

I would say so - in fact I'd say if they don't win the division and a playoff game it'll be disappointing

my expectation are this isn't Jim Caldwell's Lions

the standard should not be beat the bad teams and lose to everyone who is .500 or above

missing the playoffs or losing a first round WC game is not an accomplishment

success means doing more and going farther

 

[Moonlight]

Spoiler: part 2 of 2

On June 23, 2020, nearly a lifetime after being told “no” by the game she loved, Sheila Hamp became principal owner of the Lions, taking over for her 94-year-old mother, Martha.

Then, she made a promise.

“I don’t plan to meddle,” she said that day, before getting to the truly important matter. “But I plan to be informed.”

When Ford bought the team, the NFL and AFL were still three years away from their historic merger. The NFL was hardly a mom-and-pop shop, but it was not the global behemoth it is now. Back then, Ford was also leading Ford Motor Company’s design team while serving on its board of directors, not fully retiring from the auto business until 1995. For most of Ford’s run, the Lions were an expensive side hustle.

His personal investment was more or less in ceremony, until a decision needed to be made. That resulted in frantic, reactionary moves that only served to keep the cycle of heartbreak spinning. If an owner has more investment in the business of a team than its competitive health, everything’s doomed.

The Lions are not a hobby or a side project for Hamp, who became one of the team’s vice chairs when her mother took ownership in 2014. Based solely on her actions since becoming principal owner, it’s fair to suggest that, for Hamp, the Lions are closer to family.

When the Lions hired ex-GM Bob Quinn (who personally hired coach Matt Patricia) in 2016, the process was a mess. Martha Ford, approaching 90, had been team owner less than two years, and the lack of a concrete plan was obvious. That led to the NFL appointing a third party, Ernie Accorsi, to help. The vision for Detroit’s future wasn’t really concocted in Detroit, but in a sterile office someplace else.

The result was a disaster. And by the time she fired both on Nov. 28, 2020, Hamp told team president Rod Wood the new search had to be different. This search, they felt, had to transcend usual business. Hamp wanted it to stay in the family. But not the Ford family. The Lions family.

A short time later, Wood called Chris Spielman, one of the greatest Lions to ever wear a helmet. One of the family’s proudest members.

Spielman was a young star on the 1991 Lions team that went 12-4 and beat Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys in the playoffs. A year later, Spielman’s Lions watched the playoffs at home as Dallas — which took care of its young talent — took its first step toward becoming the team of the ’90s.

Detroit’s ’91 team followed an inspired run to the NFC Championship Game with heartache. Eight months after Mike Utley was paralyzed during a game, fellow starting guard Eric Andolsek died after being hit by a truck in Louisiana. A month earlier, ace defensive backs coach Len Fontes, brother of Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, died of a heart attack.

And there was also resentment. A data dump in 1992 stemming from an NFL antitrust lawsuit revealed Wayne Fontes was one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the NFL. Nearly every key player from the 1991 team eventually left because the Lions wouldn’t pay them.

Thus, the 1991 Lions are known as a singular entity in Detroit, rather than the start of something bigger. The last Lions team to win a playoff game.

Spielman himself, a fan favorite who epitomized literally everything the area stood for during that run, was eventually allowed to leave for the Buffalo Bills after the 1995 season for a deal worth $2 million annually. The Lions replaced him with an older player for less money. Ford raised ticket prices in 1996, and the Lions went 5-11. For the 1997 regular-season finale at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions still managed to sell more than 80,000 tickets — 18,000 in three days to avoid a local TV blackout — to see Barry Sanders break the 2,000-yard season rushing mark.

If you’ve ever asked yourself why Detroit Lions fans still exist after all this, why anyone bothers to scrounge an ounce of hope after being kicked in the teeth more times than they can count — the answer is simple: This place and the people that make it are just tougher than you.

“Don’t be surprised if you see me back here someday in some capacity or other,” Spielman told the Free Press the day he left in 1996.

