It would be an understatement to say the Detroit Lions have put their fans through the wringer. For decades, the Lions were a laughingstock, one of the NFL’s true bottom feeders who acted as their own consistent supply of lowlights. But then Dan Campbell came in and ushered in a professional football Renaissance Detroit never saw coming.
Sunday’s NFC title game against the San Francisco 49ers might have just been a culmination for a fanbase waiting for a moment of joy.
If, for some reason, you don’t believe me, just take a look at this raucous watch party at Ford Field for the game. It looked like such a big party that if they never showed the actual field, then you’d think the Lions were hosting the battle for NFC supremacy, not the 49ers.
And everyone there paid a lot of money to watch on the JumboTron together:
The scene at Ford Field 🤯 pic.twitter.com/zTgjOYthqF
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 29, 2024
TALK TO 'EM @FORDFIELD#AllGrit pic.twitter.com/TcK4ZieJBT
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 28, 2024
The city of Detroit has clearly been waiting years for a Lions team like this. And at a certain point, the people of the city almost certainly stopped believing. But Campbell and Co. finally delivered a hard-hitting, championship-caliber team worth being proud of.