THE EPIC STORY OF THE DETROIT LIONS’ 2023 RENAISSANCE
FROM GRIT TO GLORY! FROM GRIT THETO PLAYOFFS! GLORY!
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In memoriam
KIRTHMON F. DOZIER: 1958-2024
ABOUT THE BOOK From Grit to Glory! condenses more than a year’s worth of the world’s best coverage of the Detroit Lions from the Detroit Free Press. Follow the Lions at www.freep.com and with a print subscription at 800-395-3300. The book includes coverage from the USA TODAY Network, which includes the Free Press.
THE LINEUP EDITOR
HEADLINES
Gene Myers
Ryan Ford
DESIGNER
GAME RECAPS
Ryan Ford COPY CHIEF
Gene Myers, Free Press staff
Owen Davis
COVER DESIGN
COPY EDITOR
Ryan Ford
Jennifer Troyer
PHOTO IMAGING
Ryan Ford PROJECT COORDINATOR
Kirkland Crawford FREE PRESS WRITERS
Dave Birkett, Carlos Monarrez, Mitch Albom, Jeff Seidel, Shawn Windsor, Jared Ramsey, Ryan Ford, Gene Myers FREE PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS DANIEL MEARS
PUBLISHED BY PEDIMENT PUBLISHING
©Copyright 2024 Detroit Free Press/USA TODAY Network. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage system, without the permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. Printed in Canada.
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Kirthmon F. Dozier Sr. was supposed to shoot pictures of the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day for the Detroit Free Press. Instead, he watched it from a hospital bed with his children — a rare time for all of them to enjoy a major sporting event together. “I was always the one dropping him off at the airport,” son Kirt Dozier Jr. said. “It was kind of cool to watch Michigan win with him.” Overtime was a bonus; recognizing the importance of the situation, the hospital staffers who had been chasing them away all week at 8 p.m. looked the other way. “He was glued to it,” Kirt Jr. said, and it turned out to be his final game. Dozier Sr., 65, who covered thousands of professional, college and high school events and even multiple Olympics for the Free Press across 28 years, died Jan. 5, 2024, after
FROM GRIT TO GLORY!
a brief illness. He attended Washington State and then worked for the Bellingham (Wash.) Herald, the Detroit News and Newsday of Long Island, New York. He returned to Detroit with the Free Press in 1995. While he also handled news assignments, he was best known for his work in sports and was an expected part of the game-day scene for teams and fans. J. Kyle Keener, a former Free Press chief photographer, described Dozier in more frenzied prose than his low-key friend ever used: “Just the kind of guy that you wanted in that photographic hot seat when the pressure cooker was turned up high and it was time to produce tremendous quality imagery under extreme deadline conditions.” — NEAL RUBIN
Junfu Han, Kirthmon F. Dozier, Eric Seals, David Rodriguez Munoz, Kathy Kieliszewski, Kimberly P. Mitchell SPECIAL THANKS
Nicole Avery Nichols, Chris Fenison, Jan Davis, Laurie Delves, Vaughn Derderian, Bill Dow, Megan Holt, Eros, Schrodinger & Bobo.
THE BIG PICTURES COVER: Jared Goff led the Lions to their first division title in 30 years. ERIC SEALS/DETROIT FREE PRESS
PAGE 1: Aidan Hutchinson came out roaring for the playoffs at Ford Field. JUNFU HAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS
The epic story of the Detroit Lions’ 2023 renaissance
FROM GRIT TO GLORY! 1
2
3
The season!
The playoffs!
The glory!
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From the debut in K.C. to the NFC North clincher in Minnesota to the stunner in Dallas, the Lions had no end to their pride.
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For the first time in its history, Ford Field rocked with a playoff crowd as the Lions roared all the way to the NFC championship game.
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Back before the days of the Super Bowl, Detroit was the City of Champions and the Lions were kings of all they surveyed.
FROM GRIT THETO PLAYOFFS! GLORY!
