There are struggles when it comes to being a Lions fan. Out of 32 collective teams in the National Football League, there are only four teams that have never made it to a Super Bowl: Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions.
It doesn’t help that throughout the years of the program, bad management and poor decisions from ownership have resulted in one of the original founding teams of football to be reduced to the joke of the league. They became the first team in the league to be 0-16, or a flat out disappointment, not winning a playoff game since 1992.
It also doesn’t help that the Lions are rarely favor and seem to be on the wrong side of luck. First, there was the invention of the Calvin Johnson Rule. In 2010, Calvin Johnson (a wide receiver for the Lions) made a catch in the end zone at the end of the game against the Chicago Bears. However, the touchdown was revoked because Johnson did not maintain possession of the ball before hitting the ground (aka set the ball down on the ground after his knee hit). It was ruled an incomplete pass, and the Bears lucked out with a win.
At Thanksgiving in 2015, there was the Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary at the end of the game that resulted in a Green Bay Packers win. Green Bay calls it a miracle, the Lions call it another disappointment. Then in the 2016 playoff game, the flag for holding was picked up by the referees, which is one of the leading factors as to why the Lions lost the playoff game against Dallas and didn’t advance to the next round. In 2021, a delay of game was missed by the refs, resulting in the Baltimore Ravens kicking a record 66 yard field goal to win the game. Lastly, in 2022, the refs messed up the game clock, resulting in the Seattle Seahawks getting a redo of 3rd and long, of course resulting in a touchdown.
The things you think will never happen in the NFL always seem to happen to the Lions. A common saying of being a Lions fan is, “If it’s never happened before, it will of course happen to the Lions.”
Though the Lions have the unfortunate pattern of being on the wrong side of the coin, they are still my team. The Lions fans who stay with the franchise through all its ups and downs are some of the most loyal fans in the NFL. We don’t get the playoff wins or super bowl rings or the string of banners… But we do have these: hope and loyalty.