If you thought the Lions were going to roll over and give up after dropping Sunday’s game to the Bills where the biggest loss of the afternoon came via more significant injuries to the team, think again.
During his weekly call-in on 97.1, Lions head coach Dan Campbell delivered what could only be described as a monumental on-air speech that has to have fans feeling better while giving you an even greater perspective as to why players are willing to run through brick walls for this guy.
Here’s the transcribed speech via Pride of Detroit, as well as the video at the end.
“Let me say this first, man. Anytime you lose players, man, it’s hard. The obvious that everybody sees is that you lose the player and that production and what he’s done on the field, but it’s more than that to us. It’s more than that to his coaches and his teammates. They bring so much more to the table than just out there running around and trying to make plays. They bring to the locker room the laughs you have, the bonds you have with those guys. So when you lose a guy like Alim McNeill, it’s a big part of what we do, and David Montgomery, and Khalil Dorsey, and Carlton Davis. Those hurt. Those hurt, man, and you hate losing guys like that.
“But at the same time, we’ve got an opportunity. And I told those guys—and with anybody that’s been hurt, Hutch(inson) to Cominsky to all of them, ‘Man, this can’t be in vain.’ These injuries that these guys—which all of our guys lay it on the line—but we can’t let these injuries be in vain. All of those players helped us get to the point we’re at. These last four (injured players) helped us get to 12 wins, and we owe it to them to finish this thing out. And that’s how I view it.
“So, it means there’s another opportunity for other guys. You know what happens is you win 11 in a row and you lose, and then the sky falls. I hate to say it, but we’re not going to be able to win 11 in a row again for the rest of this season. We’re just not going to be able to do it.
“What happens is you get used to eating filet—and I’m talking all of us—and everything’s good. Life’s good, but you forgot what it’s like when you had nothing and you ate your fucking molded bread, and it was just fine. And it gave you everything you needed. Sometimes you’ve got to get punched in the mouth and remember what it used to be like to really appreciate where you are, and we’ll do that.
“So we’ve got a bad taste in our mouth, we got kicked around the other day, we lost a few guys, and you know what? It’s exactly what we needed. This is exactly what we needed.
“So we’re going to bounce back, we’re going to respond. We’ve got guys that are about to have an unbelievable opportunity here, and we will play the game any way needed to win. We still got a good offense. We’ve got plenty of defensive players. I could go rattle them off right now. We’re going to put the best 11 out on the field. We’re going to friggin’ cut it loose. We’re going to play with our special teams.
“And I don’t give a crap whether we gotta win by one point for the rest of the year, that’s what we’re going to do. And I’m going to be happy about it. We come out of the game with 50 yards of total offense and we win by one? You’re going to see smiles on my face. I promise you. If it’s the other way, defensively we give up 700 yards and we win by one point, you’re going to see a fucking smile from my ear to ear, alright? I can promise you. So we’re going to find a way, and we’re going to get it done.”
Here’s the extended clip where Campbell drops two f-bombs. You gotta love it.
The Lions, for the most part, have been overcoming massive injuries all season en route to a 12-2 record. If there’s one coach and one team that can continue to do that it’s Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions.
Let’s go!