Rebuilding Rob

Confession time: I’m something of a Detroit Lions bandwagon fan.

Don’t get me wrong, they’ve always been my local team, even when I lived in South Carolina, but football has never been my favorite sport. I’ve always been a baseball guy.

And to be quite honest, for the majority of my life, a time during which William Clay Ford own the Detroit Lions, they didn’t achieve much. They won one playoff game in 55 years. They drafted the greatest running back who’s ever set foot on a American football field in Barry Sanders; and they let him abruptly retire, rather than building a competitive team around him

It has been said that the late William Clay Ford was “a nice guy“. Furthermore, it’s been said that he was insanely loyal to his loyal employees. Almost to a fault. I think that’s pretty obvious when you look back at the Detroit Lions front office through the 70s 80s 90s and into the early 2000s .

I’ve heard stories that the National Football League even approached the Detroit Lions organization about advising them in building a solid front office. Until William Clay Ford passed, the organization never took the NFL up on this offer. But with Ford’s death his wife Martha assumed ownership of the team. Eventually their daughter Sheila would assumed the position. Somewhere along the way, Sheila and/or Martha rebuilt the Lions front office and brought in head coach Dan Campbell

It’s not that I ever hated the Lions. Rather, the never gave me much to cheer about. For years , it seems like William Clay Ford didn’t care about winning. Sure, the team made money; but owning an NFL franchise is essentially a like owning a license to print money. And the greats market ploy for any pro sports team is having a winning product in the field. But William Clay Ford apparently never read that memo.

RANDOM THOUGHT: does anyone else miss the old Sam Spence music that used to be on the old NFL films? Sometimes he was jazzy. Sometimes they sounded like high school marching band songs. Other times they sounded like war anthems.

That brings us to today. This Sunday the Lions end their regular season with game that will determine the winner of the NFC north division, and the top seed in the NFC playoffs. They have the best record in the history of the franchise and they are the only team to go undefeated on the road this season. It would appear all the stats are aligning for this team. But it’s still a long way to the Super Bowl.

I’ve never been one to blindly support a sports team, especially if they show no commitment to winning – for decades at that. But the lions new front office has turned this team around and change the culture and very identity of the organization in just a few seasons. I will be the first to cheer if they hoist to Vince Lombardi trophy this February.

At the risk of jinxing the team, I’m trying to imagine what a parade down Woodward Avenue would look like. I’m calling it now, IF that happens, 2 million people will attend the parade.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts

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• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
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The article “the last man on the Detroit Lions bandwagon” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob