Getty Dan Campbell high-fives Jared Goff in the 2021 Lions season opener.
The Detroit Lions have endured a challenging start to the season, and even though the team has struggled on the field, the good news is hope for a brighter tomorrow continues to build.
Detroit was defeated in heartbreaking fashion in Week 5 which led coach Dan Campbell to break down after the game and show some rare emotion. Speaking to Fox Sports analyst Jay Glazer, Campbell confirmed that some longtime employees have told him that they can feel a notable shift within the building.
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As Glazer said on Fox NFL Sunday segment about the Lions on October 17, Campbell told him that while he was gutted with the loss and may have shown some uncharacteristic emotion, there is a good feeling of change brewing in the building according to some long-tenured employees.
“I talked to him yesterday and he said Jay, you’ve known me these years. I’m not a crier. That’s not me. He said, I felt so bad for everybody in there, but you can tell the tide is turning in this building,” Glazer said on the show. “I heard from a scout who’s been with us almost a half a century this week, that one of our trainers, he’s been here a couple decades, they said coach, we can feel it. We can feel things changing. He said I just felt so bad for those guys who had to put it all out there and get that heartbreak.”
The Lions have a very tight community within the building, so the fact that many old time employees are seeing a shift is notable. For years, the Lions have had the feeling of going through the motions, so it will be interesting to watch and see if anything does change long-term.
Many likely believe that is going to be the case given this information.
Michael Strahan: Campbell Showed Lions He Cares With Emotion
On the topic of the tears that were shown around the world this week, Strahan, Campbell’s former New York teammate on the defensive side of the ball, believes that the coach may have managed to generate some major buy-in given some authentic emotions that he has shown this week.
“That was raw, that was real and that was Dan Campbell. I went to a Super Bowl with Dan back in 2001. One of the toughest guys I’ve ever had to go against in practice,” Strahan said. “So to see him break down like that, these players know how tough he is. These players realize he cares. He cares about us. This was Jim Fassel who he played for, ‘put your chips in the middle of the table.’ This was all-in. They know he is all-in and his Lions team will rally behind him because this was his moment to show them that hey, it’s more than just about football. I care abut you as a player, as a person, and my emotions and actions are in it just as much as yours.”
Lions players have clearly already rallied behind Campbell, but it’s clear he will get everyone pulling in the same direction now with this latest show of passion.
Terry Bradshaw Believes Lions Play Hard
Another person that can counted as a believer in that mindset that things are changing in Detroit would be Fox Sports analyst Terry Bradshaw. Though the Lions have been a punchline early this season, Bradshaw took a minute on Sunday, October 10th’s iteration of Fox NFL Sunday to give some love to the team and their first-year head coach.
As Bradshaw said, he believes aside from all the negativity, the Lions have been tough and Campbell has impressed him as a leader thus far.
“The Lions, Dan Campbell, when they hired him and he talked about biting off kneecaps I went ‘oh my gosh what have they hired here?’ All of a sudden they are 0-4 and you go ‘oh what a lousy hire and what a lousy football team.’ Hear me loud and clear. This team plays hard. I actually like the Lions because of Campbell’s toughness. This team plays hard,” Bradshaw said on the show.
Fellow analyst and former coach Jimmy Johnson said the Lions might play hard but are still not good. Bradshaw had a quick retort for him on the telecast.
“They’ll fix the not good part eventually,” Bradshaw quipped.
That might come sooner rather than later if the Lions buy in completely to Campbell and things do change within the building for the long-term.
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