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0
SEASON PREVIEW
A willingness to slow-play the Lions’ rebuild actually sent the franchise into overdrive earlier than expected.
wait gain BY DAVE BIRKETT
J
ust wait. Brad Holmes told himself those words over and over in his first season as Detroit Lions general manager in 2021. In his car on the way to work. In his office as he watched film. And when he made his way down the hall to visit coach Dan Campbell. The Lions went 3-13-1 that fall in what Holmes admitted later was the first year of a rebuild. They lost five games by four points or less, three on field goals as time expired, and ended the season with three victories in their final six games while fielding one of the thinnest rosters in the NFL. They lacked capable receivers. Every starter on their offensive line missed time with injuries. And two of their best defensive players tore their Achilles tendons early in 10
FROM GRIT TO GLORY!
the season. But Holmes saw something that fall — over and over again — that convinced him the rebuild he and Campbell were overseeing was on track. “It sucks to lose, it does,” Holmes told the Detroit Free Press on the eve of the 2023 season. “And especially when you lose like that. Like if you just get your ass whipped, you just get your ass whipped and you’re like hats off to them, they just beat our ass. Like when Cincinnati rolled us that year, it was what it was. “But those games just like, bro, it hurts, man. It sucks. But that next morning, man, I was just like, ‘Whoo, just wait, just wait, just wait.’ Like we haven’t even used these first-round picks and all this stuff. We haven’t had the cash to spend. We haven’t even had that yet, and I’m just like, everybody was new, coaches all that, and I was just seeing how Dan had those guys ready to go every week and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah!’” Holmes clapped his hands while he talked and gripped an imaginary steering wheel as if he were making his morning commute again.
At age 44 and in his third season as general manager, Brad Holmes acknowledged the large number of Lions fans at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium while conducting a little business on the field before the season opener. JUNFU HAN/ DETROIT FREE PRESS
After one loss — he didn’t remember which one — he stopped by Campbell’s office to talk. “I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And he goes, ‘Yessir!’” Holmes recalled, chuckling at the thought. “And then he was like, he was talking about what we’re going to do this week, and he was like, ‘We’re going to score 30, 40 points this week.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeaaah!’ I just was driving in saying, ‘Just watch, it’s going to come.’ So that right there, and that’s why grit is all over this place, because when it gets dark, that’s just who me and Dan are and that’s how we’re wired.” Slowly, the dark that enveloped the Lions franchise turned to light. The offensive line was healthy. The defense had been revamped. And even if questions remained at receiver, the Lions were going to open the 2023 season at the Kansas City Chiefs with one of the best rosters in the NFL. Because of the Lions’ momentum, the NFL selected them for the season’s first game: on a Thursday night against the defending Super Bowl champions. It was the first of at least three primetime matchups: a Thursday against Green Bay in September, a Monday against Las Vegas in October and a Saturday against Dallas in December. Holmes said the rebuild, which he initially termed a “retool,” was “ahead of schedule just because of the young players that have produced for us rather early.” And it all started with the plan he and Campbell hatched when they united in the rare arranged football marriage that worked.
MARSHMALLOW TREATS The Lions set out on parallel coach and general manager searches when they overhauled their franchise after their disastrous 2020 season, dispatching coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn. Campbell and Holmes had never met before they were hired by owner Sheila Ford Hamp in January
THE SEASON!
11
DEC. 24, 2023
AT U.S. BANK STADIUM, MINNEAPOLIS
15 LIONS 30, VIKINGS 24
Crown ’em! The Lions were finally kings of the North, thanks to huge days from Amon-Ra St. Brown and Ifeatu Melifonwu (and some help from Vikes QB Nick Mullens). BY MITCH ALBOM
H
THE BIG PICTURE
ow was this for a Christmas morning stocking stuffer? The Detroit Lions won their division. The Lions earned the right to host a playoff game. Manna would fall from heaven. OK, maybe not the last one. But the occasion called for hyperbole, right? In a game that went down to the final minute on Christmas Eve, and looked as if it might be lost in the ugliest of Lions traditions, defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu stepped in front of Justin Jefferson, the Vikings’ All-Pro receiver, and finally got the best of him, stealing an interception near the end zone.
