Restore The Roar In 2024!

What a remarkable Sunday afternoon for the city of Detroit and Lions fans throughout the world. I think it might be official that these underdog Lions with a coach that nobody gave a chance to succeed and a Quarterback who was banished out of Sean McVay’s castle have Restored The Roar back to Detroit! My poor father has been a lifelong Lions fan/Detroit sports fan in general he has been through some hard times as a sports fan but watching him on Sunday almost have a heart attack as Justin Jefferson made miraculous catch after miraculous catch trying to will his team to victory but fell a little short after the final Nick Mullens intercepted nail was put into the Vikings coffin, he almost fell out of his old but still sturdy oak rocking chair in sheer joy! That’s what sports joy should look like! In that moment I came to realize that there is only one fan base that has any right to complain about their team and it's not The Jets even though things have looked bleak lately from the butt fumble to Rodgers tearing his Achilles and forcing us to watch Zach Wilson… Not The Bills even though you lost 4 straight Super Bowls back in the early 90’s… Not The Browns… wellllll maybe The Browns have a case… Not the Vikings even though you have never won a Super Bowl… try being the only team that has never even made it to the big dance… It’s the Lions without question. It has been 30 years since they won the Division! That’s right, not a Super Bowl not an NFC Championship, just the lonely NFC North. 30 years of Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre poaching the hearts of Lions Fans. But this year could be different.

There has been hope at moments in time for the City of Detroit’s pride and joy before this. Back in 1989 when the Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge champion, Barry Sanders dangled his way on to the scene! The Lions couldn’t have had more hope. This allusive, Heisman Trophy winning running back out of Oklahoma State was just the hope they needed to restart a Franchise that was stalled on the side of the highway like most of the vehicles that are made in Detroit… I’m sorry that was a cheap shot… But you know what Ford stands for, right? Found On Road Ditch… That hope led them to the 1993 Central Division Championship, that’s right it wasn’t even called the NFC North back when they last won the Division! Barry Sanders was so electric that a running back carried a team to a Division Championship. The Lions were eventually upset in the Wild Card round to a young up and coming QB by the name of Brett Farve and his Packers. We all know what he ended up doing to the eventual NFC North over the years. After Barry retired young in 1999 after 10 seasons in the league, The Lions went through some truly God-awful years. But you could see them kind of start to piece together some good draft picks including Calvin Johnson out of the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech in the 2007 draft. This man maybe the best receiver to ever play the game. He was said to have a catch radius of a two-car garage. Go outside and admire spider webs at the peak of your garage door, now that you have done that, attempt to touch the peak of the garage without pulling every muscle in your lower body. Pretty impressive that he could catch a ball anywhere on that garage. But even a man with Marvel Universe super hero abilities couldn’t even help the Lions from having the first ever 0-16 season led by a bunch of horrible QB’s including a 36-yearold John Kitna, ESPN analysis Dan Orlovsky who has one of the worst plays in NFL history when he was running for his life from an actual Viking in Jared Allen in the back of the endzone, when he just eventually ran out of the back of endzone and who can forget the arm rolling, Randy Moss deep ball throwing Daunte Culpepper. But that 0-16 season led to maybe the greatest outcomes an 0-16 season could have, a chance at a franchise quarterback and that quarterback was Matt Stafford who would change the Lions franchise in more ways than we thought.

When Matt Stafford rode in on his white Georgia Bulldog to save the franchise, he was riding into one awful situation, one that I don’t think even he was prepared for. But his toughness was just what the Lions needed. He arrived as the savior of the franchise with expectations higher than Pride Rock because of his outstanding career at The University of Georgia where over his short 3-year stent he passed for over 7,000 yards and 51 touchdowns. He got off to a rough start in his first season passing for 2,267 yards with only 13 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. Then in 2010 he injured his right throwing shoulder, so that season was a wash, not the best start for an NFL franchise saving quarterback but then something started to click between him and the great Calvin Johnson in 2011. This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Kind of like Harold and Kumar but instead of trying to find White Castle they were trying to find the playoffs. In 2011 Matt Stafford threw for more than 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns, with Calvin Johnson catching 96 of those balls for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. This duo led the Lions to a playoff appearance for the first time since 1999. They lost in the Wild Card round but who cares, they made it. From Lake Heron to Lake Michigan people were roaring with joy.