A week after Wood’s initial call to Spielman, the two spoke again. Spielman was in Cincinnati set to call a Cowboys-Bengals game for Fox. At some point, Wood asked if Spielman would talk with Hamp. Already excited about the possibility of rejoining his favorite franchise, Spielman said absolutely. Along the way, Hamp and Wood told Spielman things would be different this time. They talked of their plan to listen, to collaborate and to be invested. Hamp told Spielman this mission — the fixing of the unfixable — had become personal for her. She asked him for help and told him that, with trust and communication, they could give Detroit its football team back for the first time in 75 years.

When Spielman hung up the phone inside his Cincinnati hotel room that Saturday, he had enough energy to run through a padlocked door. His first move after the call was to find his Fox producer.

“Hey,” Spielman said. “This is my last game. I’m going to the Lions.”

Four days later, just as he had more than 30 years ago, Spielman put some stuff in a car and drove it to Detroit without so much as a blink.

“I have zero regrets,” Spielman told The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “It’s been an amazing journey and it’s been amazing because we’re at a point where we’re, I believe, legitimate contenders.”

However, Spielman did not hire Campbell or Holmes. Hamp did, bringing both on board in January 2021. She insisted she wanted to “do right by” the Lions and set the franchise up for an honest shot at success for the first time in forever. That was enough for Spielman, who worked his contacts and assisted Hamp and Wood throughout both searches. The culture they’ve created revolves around simple things: collaboration, telling the truth, being yourself and loving football. Detroit things.

In 2021, after being saddled with a salary cap in hell, a quarterback (Matthew Stafford) who wanted out, another (Jared Goff) nobody else wanted and a roster gutted to the studs, the new group Hamp assembled started its first season 0-10-1. At 1-5 in year two, a frustrated Hamp called an impromptu news conference only to let reporters know — in case they were wondering — she was still all-in on Campbell, Holmes and every person in her building.

The Lions went on to win eight of their final 11 games, beating Aaron Rodgers in his Lambeau Field swan song and missing the playoffs by a hair. In the visiting locker room after the finale, Campbell — nose red from the cold, snow cap still atop his 6-foot-6 frame — told a young locker room suddenly oozing confidence that “this is just the beginning.” Standing to his right, more than a foot shorter with an even bigger grin, was Hamp.

MCDC postgame speech Week 18

“I’m just telling you, I’m just freakin’ telling you — I’ve been around as a player and a coach in this league,” Campbell shouted as he pulled Hamp in for a hug. “We’ve got the best owner. Everything you could possibly need, every resource — she thinks about you guys all the time, man, she knows everything about you, she’s rock solid and as good as they come.

“She’s competitive. And, boy, she loves to win.”

What does it take to fix the unfixable? Tough people. True believers.

A coach who eats kneecaps. A general manager who lives to scout talent. A selfless assistant who just wants to help. And an owner who wants nothing more than to make her family and city proud as she gets to live a dream.

Win or lose in 2023, these are not the Same Old Lions. And that’s pretty easy to fall in love with.

Outstanding and inspiring article.
A concise and accurate history of the Lions since 1957.
I got fired up reading it. It’s wonderful to go from the fraudulent Matt Millen time of depression and no hope to now where everything seems possible.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Plot twist

Isaiah Buggs said he doesn't want people to read into his social media posts, but he's been told he won't be active this week, he's disappointed (obviously) and his plan is to just put his head down, go to work and reclaim a role.

“As of right now, they told me I was not gonna play, so, that’s what we’ve got. I’m gonna be be straightforward with it because they were straightforward with me.”

 

[Moonlight]

AFAIK there are not - and have never been - any credible reports of Benito Jones (who barely made the 53 man) passed Buggs. Isaiah outsnapped him 755-311 last year and is a starter. Jones is rotational guy who will be fighting Levi Onwuzurike & Brodric Martin for snaps.

This stuff just seems like pregame jitters but coming from the fans.

 

[BobbyLayne]

AFAIK there are not - and have never been - any credible reports of Benito Jones (who barely made the 53 man) passed Buggs. Isaiah outsnapped him 755-311 last year and is a starter. Jones is rotational guy who will be fighting Levi Onwuzurike & Brodric Martin for snaps.

