When it comes to having a passion for the game of football, you will not find a more passionate person than Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
Ever since the moment he was hired by the Lions, Campbell has talked the talk and he has walked the walk as he attempts to change a culture in the locker room that was completely ruined by former head coach, Matt Patricia.
But there was once a time during a high school basketball game when Campbell, who was a sophomore playing for varsity, let his passion get the best of him when an opponent went over his back for a rebound but was not called for a foul.
From Detroit Free Press:
“I just ran as fast as I could,” Campbell said. “I saw him and I just — whap. I kicked his leg out from under him, which is a technical. And of course, Coach is like, ‘Get out of the game. You’re done.’”
“I’m like, ‘Man, all right, I can’t do that,’” Campbell said. “And I remember, I’m mad. I sit down and I remember I kind of looked up in the stands and I just see my mom and dad shaking their head like, ‘You piece of crap.’ Like, ‘Seriously? Just what a disgrace.’”
Campbell then went on to explain how his father handled the situation when he returned home from the game.
“He just came in there and basically told me what I looked like and, ‘You act like a little kid,’ and, ‘You’re a baby,’” Campbell said. “Things that I already knew was coming, but I did it and sat down and within 10 seconds I was like, ‘I can’t wait to hear from Dad.’ And had I been about three years younger he would have used his belt on me probably, cause I deserved it back then. But no, he — look, he just basically told me what I already knew, which was hard to swallow.”