2022 Detroit Lions Superlatives Part 1: Unsung Heroes, The Denny Green Award & More

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Detroit Lions Superlatives Pt. 1

A.J. Reilly: So let’s jump into this. Our 2022 Detroit Lions Superlatives, Eric Vincent. Let’s do this. And we actually named all of these awards. We did. So give the people the first one here, which is the best unsung hero. Just kind of like your superhero of the class award. 

Eric Vincent: It is, uh, it’s a lot of Detroit Lions that got a lot of credit for what they did this year, but it’s a lot of guys that didn’t.

It’s a lot of players that flew under the radar, did their piece, and did their responsibilities, and really, really applied for this, uh, this job. This wasn’t an easy category. I, I’d waffle between a few different players. So the best unsung hero, uh, yeah. 

A.J. Reilly: You want me to go first? I’m gonna, but before you do, I’m just gonna remind everybody when we throw this up right here and we explain the award, throw your name in there.

Best Unsung Hero

Yes. Who do you think was the best unsung hero for the Detroit Lions? We’d love to react to your comments. We’d love to talk to you, uh, about these awards. But yeah, let’s go ahead, Eric. Let’s go ahead and throw ’em up. Who do you got? 

Eric Vincent: Yeah, mine is the option on the right. It is, uh, Frank Ragnow. I had to go to Ragnow.

Now looking at what this offensive line did. See how the injuries that he had to play through and the guards were very consistent as well with their health and their penalties as well. Uh, Ragnow did a lot, and I don’t think he got a whole lot of credit for how great he was, even with being named as a pro bowler.

So I gotta give a lot of love to Frank Ragnow for how he performed this year. 

A.J. Reilly: We’re getting a lot of people that agree with me and I, I like I, yeah, I had John Kaminski and the reason why I had John Kaminski was he showed out the first two games, then got injured. Yeah. And then the defense looked lost in week two or weeks 3, 4, 5.

Right. They went on there for a week. He didn’t play much in week seven. Didn’t play much week eight, but then he came back week nine through eight or 18. Yeah, it would’ve been. And he had an impact nearly every game, including forcing a fumble on Aaron Jones on primetime Sunday night. So like, John Kaminski is my unsung hero for this year.

Like, Such a phenomenal talent. I hope that they resign him. I hope that they bring him back because he’s a force and I didn’t expect it. Not at all. So that’s why he’s my unsung hero. I like Greg. 

Eric Vincent: Now look, I love his post, uh, you know, basically saying how he wanted to be back too, how he felt, how special it was with this group.

He was a huge part of what that defense did. That’s a good call. That was my, that was my backup pick. 

Denny Green Award

A.J. Reilly: Honestly, I’m not mad at that. Great mind stink alike, Eric. Indeed. That’s what, that’s what they tell us. So let’s move to our second one, which is the Denny Green Award. Now, people might be going, what in the world is the Denny Green Award?

Well, if you YouTube Denny Green, you’ll see an interview. It’s only about 45 seconds long where he loses his mind. They were who we thought they were. If you’ve ever heard that clip, that’s what this award is for. It’s these are the guys that are exactly who we thought they were. Mm-hmm. , you ready? Oh, 

Eric Vincent: I’m ready.

A.J. Reilly: I think that’s pretty self-explanatory. Yes. Go ahead with yours. 

Eric Vincent: Yes, indeed. Again, this is an early call of mine. I was super happy about the Detroit Lions being able to scoop him. I heard a buzz about this player from Jackson State, from some of the friends I had, and seeing the way he played coming out from Thanksgiving through half the season, not even the whole season, just half the season and dominated and played as awesome as he did. James Houston, I think is an easy call for the Denny Green Award. You all, we thought you were, 

A.J. Reilly: we got some others up here. Uh, Matt says Deshon Elliott. Elliott was who we thought he was. That’s a good call there. Another one here, Jamaal Williams. We’re gonna get to him in a little bit, Kevin, but that’s also a good call.

Mine’s, mine’s touch. I mean, number two, overall pick nine, and a phenomenal impact. Phenomenal rookie year should be the defensive rookie of the year, but there’s a lot of love for, uh, Sauce Gardner. So yeah, we’ll see what happens there. But I mean, they were who we thought they were. James Houston and Aidan Hutchinson.

It’s really, I think Ricky brought it up last week. He said, you know, what if Houston had played earlier in the season? And I think that begs a very good question, right? The mm-hmm. . I mean, Hutchinson is who we thought he was right. And James Houston looks like the steal of a pick. Yes. I mean, he was more productive in the sh in a shorter time than Travon Walker.

