The Detroit Lions are riding high right now, finally earning their first victory of the 2021 season thanks to a walk-off touchdown throw from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown to defeat the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field.
To say that head coach Dan Campbell was excited afterwards would be an understatement, as he leapt in the air and soon embraced Jared Goff. But the victory wasn’t the first thing on Campbell’s mind as he opened his postgame press conference.
He began by reading the names of the victims of the horrific tragedy earlier this week at Oxford High School that saw a disturbed student gun down four of his classmates, and injure several more. He then dedicated the game ball to the entire Oxford community.
“This game ball goes to the whole Oxford community, everyone who was affected,” he said.
He then proceeded to list the names of everyone who was either lost or injured in the carnage.
“Those names will never be forgotten, and they’re in our hearts and prayers. Not to mention all of those who were affected in all of this – the classmates, brothers, sisters, cousins, teachers, coaches, everyone.”
Campbell then turned his attention to the game that had just wrapped up, his first win as head coach of the team he once suited up for. Ironically, he was a member of the infamous 2008 squad that went winless, and he’s happy to not have to experience that again as coach.
“As far as it pertains to us, I’m proud of our guys,” he went on to say. “They fought, they’ve continued to fight all year and it paid dividends today. We found a way to win when we needed to.”
“I’m happy for them, of course I’m happy,” he continued. “We’re all happy, I’m happy for the coaches and everyone. But you want this so bad for the players, man. They’re the ones who put in all the hard work, sweat and tears. So do the coaches, but that’s what makes this great. When you lose, it hurts and it’s hard. But it’s also why winning is so great in this League and when you do, it’s special.”
– – Quotes via Detroit Lions Link – –