This stuff just seems like pregame jitters but coming from the fans.

See above (& my edit)

Weird stuff but gotta trust Dan & the coaches know more than we do

 

[need2know]

Yeah I think lions play them good but it's tough to see KC dropping their home opener. Reid is awesome with tons of time.....

 

[jon_mx]

AFAIK there are not - and have never been - any credible reports of Benito Jones (who barely made the 53 man) passed Buggs. Isaiah outsnapped him 755-311 last year and is a starter. Jones is rotational guy who will be fighting Levi Onwuzurike & Brodric Martin for snaps.

Edit - don’t listen to me, I obviously don’t know anything about the Lions interior DL rotation

Doesn't seem like the MCDC took too kindly to Buggs actions. Not suiting up for game 1. My guess is Levi is starting with Alim with Brodric being the main sub. Will be pretty miraculous if Levi can overcome the back issues he had and give us a full season.

 

[jon_mx]

Yeah I think lions play them good but it's tough to see KC dropping their home opener. Reid is awesome with tons of time.....

KC is a great coached team and Mahomes may very well be the GOAT. But I still kind of like the Lions chances. It is hard to know how to plan for the Lions as there are so many new weapons on offense and so many new defensive pieces. Even with the hype, I think the Lions will be underestimated early on. The only tape they have on the Lions will be on their O-Line, Goff and ARSB. I don't see how they will have much of a clue on how to attack the defense.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Cominsky & Paschal are comfortable playing 3 Tech. I’m not sure what Levi’s role will be but sure is awesome he’s healthy again. Martin probably only plays short yardage situations; I expect his playing time to minimal. Big boy but he’s got some fundament issues, plays too upright.

 

[BobbyLayne]

CB Emmanuel Moseley (knee) was listed as limited in Detroit's first practice report of season. Everyone else was a full participant.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Beyond - Levi Onwuzurike

Lengthy essay written by Levi detailing his back injury, rehab, surgery, et al. Long read but pretty insightful.

ETA - he had a L5-S1 fusion done; basically he’s a case study at this point. there’s been one NFL player who came back from it yo play again (obscure TE I’ve forgotten.) it’s considered major surgery and it takes months of recovery before you can even begin rehab. big win that he made through camp and preseason without any setbacks.

FWIW, love his perspective in the linked article. Goes into a lot of detail about the pain and his mental approach.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Media availability Monday: Isaiah Buggs & Alim McNeil

 

[Moonlight]

KC has 2 new OTs who some say are not as good as the guys they replaced. If Lions can bring pressure without blitzing their chances greatly improve. KC lost their OC and as jon mx said above Lions will have some new looks. Last year in their losses Lions played pretty even with the good offensive teams but struggled scoring and were dominated by the good defenses on the road. Lost big time on the road to Carolina who I wouldn't classify as either a good offense or defense, they just beat the snot out of us.

Still KC has one of the best home field advantages and more experience in big games and the best QB and Goff not as good on the road.

I expect the Lions to be competitive in this game but winning this game on the road before the defense jells will be most difficult and not expected. Lions need to avoid turnovers and perhaps a late turnover decides who wins the game.

 

[BobbyLayne]

KC has 2 new OTs who some say are not as good as the guys they replaced. If Lions can bring pressure without blitzing their chances greatly improve. KC lost their OC and as jon mx said above Lions will have some new looks. Last year in their losses Lions played pretty even with the good offensive teams but struggled scoring and were dominated by the good defenses on the road. Lost big time on the road to Carolina who I wouldn't classify as either a good offense or defense, they just beat the snot out of us.

Still KC has one of the best home field advantages and more experience in big games and the best QB and Goff not as good on the road.

I expect the Lions to be competitive in this game but winning this game on the road before the defense jells will be most difficult and not expected. Lions need to avoid turnovers and perhaps a late turnover decides who wins the game.

New OC (former Bears HC Matt Nagy) was the quarterbacks coach in Mahomes rookie year when he sat and developed.

The tackes are a work in progress; conversely, Joe Thuney at left guard, Creed Humphrey at center and Trey Smith at right guard might be the best interior trio in the league. It's the Chiefs, they'll figure it out, they always do.

