Nick Gargaro
I am by no means a fair weather fan, and I am not a complainer either. It would be easy to be perpetually upset being a diehard fan of the Detroit Lions in the second half of the 20th century, but a true fan always walks into a new season with a sense of naiveté and blind optimism. That is what I have been able to do for my entire life. Centers and tight ends no one has heard of being drafted in the first round have not gone unquestioned, sure, but what more can a fan do than grit one’s teeth and pray Matthew Stafford will be elite in the coming year.
Above all of our wild card losses, Monday Night Football blowouts and Thanksgiving Day embarrassments, there is one thing, however, that makes the loyal members of the Detroit fan-base despondent. Losing at the hands of the striped rent-a-refs in the National Football League. A wise man once told me, “Without referees, there would be no game,” but after the Lion’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, I do not know if the game is worth playing anymore. I’ll set the scene for those who missed it. It was a cold night in Green Bay, Wis., and the Detroit Lions were gearing up for their biggest game of the season against their divisional rivals, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. It was a primetime game, and the biggest question would soon be answered: “is Detroit a real contender this season?” Always believing in the power of the Honolulu Blue, I really thought they were going to be contenders in 2019. The Lions had been playing with an uncharacteristically tough and ambitious edge. Maybe it was our time to shine on this national stage. For three quarters of this game, it was so. It should be said, however, that while the Lions led the Packers throughout a majority of this game, they also missed several opportunities to pull away and take any chance of victory from Green Bay. The Green Bay Packers, the division leaders, and arguably the NFC front-runner, did not quit. I will give them that. They hung in the game and were able to make big plays when they were needed.
In the fourth quarter, with time dwindling down past the two-minute warning, the Lions held a soft three-point lead, and had sacked Aaron Rodgers on a third-and-long just outside of field goal range. Things were looking good, until that damned yellow flag came flying down and everyone in Southeast Michigan knew the NFL had come to break our hearts again. A small and ignorant man claiming to have some sort of mastery over the ever ambiguous and questionable regulations of the great sport of football, blurted out to all of America,“penalty. Defense number 90. Hands to the face, five-yard penalty. Automatic first down.” It was the second such back-breaking call of the night to go against the Lions. The game was over. Green Bay had to kill a minute and a half off of the clock, hit a sub-30 yard field-goal and win. And they did.
It would be no use attempting to make some sort of list displaying the various times referees have cost Detroit a shot at relevancy, so instead I will stick to this most recent, infuriating example. Green Bay is a storied franchise, sporting legendary names like Bart Starr, Curly Lambeau, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers etc. Aaron Rodgers is currently in his first year returning from a devastating injury, and now with a new coach and offense, Green Bay was 4-1 heading into Monday night. Maybe I am wrong, but Rodgers is a loved player around the country, famous for his extreme precision and humorous “discount-double check” commercials for State Farm. He has become a fan favorite. Would the world really be happy if he lost at home on the national stage to the “irrelevant” Detroit Lions? Perhaps, but perhaps there was just a lot of money riding on this game, or maybe a headline claiming Rodgers is back to his elite status would be more grabbing. Who knows, but I for one have watched the Lions time and time again get looked-over and be underappreciated, and while it may seem absurd to suggest that the National Football League could allow something like this to happen, it would not be too surprising when publicity is enough to keep Colin Kapernick out of the league. So maybe profits and headlines are enough to keep the Lions out of the playoffs. Or maybe we are just a cursed franchise. Regardless, if you see a Detroit Lions fan around campus this fall, give them a hug. They have needed it for decades.