Getty Aidan Hutchinson speaks on radio row during the 2023 Super Bowl in Phoenix.
The Detroit Lions made the most of their 2022-23 season, so much so that few people remember the team actually got off to a horrid start.
At 1-6, the season looked finished for the Lions after several tough losses to start the year, and hope outside the locker room was fading fast. It was at that moment, however, that the team looked from within and rallied together in a big way.
Rookie defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson had a front-row seat to what played out, and revealed an answer to what everybody was wondering after the torrid finish to Detroit’s season. Just how had they pulled it off?
According to Hutchinson, who spoke with Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show, the magic started prior to a Week 8 win over the Green Bay Packers in which the Lions had a veteran player-led team meeting. That meeting would go on to change the course of the season.
“I think after when we were 1-6, we had this player-led meeting. It really (was) just (about) taking accountability. That’s everyone talking. Everyone’s saying what’s on their mind and being real,” Hutchinson told Eisen. “I did not really speak in it because even though I was a starter on the defense, I felt that this was something for the veterans. This is something for the guys that had been in the league for a while. You got to pay your dues a little bit, so I let them talk.”
As Hutchinson admitted, while he didn’t have much to say himself during the meeting, just sitting back and watching how the event played out and soaking up some knowledge from it was very important for him.
“Just seeing that was very inspiring for me to watch and be a part of something like that. Ever since after that moment, we won six straight and I think that’s no coincidence either,” Hutchinson admitted.
The Lions finished the season 8-2, and ended up with a winning 9-8 record. It was the first time since the 2017 year that Detroit had finished with such a mark. As a result, the Lions are now seen as a chic pick to make a potential run to the 2024 Super Bowl.
None of that may have been possible without the meeting, and the lessons it managed to teach Lions both young and old in 2022.
Hutchinson Motivated to Make Lions a Winner
Specifically, how has Hutchinson transitioned to being a key player on a Lions team he grew up watching? As he admitted, he still has to pinch himself about how things have played out.
As Hutchinson explained to Eisen, he is motivated to push the Lions over the top in the future and be part of the reason the team does some major winning down the line.
“Growing up being a Lions fan, you see all the pain, the struggle and the heartbreak in the end. The ‘so close but but no cigar.’ It’s growing up being a part of that. When I got to the team, I’m a winner. I want to be a part of winning programs, winning teams. I want to win Super Bowls man. I want rings on my finger and I just don’t want to fall into the same storyline with the Lions. I want to be the reason that we move on and we go on to bigger and better things,” Hutchinson said.
Given the role he already played for the team’s defense, it seems like a fair bet that the Lions will be able to groom Hutchinson to be all that and more for the team. That kind of motivation is one that the team needs in order to take the next step.
Having seen the struggle up close in Detroit, Hutchinson himself is hungry to end the losing and flip the script in a big way.
Hutchinson’s Rookie Production Impressive
This past season, there were few rookies as impactful as Hutchinson was on the field consistently. Not only is he leading by his words, but he’s leading by example with his play as well.
Hutchinson collected 9.5 sacks, most for a rookie player in the league. He also had three interceptions to his credit as well as 52 total tackles. Most of the year, he was a menace to opposing passers, much as he was in the season finale in Week 18 when he sacked rival Aaron Rodgers:
With this kind of work as a rookie, there is no reason why Hutchinson can’t help the team become a quick force in the future. Perhaps better than the production is the lessons he learned in his first season about leadership. Already, Hutchinson has the class to be a star at the next level.
The Lions may not have just saved their season with a well-placed team meeting, they may have created the bedrock of a new culture as well.