KC planned to move on from Orlando Brown. He wanted to reset the LT market after 4 straight pro bowl seasons. He ended up becoming Joe Burrow's new LT, for far less than he was seeking. Chiefs signed the Jags RT and gave him $80M ($20M apy) to move to LT. Except later they signed the Bucs turnstile LT (30 y.o. Donovan Smith) for $3M and decided to leave Jawaan Taylor at RT. So now they have the 2nd highest paid RT and a questionable replacement at LT. It's the Chiefs, they'll figure it out, they always do.

 

[Da Guru]

Beyond - Levi Onwuzurike

Lengthy essay written by Levi detailing his back injury, rehab, surgery, et al. Long read but pretty insightful.

ETA - he had a L5-S1 fusion done; basically he’s a case study at this point. there’s been one NFL player who came back from it yo play again (obscure TE I’ve forgotten.) it’s considered major surgery and it takes months of recovery before you can even begin rehab. big win that he made through camp and preseason without any setbacks.

FWIW, love his perspective in the linked article. Goes into a lot of detail about the pain and his mental approach.

I had L-5 fusion done at 22 from a ruptured disk.

Came back to have a successful beer hockey, softball and golf league career and work out 4-5 days a week so it can be done.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Beyond - Levi Onwuzurike

Lengthy essay written by Levi detailing his back injury, rehab, surgery, et al. Long read but pretty insightful.

ETA - he had a L5-S1 fusion done; basically he’s a case study at this point. there’s been one NFL player who came back from it yo play again (obscure TE I’ve forgotten.) it’s considered major surgery and it takes months of recovery before you can even begin rehab. big win that he made through camp and preseason without any setbacks.

FWIW, love his perspective in the linked article. Goes into a lot of detail about the pain and his mental approach.

I had L-5 fusion done at 22 from a ruptured disk.

Came back to have a successful beer hockey, softball and golf league career and work out 4-5 days a week so it can be done.

If Onwuzurike can play 70% of the games that should be a successful season for him. For this season, I would set that bar for him to play maybe 20% of the snaps, just be a rotational guy for as long as he can. The goal for this year should be to try and play 17 games without any setbacks. But NFL players say that after a game you feel like you've been in a car accident, so I expect the wear and tear to limit him as the season progresses.

 

[Da Guru]

Beyond - Levi Onwuzurike

Lengthy essay written by Levi detailing his back injury, rehab, surgery, et al. Long read but pretty insightful.

ETA - he had a L5-S1 fusion done; basically he’s a case study at this point. there’s been one NFL player who came back from it yo play again (obscure TE I’ve forgotten.) it’s considered major surgery and it takes months of recovery before you can even begin rehab. big win that he made through camp and preseason without any setbacks.

FWIW, love his perspective in the linked article. Goes into a lot of detail about the pain and his mental approach.

I had L-5 fusion done at 22 from a ruptured disk.

Came back to have a successful beer hockey, softball and golf league career and work out 4-5 days a week so it can be done.

If Onwuzurike can play 70% of the games that should be a successful season for him. For this season, I would set that bar for him to play maybe 20% of the snaps, just be a rotational guy for as long as he can. The goal for this year should be to try and play 17 games without any setbacks. But NFL players say that after a game you feel like you've been in a car accident, so I expect the wear and tear to limit him as the season progresses.

To get any production at this point is a bonus.

 

[BobbyLayne]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

 

[Leroy Hoard]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

No Buggs?

 

[BobbyLayne]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

No Buggs?

Campbell said in his presser there is absolutely a path for Buggs to carve out a role. He has an opportunity and he’s made it abundantly clear to him in a private meeting but he won’t discuss the details. Mentioned that all the guys have a path - James Houston a year ago kept stressing the OL during practice, to a point where they couldn’t ignore him and called him up to the active roster.

The decision to deactivate Buggs Week 1 was “based on tape.” It’s come out Isaiah missed some OTAs and maybe didn’t hit TC in the best shape. Good year in 2022 but maybe he lost focus bc he got outplayed over TC & PS.

