The Detroit Lions were facing a must-win situation in Week 15, and the team stepped up and delivered with a 20-17 victory over the New York Jets.
That victory was cause for celebration from a starved fanbase, who is dying to see their franchise keep the positive late-season momentum up. As a key Lions coach explained, that’s reason to feel good.
Kelvin Sheppard coaches linebackers for the team, and is one of the more outspoken former players they have on staff. A player who once played for the Lions, Sheppard understands the hunger the city has, and took a moment to give the fans a special shout-out after the win.
DETROIT you deserve every bit of this!! Just know we still have so much more to do and your a big part of it! But I just wanted to let you know we appreciate the hell out of our fans and we’re in this together!! #DetroitvsEverybody
“DETROIT you deserve every bit of this!! Just know we still have so much more to do and your a big part of it! But I just wanted to let you know we appreciate the hell out of our fans and we’re in this together!! #DetroitvsEverybody,” he tweeted after the game.
Dan Campbell gets all the headlines for leading the team and his approach, but Sheppard is quietly a very good ambassador for the team as well. It’s great to hear him giving the fans a shout-out after a major victory.
As a former player with plenty of energy, Sheppard understands what all the wins mean. As he says, it’s not over by any stretch, but the Lions have done well to ignite some passion.
Sheppard Generated Buzz at Senior Bowl
Sheppard made a name for himself during last year’s Senior Bowl practices which were led by Detroit’s staff, and he managed to make quite the mark on the field with his instruction as well.
Sheppard caught the eye of NFL.com writers Lance Zierlein and Chase Goodbread, who singled him out in a takeaways piece about the first days of practice at the event almost a year ago.
As was written, standout Florida State defensive end Jermaine Johnson was working on the field when the Lions asked him to do some extra reps. At first, Johnson didn’t take to the coaching in an early rep, but he changed up his approach and stuck with what the coaches were trying to communicate to his benefit.
In the piece, it was mentioned that Sheppard was catching attention for how he was leading the players on the field, giving them tips in between reps and coaching enthusiastically during drills. Sheppard then went on to capture attention when he was on Hard Knocks with the Lions.
Add it up and it’s clear that this is some impressive press for a young member of the Detroit staff very early in his career. He is becoming a big name for a young Detroit staff.
Sheppard’s Career Biography
Before coaching, Sheppard was an eight-year NFL veteran that made seven stops across the league while playing linebacker.
A third round pick out of LSU in 2011, Sheppard started his career in Buffalo, where he stuck until 2013. From there, he joined Indianapolis in 2013, then went to Miami in 2014 and 2015 and played for the New York Giants in 2016, Chicago in 2017 and the Giants again the same year before landing in Detroit for 2018, his final NFL season.
Sheppard didn’t amass the biggest stats, 423 tackles, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, but he had a love of the game and quickly transitioned into coaching in 2021, when Campbell gave him a shot in Detroit.
With the Lions, Sheppard is leading a young linebacker room with names like Derrick Barnes and Malcolm Rodriguez, proving he can coach a bit too. He is bringing the hype and embracing the run the team is on.
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Lions Coach Gives Awesome Shout-out to Fans After Tough Road Win