Coach Fontes spontaneously called into the Detroit Lions Podcast St. Jude’s telethon and talked a lot about the current Lions and Jared Goff
It’s not every day when legendary Lions head coach Wayne Fontes just spontaneously calls into a podcast, but that happened last weekend. Fontes dialed into the Detroit Lions Podcast during our 24-hour St. Jude’s telethon to share his thoughts on the state of the Lions.
Fontes, the team’s head coach from 1988 to 1996, is a very big fan of what he sees from the current Lions under Dan Campbell.
“I’m proud of these Lions,” Fontes said. “You know what, if the season started right now I’d take them to win the Super Bowl.”
He talked about the way the team and the fans are responding to Dan Campbell and how well the team has turned things around this year. It’s a very fun, casual, off-the-cuff 20-minute conversation where Fontes does the vast majority of the talking. He also lets it be known he’s a big Jared Goff supporter.
Coach Wayne Fontes joined WR Herman Moore and LT Lomas Brown to reminisce about the 1991 Detroit Lions and share stories
The 1991 Detroit Lions were a special team. Led by head coach Wayne Fontes, they remain the only Lions team to win a postseason game in the Super Bowl era.
As part of the Detroit Lions Podcast 24-hour podcast for St. Jude’s, we were able to bring back together three members of Lions royalty from that wonderful season 30 years ago. We had wide receiver Herman Moore and left tackle Lomas Brown surprise coach Fontes during a phone call that coach was only expecting to talk to the hosts.
What followed is one of the reasons why that team was so special. They shared stories, they reminisced, they spoke openly of their love for one another as a team and as coach and players. It was an inspirational conversation that I am incredibly proud to be a fly on the wall as a co-host. The genuine love and respect these great Lions still share 30 years later is exactly what we want to see from the new edition of the Lions.
Enjoy this incredible walk down Detroit memory lane!
Among the featured guests: coach Wayne Fontes, Lions legends Herman Moore, Lomas Brown, Billy Sims and more
The Detroit Lions Podcast featuring Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon is proud to host the third annual St. Jude’s “Christmas for the Kids” 24-hour live stream telethon. The event starts at 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 5th and runs through Saturday at 9 a.m.
There will be loads of Lions guests. Among those confirmed to appear:
Coach Wayne Fontes
WR Herman Moore
OT Lomas Brown
RB Billy Sims
Voice of the Lions Dan Miller
Several other guests will also appear, including Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, Mark Schofield from Touchdown Wire and Tony Ortiz from WWJ radio. There is a charity auction that includes autographed jerseys, balls, a vacation rental in ski country and more.
It’s all done in the name of helping St. Jude’s help kids. The goal is to raise $25,000 for St. Jude’s, and all donations are verified and trackable.
Lions Wire editor Jeff Risdon was part of the Detroit Lions Podcast crew interviewing legendary Lions coach Wayne Fontes
The most successful coach in the Super Bowl era for the Detroit Lions, Wayne Fontes is still very popular among Lions fans more than 20 years after his coaching career ended. Fontes joined the Detroit Lions Podcast on Wednesday night, and I was able to participate as a co-host to talk to the Lions legend, the only man to win a playoff game for Detroit in the last 60 years.
Hosts Chris, Case and myself asked Fontes about his time in Detroit, why he was successful, Barry Sanders, his relationship with the Ford family and more.
Fontes led off by talking about how ahead of the NFL curve he was in terms of being enthusiastic and emotionally connected with his Lions players. It’s a great indicator of why he was successful and why he’s still beloved by so many fans.
He’s a big advocate for building around Matthew Stafford. Fontes repeatedly stressed the importance of having a great QB and he staunchly believes Stafford can win a Super Bowl in Detroit. “The team with the better quarterback usually wins,” is something he stressed.
We spent a lot of time talking about Barry Sanders and what made him special. The two men shared a close bond, and Fontes talks about how he went to great lengths to make sure the Lions drafted him back in 1989.
It was a great trip back to the most successful era of Lions football in the Super Bowl era. Coach Fontes is a great storyteller with a fond recollection of his time in Detroit.
You can watch the YouTube video of the interview (Fontes is not on camera) below, or listen to the interview here or on your favorite podcast provider.