 

[msudaisy26]

Kelce might not play now. Things maybe breaking right for the kitties.

 

[jon_mx]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

No Buggs?

Campbell said in his presser there is absolutely a path for Buggs to carve out a role. He has an opportunity and he’s made it abundantly clear to him in a private meeting but he won’t discuss the details. Mentioned that all the guys have a path - James Houston a year ago kept stressing the OL during practice, to a point where they couldn’t ignore him and called him up to the active roster.

The decision to deactivate Buggs Week 1 was “based on tape.” It’s come out Isaiah missed some OTAs and maybe didn’t hit TC in the best shape. Good year in 2022 but maybe he lost focus bc he got outplayed over TC & PS.

Ot maybe once he got his contract, he put it on glide.

 

[jon_mx]

Kelce might not play now. Things maybe breaking right for the kitties.

Hyperextended knee....being evaluated.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Chiefs 34
Lions 27

Update: Kelce hyperextended knee in practice. Status for week 1 unknown.

DET 31
KC 25

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Lions could use some breaks on the injury front. Never have played with all 5 starters on the OL.

 

[BobbyLayne]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

No Buggs?

Campbell said in his presser there is absolutely a path for Buggs to carve out a role. He has an opportunity and he’s made it abundantly clear to him in a private meeting but he won’t discuss the details. Mentioned that all the guys have a path - James Houston a year ago kept stressing the OL during practice, to a point where they couldn’t ignore him and called him up to the active roster.

The decision to deactivate Buggs Week 1 was “based on tape.” It’s come out Isaiah missed some OTAs and maybe didn’t hit TC in the best shape. Good year in 2022 but maybe he lost focus bc he got outplayed over TC & PS.

Ot maybe once he got his contract, he put it on glide.

People who monitor his socials said he was partying a lot if you care to believe unsubstantiated sources

IDC, we could use him if he keeps his head down and works hard

He was a vocal leader last year and hope he continues to be a contributor

My biggest takeaway is once again Dan Campbell handles his business deftly and without drama. I have zero issue with the HC holding people accountable.

 

[Moonlight]

Lions could use some breaks on the injury front. Never have played with all 5 starters on the OL.

That’s something worth noting as in past years under MCDC there have been major injuries at one of the position groups. Lions are going into this season healthy and that’s a good thing.

 

[Moonlight]

KC has 2 new OTs who some say are not as good as the guys they replaced. If Lions can bring pressure without blitzing their chances greatly improve. KC lost their OC and as jon mx said above Lions will have some new looks. Last year in their losses Lions played pretty even with the good offensive teams but struggled scoring and were dominated by the good defenses on the road. Lost big time on the road to Carolina who I wouldn't classify as either a good offense or defense, they just beat the snot out of us.

Still KC has one of the best home field advantages and more experience in big games and the best QB and Goff not as good on the road.

I expect the Lions to be competitive in this game but winning this game on the road before the defense jells will be most difficult and not expected. Lions need to avoid turnovers and perhaps a late turnover decides who wins the game.

New OC (former Bears HC Matt Nagy) was the quarterbacks coach in Mahomes rookie year when he sat and developed.

The tackes are a work in progress; conversely, Joe Thuney at left guard, Creed Humphrey at center and Trey Smith at right guard might be the best interior trio in the league. It's the Chiefs, they'll figure it out, they always do.

KC planned to move on from Orlando Brown. He wanted to reset the LT market after 4 straight pro bowl seasons. He ended up becoming Joe Burrow's new LT, for far less than he was seeking. Chiefs signed the Jags RT and gave him $80M ($20M apy) to move to LT. Except later they signed the Bucs turnstile LT (30 y.o. Donovan Smith) for $3M and decided to leave Jawaan Taylor at RT. So now they have the 2nd highest paid RT and a questionable replacement at LT. It's the Chiefs, they'll figure it out, they always do.

Let’s hope that they don’t figure out before their first game. Chiefs can be slow starters out of the gate especially on defense.

Of course Lions under Campbell have been very slow starters both years.