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FROM GRIT TO GLORY!
Melifonwu’s nickname was “Iffy.” Until that point, that was exactly how the Lions’ chances looked. No more. History, made. Melifonwu’s timely pick cemented a 30-24 victory over Minnesota that shook the rust off more than three decades of futility. That sound you just heard was history choking and destiny clearing its throat. How long had it been? Thirty years, right? Waco was under siege. Monica Seles got stabbed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 3,700. That was all going on in America the last year the Lions won their division. 1993? A kid born back then could have graduated from medical school and been delivering babies by now. But even the best doctor would be hardpressed to deliver a more hand-wringing clincher than this opera in Minneapolis. “It was really important for us,” Amon-Ra St.
THE NORTHERN KINGS! NFC NORTH
W-L
PF PA
x-DETROIT MINNESOTA GREEN BAY CHICAGO
11-4 7-8 7-8 6-9
412 355 314 299 333 331 314 345
x-Clinched franchise’s first NFC North title in division’s 22 seasons
Brown told reporters after his marvelous game, 12 catches for 106 yards. “I mean, 30 years is a pretty long time when you think about it.” Uh, yeah. St. Brown hadn’t been on Earth that long! Still, for much of the game, it looked like two people filled with Christmas spirit, one opening the door for the other. The Lions drove right downfield for a touchdown, then allowed the Vikings to do the
Ifeatu Melifonwu couldn’t have picked a more dramatic time for his first career interception. He picked off a Nick Mullens pass intended for Justin Jefferson at the Detroit 5 with less than a minute to play in the game. To celebrate, Melifonwu stood in the end zone and clapped his hands above his head, mocking the Vikings’ Skol chant. If only the Gjallarhorn were nearby! JEFFREY BECKER/USA TODAY SPORTS
THE SEASON!
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4 THE CHAMPIONSHIPS
1957 10-4-0 FAST FACTS ww COACH: George Wilson. ww DIVISION PLAYOFF: Detroit Lions 31, San Francisco 49ers 27. ww NFL CHAMPIONSHIP: Detroit Lions 59, Cleveland Browns 14. ww SIGNS OF THE TIMES: PRESIDENT — Dwight Eisenhower, starting second term. GOVERNMENT — Civil Rights Act of 1957 enacted, federal troops sent to ensure the Little Rock Nine could attend an all-white Arkansas high school. OSCARS — Around the World in 80 Days won best picture. GAS — 31 cents a gallon. DEATHS — Humphrey Bogart, Eliot Ness, Father Solanus Casey. SPORTS — Walter O’Malley announced the Dodgers’ move to L.A. DEBUT — The Mackinac Bridge opened.
THE BACKSTORY The Lions’ bid for a third straight NFL championship — yet to happen in the league’s playoff era — ended in spectacular fashion in 1954. On the regular season’s final weekend, the Lions beat the Browns, 14-10, at Cleveland to finish 9-2-1. For the title the next weekend, the Browns crushed the Lions, 56-10, at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Forced to bomb away, Bobby Layne completed only 18 of 42 passes for 177 yards and was intercepted six times and fumbled once. “They just beat the hell out of us!” he told reporters as he smoked a postgame
DETROIT FREE PRESS ARCHIVES
George Wilson had a 53-45-6 record as Lions coach from 1957-64. He quit in anger after William Clay Ford fired his five assistants. He later coached the Miami Dolphins.
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4 THE CHAMPIONSHIPS cigarette. In 1955, the Lions finished last in the league at 3-9. Then in 1956, with Doak Walker retired at age 29, the Lions lost a season-ending showdown with Chicago for the division title, 38-21. A Big Ed Meadows hit from behind concussed Layne early in the second quarter. Coach Buddy Parker alleged that Meadows was sent into the game for one purpose — to injure Layne. “It was a mission accomplished,” Parker said. Although Layne’s replacement, Harry Gilmer, later threw a touchdown pass for a 7-3 lead, the Lions could not stop the Bears, who rushed for 309 yards and passed for 137 more.