A couple good seasons followed between Calvin and Matt including another playoff appearance and Calvin breaking the single season receiving record with 1,964 yards, a record held by Jerry Rice for 17 years. But with most things in life and with most of the Lions great players they don’t last very long. Calvin Johnson retired after 9 short years in the NFL. But during those 9 years he created a reputation as one of the best wide receivers to ever play and earned himself a spot in the Hall of Fame. Matt continued his career with the Lions for a few more years and even earning one more playoff spot in the 2016 season with it ending with, you guessed it a wildcard loss. Proving he could do it without a great receiver. Then the injury bug kept creeping up and biting Matt right in every single part of his body. Which led all the way to the end of the 2020 season when the Lions decided to part ways with Matt Stafford by sending him to the Rams. In one of the nicest trades, I’ve ever seen a franchise do, they sent Stafford to a great situation in LA with a young coach, as what seemed to be a thank you for his years of service to a decrepit franchise. I don’t need to tell that Stafford went on to win the Super Bowl in the following year and the Lions fan base felt like they won a Super Bowl because a member of their family won and it may be the closest they will ever get to winning.

In that trade to the Rams, they actually got a nice piece in exchange for Stafford, that piece was Jared Goff. Jared Goff was shipped out of LA because he wasn’t good enough to win the Super Bowl for Sean McVay and he wanted an upgrade which I guess worked out pretty well for him. But the Lions got a QB with a giant chip on his shoulder playing for a team with an even bigger chip on their shoulders sprinkle on a little bit of a no name coach with a motivating attitude and it is kind of a match made in heaven. The Lions have made some great draft picks lately including Sam LaPorta, Aidan Hutchinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams (despite his gambling problems) and they took a step back in time by drafting a new Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge, Patches O'houlihan in the form of Jahmyr Gibbs. This kid is like a new spark plug on a 67 Mustang, bringing the speed and energy to an old car. The Lions have a real shot this year to make some noise with the fire power that they have on offense. But issues arise when we look at the defensive side of the ball, they are ranked 15th in total defense which isn’t as bad as I thought but hopefully that secondary which is ranked 23rd against the pass can be enough to hold up against some of the juggernauts of the NFC. All I know is that Michigan born Aidan Hutchinson will do his darndest to get after the QB and disrupt the pass game.

How can you not route for the Lions they have had it so bad for so long. I don’t care if you’re a Bears fan, Packers fan or even a Vikings fan, you have to feel good for that franchise. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say, “boy you know what, I really hate the Lions they just get under my skin.” So, if your team is out of the playoffs like my smugly coached Broncos are, route for the Lions this post seasons just on the great story alone, from the years of heart break to the new underdogs that have joined the franchise. But whatever you do, don’t complain about your team being bad this year even though Russell Wilson needs to be thrown in jail for all the money he has stolen… As I was saying don’t complain because somewhere on this rock there is a 73-year-old fan of the Lions that has had it much worse than your franchise will ever have. Enjoy losing because when that day comes when your favorite team wins their division for the first time in 30 years, it’s going to feel so much better. I hope it feels as great as my dad made it look on Sunday. I don’t think he is ever going to take off his Honolulu Blue Lions sweatshirt, it’s been 4 days now and he is still wearing it, I still see the butter stains from Christmas dinner on it but who cares because that must be one of the greatest feelings a sports fan could ever feel. Who knows this feeling might get better when it ends up in a Super Bowl so they can finally say that they Restored the Roar In 2024.