 

[Da Guru]

Lions could use some breaks on the injury front. Never have played with all 5 starters on the OL.

Agree, hopefully Kelces injury keeps him out at least this week, and with Chris Jones out things are looking up.

 

[Moonlight]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

No Buggs?

Campbell said in his presser there is absolutely a path for Buggs to carve out a role. He has an opportunity and he’s made it abundantly clear to him in a private meeting but he won’t discuss the details. Mentioned that all the guys have a path - James Houston a year ago kept stressing the OL during practice, to a point where they couldn’t ignore him and called him up to the active roster.

The decision to deactivate Buggs Week 1 was “based on tape.” It’s come out Isaiah missed some OTAs and maybe didn’t hit TC in the best shape. Good year in 2022 but maybe he lost focus bc he got outplayed over TC & PS.

Best thing out of this is that Levi O is now in the mix and helped push Biggs down. From a talent perspective Levi is the guy Holmes had to be talked out of trading in to the first round for.

 

[Da Guru]

QB Jared Goff
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
RT Penei Sewell
ED Charles Harris
WLB Alex Anzalone
ST Jalen Reeves-Maybin

2023 captains as voted by the players

No Buggs?

Campbell said in his presser there is absolutely a path for Buggs to carve out a role. He has an opportunity and he’s made it abundantly clear to him in a private meeting but he won’t discuss the details. Mentioned that all the guys have a path - James Houston a year ago kept stressing the OL during practice, to a point where they couldn’t ignore him and called him up to the active roster.

The decision to deactivate Buggs Week 1 was “based on tape.” It’s come out Isaiah missed some OTAs and maybe didn’t hit TC in the best shape. Good year in 2022 but maybe he lost focus bc he got outplayed over TC & PS.

The fat guys like Buggs who clog the middle really need to stay on top of their conditioning. They are never really in tip top shape so if Buggs reported at less than where he should be it makes sense

 

[BobbyLayne]

Line has dropped fm +6.5 to +5

Ragnow sat out today - planned veteran rest day. Going to be managing pain in that inoperable toe all year, s/b fine for Week 1.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Media availability today:

• Aidan Hutchinson
• Levi Onwuzurike
• Sam LaPorta

 

[tangfoot]

While they're definitely not the SOL, I am mentally and physically prepared for them to start 0-4. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Thread title asks Predictions? Haven’t seen any.

Most articles / podcast discussions I’ve consumed seem to have them in a range of 10-11 wins and winning the division title. At least that seems like the consensus to me, maybe you have a different view.

Last two years they started 0-8 (0-10-1) and 1-6. They can’t dig themselves into a hole again.

@ KC (TNF)
SEA
ATL
@ GB (TNF)
CAR
@ TB

@ BAL
LV (MNF)
bye
@ LAC
CHI
GB

@ NO
@ CHI
DEN
@ MIN
@ DAL
MIN

Interesting that from Week 8 to Week 18, they play 9 out of 10 games in a dome or a retractable roof.

I’m not going game by game but would love to see others try that. My prediction is one way or another they win 12 and their first ever NFC North title (it was the NFC Central last time that happened.)

 

[jon_mx]

I think our defense is going to be a lot better than people expect. So many ball hawks in the secondary, Campbell will solidify the LB core, and we have a stable of good pass rushers. Only expecting a mid-tier defense is a gross underestimate. I would not be shocked if this team is a 13-14 win team and gets the first or second seed.

Our kicking game may be what costs us a first week bye. Unfortunately too many games come down to a kick, and I do not faith in Patterson.

 

[tangfoot]

Thread title asks Predictions? Haven’t seen any.

9-8 after starting 2-4 and 5-6.
This team traditionally starts very poorly, even with the new regime.

 

[BobbyLayne]

THE THRILL OF DEFEAT​

My life has been shaped by watching the Detroit Lions lose. Who will I be if they start winning?

(The Athletic)

 

[BobbyLayne]

33rd team - St Brown brothers

Jared Goff's Dan Campbell Stories, Rams/Lions Trade, Top WRs All Time & More​