THE SEASON In 1957, the Lions won their third NFL title of the decade in bizarre fashion. Parker quit during a preseason banquet, and George Wilson, an assistant since 1949, took the reins. With an 8-4 regular-season record, the Lions barely outscored their opponents, 251-231, relying on experience and moxie more than brilliance. Their offense ranked tied for sixth out of 12 teams (20.9 points a game); their defense ranked seventh (19.3 points). In Week 4, the Lions trailed Baltimore, 27-3, in the third quarter but won, 31-27, when Layne hit Howard (Hopalong) Cassady with a 29-yard pass in the closing seconds. In Week 11, Layne was pinned under three Browns and suffered a broken right ankle. Still, the Lions won, 20-7, by holding rookie Jim Brown to 38 rushing yards. In Week 12, Tobin Rote threw four interceptions and the Lions trailed, 10-0, at halftime in Chicago, but Detroit eked out a 21-13 victory to finish tied with San Francisco atop the Western Conference. The 49ers won a coin toss and got to host a playoff tiebreaker. They led, 24-7, at the half and 27-7 early in the third quarter. By the first minute of the final quarter, the Lions led, 28-27, en route to a 31-27 victory for the ages, completed with Roger Zatkoff’s interception of Y.A. Tittle in the dying moments. During training camp at Cranbrook in 1958 (from the left), quarterbacks Tobin Rote and Bobby Layne chatted with rookie running back Ken Webb. In October 1958, Layne was traded. In January 1960, in a contract dispute, Rote signed with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. Webb played five seasons in Detroit. DETROIT FREE PRESS ARCHIVES
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FROM GRIT TO GLORY!
’23 AROUND THE NFL THE LIONS’ 2023 SCHEDULE SEPT. 7 SEPT. 17 SEPT. 24 SEPT. 28
OCT. 8
OCT. 15
@KC
CAR
@TB @BAL
SEA
ATL
@GB
OCT. 22 OCT. 30 NOV. 12 NOV. 19 NOV. 23
LV
@LAC
CHI
GB
DEC. 3
DEC. 10
@NO @CHI
DEC. 16
DEC. 24 DEC. 30
JAN. 7
JAN. 14
JAN. 21 JAN. 28
DEN @MIN @DAL
MIN
LAR
TB
@SF
W L W W W W L W W W L W L W W L W W W L 21-20
37-31 (OT)
20-6
34-20
42-24
20-6
38-6
26-14
41-38
31-26
29-22
33-28
28-13
42-17
30-24
20-19
30-20
24-23
31-23
34-31
THE STANDINGS! NFC NORTH
W-L
PF PA
NFC EAST
W-L
PF PA
NFC SOUTH
W-L
PF PA
NFC WEST
W-L
PF PA
x-DETROIT y-GREEN BAY MINNESOTA CHICAGO
12-5 9-8 7-10 7-10
461 395 383 350 344 362 360 379
x-DALLAS y-PHILADELPHIA N.Y. GIANTS WASHINGTON
12-5 11-6 6-11 4-13
509 315 433 428 266 407 329 518
x-TAMPA BAY NEW ORLEANS ATLANTA CAROLINA
9-8 9-8 7-10 2-15
348 325 402 327 321 373 236 416
z-SAN FRANCISCO 12-5 y-L.A. RAMS 10-7 SEATTLE 9-8 ARIZONA 4-13
491 298 404 377 364 402 330 455
AFC NORTH
W-L
PF PA
AFC EAST
W-L
PF PA
AFC SOUTH
W-L
PF PA
AFC WEST
W-L
PF PA
z-BALTIMORE y-CLEVELAND y-PITTSBURGH CINCINNATI
13-4 11-6 10-7 9-8
483 280 396 362 304 324 366 384
x-BUFFALO y-MIAMI N.Y. JETS NEW ENGLAND
11-6 11-6 7-10 4-13
451 311 496 391 268 355 236 366
x-HOUSTON JACKSONVILLE INDIANAPOLIS TENNESSEE
10-7 9-8 9-8 6-11
377 353 377 371 396 415 305 367
x-KANSAS CITY LAS VEGAS DENVER L.A. CHARGERS
11-6 8-9 8-9 5-12
371 294 332 331 357 413 346 398
x-DIVISION CHAMPION; y-WILD CARD; z-FIRST-ROUND BYE, HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
WILD CARD ROUND
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
CONFERENCE FINALS
NFC
NFC
NFC
NO. 1 SAN FRANCISCO, BYE. NO. 3 DETROIT 24, NO. 6 L.A. RAMS 23. NO. 4 TAMPA BAY 32, NO. 5 PHILADELPHIA 9. NO. 7 GREEN BAY 48, NO. 2 DALLAS 32.
