Thanksgiving tradition in my neck of the woods has almost always meant a Lions loss.
I don’t have any statistics, but I’ll say that the NFL tradition of the Lions being one of the contenders on Thanksgiving Day has always been an animated backdrop of many holiday meals.
This year, instead of being stuck in the kitchen knee deep in carbohydrate-laden indulgences, I got to stand before the television and witness some actual footage of the game. The game sucked, but that’s not the point.
I’m sharing with you, in case you missed it, the anthem as played by a 19-year-old Detroit area native named Caleb Caroll.
During the anthem, Detroit QB Matt Stafford knelt with his teammates, for the first time he’s been seen on camera doing this since the Lions started the tradition on September 13, and since Stafford wrote a moving essay about standing with his team brothers for social justice.
After the Jacob Blake incident happened, our team came together and guys shared some very emotional and raw stories of their own experiences. The level of trauma that guys and their families were feeling — I mean really feeling — was just so deep. Multiple guys were saying how whenever they would leave their house to go to the facility, their parents were begging them to text them as soon as they arrived and as soon as they got home. Just to know that they were safe.
…And when you hear your teammates telling these stories — and getting so emotional that they’re breaking down crying — you can’t just sit there and be silent.
Complete essay can be read here.
So while the Lions as a team, as an organization, can cause much upheaval on Thanksgiving Day and consistently across many decades — without an appearance in a Superbowl in their history — they started a season that sparked a movement cascading across sports leagues nationwide.
As a football team they’ve been the deserving punch line for many sports fans, but I’ll give them kudos for this kind of winning. Cheers to the Detroit Lions.
And cheers to NV friends, hope many of you have enjoyed it as a vacation day. But if it was just another day for you, remember it’s 5:00 somewhere!
Enjoy your evening, enjoy your weekend, and enjoy the open thread!