Indeed. And that’s impressive. So these are our Denny Green Award winners. Let’s go ahead and move on to the next one. You can go ahead and explain this one, buddy. 

F Around & Find Out Award

Eric Vincent: The title speaks for itself. I mean, like, you walk up to this person and you start some mess, you gonna f out and find out who they really are. Um, this is this.

I’m, I feel like everybody should go with mine at this point on this one. Um, oh, okay. My, but I’m, I’m excited to see what they pick. Who would, you know, who would be the F out and find out Award winner. 

A.J. Reilly: Okay. Before we show our, let’s go ahead and throw the comments. So we got Rodrigo, that’s a good one. Okay. Rodrigo’s a good one there. Cowboy hat. It’s a cowboy hat for sure. It’s the cowboy hat. Oh, Kevin Fields, right on my man. 

Eric Vincent: There it is. There it is. That’s who it is. Penei Sewell. That’s my pick. If you walk in the back alley, you see Penei Sewell with that fro out lowering that lower athleticy is, we see it with his speed.

Knowing you can’t outrun this man. One of the strongest tackles in the NFL Penei Sewell is an all-around monster. We see it in a plethora of different ways. Not scared to stand up for his teammates. If you talk in the trash on the other side, Penei Sewell is him. He’s a goob, he’s a goblin. I’m one of the biggest fans of Penei Sewell so this is easy for the f around and find-out winner for me, 

A.J. Reilly: but also has a sensitive side made Brad Holmes.

But Brad Holmes tears up telling him, thanks for bringing me to Detroit. Like I love the fact that this guy’s on our team. I think that he’s doing a great job, but my. F around and find out a war goes to Deshon Elliott. Ooh. And it’s because the dude can be a bruiser for sure on the field.

And this is solely based on one tone-setting play from this season. And that’s in Jacksonville when he, on the first drive of the game. Bingo. Yep. Knock the dude off his shoes, forced him to fumble, and set the tone for the game. And I was like, dude’s a man, and I’m going to give him this award this year. 

Eric Vincent: His presence, his presence was missed too in that secondary, when he went down for a couple of games, it definitely fell.

He was a thumper who covered ground very well in the secondary. Yeah. Yeah. I, I like Deshon Elliott a lot. That’s a good call. That’s a good one. 

The Most Fun To Drink Honolulu Blue Kool-Aid With Award

A.J. Reilly: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. I, I’m glad I got the approval of Eric. Let’s move on to our next award. The most fun to drink the Honolulu Blue Kool-Aid. With who would we enjoy having a glass of Kool-Aid?

With, and I think there are a couple of ways that you can go, but you and I actually agreed on this one. We do. Which was interesting. Yes. We both would love to have a little sip of the Kool-Aid with Mr. Amon Ra Saint Brown. The, the like unheralded really good wide receiver that we got in the fifth round 

Eric Vincent: top 10 player at this point. Top 10 receiver I think. 

A.J. Reilly: So. Matt says to Sheila Ford Hamp Kevin says Dan Campbell. Which, that’s a good one too. I, I almost put Dan Campbell on this one cause I was like, you know if you’re drinking Blue Kool-Aid with Dan Campbell, it ain’t just Blue Kool-Aid and a good time is about to be had. But then I gotta thinking like, Nah, I think there’s a better award for Dan Campbell that we’re going to get to here in a minute.

But Amon Ra St. Brown, I think. Is one of those guys. He’s has taken on that golden take kind of role? Yes. He, I, if I’m not mistaken, over the last two years, has as many catches and has been relatively as productive as Justin Jefferson. Mm-hmm. . And we got him in the fifth run. Like I, this dude is phenomenal.

He can rip off all the guys that were named in front of him. Yes. Which I think gives him a little added extra pride for wearing the Honolulu blue. Mm-hmm. and I’m, I’m here for it. 

Eric Vincent: Yeah. And he, I love his podcast he does with his brother. Uh, so he clearly is not scared to toss some trash. They went back and forth, hyping up their games.

Uh, yeah, you talked about how he was, you know, ripping off every person that was drafted ahead of him. So he’s like that fun coworker that you could talk trash about all your other coworkers with. Oh, yeah, mine. But he is still professional enough when it’s time to get to work, so, yeah. I, I would’ve love to chill and…

A.J. Reilly: See Fred here is on the right track too, right? Like, Jamaal would be great to drink Kool-aid with. He would be. But there’s, there are other awards coming for Mr. Williams, so let’s move on.

Eric Vincent: I feel like Jamaal would be too hype off too much Kool-Aid. I couldn’t pick Jamaal. 

A.J. Reilly: Ah, yeah, 

Eric Vincent: he’d be spitting it all over the, over the bar. 

A.J. Reilly: He might be.

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