NO. 1 SAN FRANCISCO 24, NO. 7 GREEN BAY 21. NO. 3 DETROIT 31, NO. 4 TAMPA BAY 23.
NO. 1 SAN FRANCISCO 34, NO. 3 DETROIT 31.
AFC
NO. 3 KANSAS CITY 17, NO. 1 BALTIMORE 10.
AFC
NO. 1 BALTIMORE, BYE. NO. 2 BUFFALO 31, NO. 7 PITTSBURGH 17. NO. 3 KANSAS CITY 26, NO. 6 MIAMI 7. NO. 4 HOUSTON 45, NO. 5 CLEVELAND 14. 156
FROM GRIT TO GLORY!
NO. 1 BALTIMORE 34, NO. 4 HOUSTON 10. NO. 3 KANSAS CITY 27, NO. 2 BUFFALO 24.
AFC
SUPER BOWL LVIII AT ALLEGIANT STADIUM, LAS VEGAS
KANSAS CITY 25, SAN FRANCISCO 22 (OT).
’23 PRIDE OF THE PRIDE
trophy case BRIAN BRANCH DEFENSIVE BACK
SAM LaPORTA TIGHT END
ww Tied fifth for defensive rookie of the year (AP)
ww All-Pro second team (AP) ww Pro Bowl ww All-Rookie (Pro Football Writers) ww Third for offensive rookie of the year (AP)
DAN CAMPBELL HEAD COACH ww Coach of the year (Sporting News) ww Third for coach of the year (AP)
FRANK RAGNOW CENTER
JACK CAMPBELL LINEBACKER ww All-Rookie (Pro Football Writers)
ww All-Pro first team (Pro Football Focus) ww All-Pro second team (AP) ww Pro Bowl
JAHMYR GIBBS RUNNING BACK
JALEN REEVES-MAYBIN SPECIAL TEAMER
ww Pro Bowl ww All-Rookie (Pro Football Writers) ww Fourth for offensive rookie of the year (AP)
ww All-Pro first team (NFLPA) ww All-Pro second team (AP) ww Pro Bowl
JARED GOFF QUARTERBACK ww Declined Pro Bowl berth
BRAD HOLMES GENERAL MANAGER ww Executive of the year (Sporting News)
JUNFU HAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS
Despite being considered a top candidate for several head coaching positions for a second consecutive offseason, Ben Johnson turned down all suitors to return to the Lions for the 2024 season.
AIDAN HUTCHINSON DEFENSIVE END
BEN JOHNSON OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
ww Pro Bowl
ww Third for assistant coach of the year (AP)
AMON-RA ST. BROWN WIDE RECEIVER ww All-Pro first team (AP) ww All-Pro second team (Pro Football Focus) ww Pro Bowl
PENEI SEWELL OFFENSIVE RIGHT TACKLE ww All-Pro first team (AP, Pro Football Writers, Sporting News, Pro Football Focus) ww Pro Bowl
THE GLORY!
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