The 2020 NFL Draft is in the books, all of which was conducted in virtual format thanks to the spread of the novel coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19.
In the meantime, Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia is staying busy – including a few special off-field activities with his kids at home.
“Playing a lot of Barbies right now, too,” he said. “When my four-year old daughter asks me to play, it’s really hard to turn that down.”
Of course, the life of an NFL head coach ultimately requires one to spend plenty of time away from home and family members. Now that families are getting the opportunity to spend more time together now, Patricia is taking full advantage.
“That’s probably the thing I struggle with the most with my career, is just not being home,” Patricia said. “That’s probably the hardest thing on me when I’m not here with the kids and my wife, which is the most important thing to me.”
It’s certainly easy to put things in perspective now that sports aren’t being played right now. Patricia’s kids were with him during the virtual Draft, another perk for the new reality that he and other NFL coaches are experiencing as facilities remain closed.
“We were actually just talking about this last night. I know there are probably a lot of people that feel the quarantine, they get a little bit stir-crazy, looking at the same people every single day. But for me, man, I appreciate so much every day when I get a chance to get up and see my wife and see my kids,” Patricia said. “I had the three of them there sitting on the couch on the other side of the room (this morning) as I was working.”
“It was cool just to have them down here with me, and then brought them upstairs, made sure they had breakfast, came back down to work,” he said. “Having those opportunities to just be around them for little snippets here and there, give them a hug or a kiss, I just cherish every bit of that because I know that when things go full tilt, I don’t have great answers as to how to balance that.
“This has been a time that I just really, really appreciate.”
We as fans certainly have thoughts of Patricia’s performance in his capacity as head coach, but this is definitely a great story showing a different side of him that few get to see.
– – Quotes via Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket Link – –
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