The Detroit Lions have never been to a Super Bowl. In fact, since winning the NFL Championship in 1957, the Lions have only one playoff victory. Since that time, the team has had some great players but they have not been able to get the job done. In fact, two of those greats, Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson retired from football at a young age.
Former Lions’ tight end Joseph Fauria recently joined the “Outta Bounds” podcast and he had no problem giving his two cents about the culture in Detroit.
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From Click On Detroit:
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Fauria said. “If you have Barry Sanders quitting early the great sport of football because he knew he wasn’t going to win and he didn’t want to put his body through pain anymore, and the same darn thing happens decades later with Calvin Johnson — come on guys.”
Fauria believes that both Sanders and Johnson left retired prematurely because they knew they would never win a Super Bowl in Detroit.
“Calvin goes back and forth with Detroit and Atlanta, right?” Fauria said. “Barry Sanders is always in Detroit. But imagine if they had gone to a different place and actually won a Super Bowl, which they were totally capable of because they were the best players at their respective positions. But they knew in their heart that they would never win (in Detroit).”
“There is your answer,” Fauria said. “I hate to say this because Detroit fans — they are the best. But for crying out loud, the two best to ever play their respective positions left early because they knew they weren’t going to win.”
After playing for the Lions, Fauria had brief stints with the practice squads in Arizona and New England. He compared those organizations to Detroit.
“I got to compare the organizations of the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions and New England Patriots, and I tell you, it’s a night and day accountability factor — just responsibility and how things are run and how the ship is run from that of a Detroit Lions and the likes of a New England Patriots,” Fauria said.
Fauria believes the accountability within the Lions organization starts with ownership.
“A head coach is only as good as his assistant coaches,” Fauria said. “A president is only as good as his cabinet and who’s helping him make his decisions. I think the owner is only as good as the pieces they put together and if they’re having accountability for those positions and it’s not just hiring your friends. It has to be business decisions, and that gets lost.”
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