Detroit Lions Notes
Lions Notes: Despite Criticism, 2012 Pro Bowl Draws 12.5 Million Viewers
by Sean Yuille on Jan 31, 2012 4:51 PM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- An average of 12.5 million people watched the 2012 Pro Bowl. This is the second biggest audience for the Pro Bowl in the last 12 years (last year's game had 13.4 million viewers), and the game's ratings bested the ratings for last year's MLB All-Star Game. I guess it says a lot about the popularity of football when there are so many complaints about the game and yet tons of people still tuned in.
- During an interview, Michael Irvin characterized the season Calvin Johnson had as "ridiculous."
- The movie "Touchback," which was filmed on the west side of the state and features a cameo from Barry Sanders, will be in theaters in Grand Rapids in late April. Sanders said on Twitter yesterday that he would definitely have interest in other roles in the future.
- Now that he is retired, former Lions quarterback Jon Kitna is a teacher and a coach at the high school he attended in Washington.
- Beyond The Bets put together an in-depth analysis of how long Kelly Clarkson's Super Bowl national anthem will be. The over/under, by the way, is set at 1:34.
20 commentsLions Notes: The Pro Bowl Was Better With Wayne Fontes
by Sean Yuille on Jan 30, 2012 11:00 AM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- Instead of watching the 2012 Pro Bowl, @bubbaprog decided to go back in time 20 years and watch the 1992 edition of the game, which featured then-current Detroit Lions head coach Wayne Fontes:
Fontes, by the way, coached the NFC to a 21-15 victory. - Perhaps the most entertaining moment of this year's Pro Bowl was when the Jacksonville Jaguars mascot lost its clothes and attempted to distract the NFC on an extra point by chilling under the goal post in only its underwear.
- A Lions Indy car was spotted in Indianapolis, which is the site of this year's Super Bowl.
- A reader sent in a picture of his cool-looking Lions birthday cake. The Lions logo is pretty detailed for being on a cake.
- After it was leaked out by Nike, the Carolina Panthers' new, "refined" logo was officially announced on Sunday.
- Speaking of Nike, they released pictures of what their Pro Bowl cleats looked like for each team.
Lions Notes: In-Game Tweeting Comes To The Pro Bowl
by Sean Yuille on Jan 29, 2012 12:34 AM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- The Lions' receivers seem to be having a good time in Hawaii, as evidenced by the photos Marcus Harris and Nate Burleson have been posting on Twitter.
- An ESPN piece named Ndamukong Suh as one of 20 current NFL players who have the "toughness to play in any era of NFL history."
- Players will be allowed to tweet from the sidelines of the Pro Bowl during the game (at a designated tweeting station).
- Gunther Cunningham spoke at length this week about the Lions' defensive issues in the last part of the season.
- Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford both made a list of the 100 most powerful athletes in sports.
- The USA Today All-Joe Team, which features the "unsung Joes of the NFL," includes Stafford and Dominic Raiola.
- A Lions fan from Iowa received free tickets to the Super Bowl as part of winning DIRECTV's displaced fan contest.
- Speaking of the Super Bowl, Indianapolis is going all out for the game. Need proof? Just take a look at the JW Marriott hotel in Indy, which features a giant Lombardi Trophy decal on the side of it. Pretty cool.
- The Bears have hired Phil Emery, who is a graduate of Wayne State, as their new general manager.
Lions Notes: Roger Goodell Receives Five-Year Extension
by Sean Yuille on Jan 28, 2012 5:14 AM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell received a five-year contract extension earlier this week, meaning he is now signed on to lead the league through the 2018 season. I'm not sure if I should be happy or upset with the move. On the one hand, the NFL has grown quite a bit since Goodell took over as the commissioner, but on the other hand, a lot of awful rules have come around on his watch.
- Mel Kiper re-drafted the 2006 class of players and had the Lions taking wide receiver Greg Jennings with the ninth overall pick. Linebacker Ernie Sims, the Lions' actual first-round pick in 2006, was not selected in the first round of Kiper's re-draft.
- A website called Gridiron League is making retro-looking logos for each team in the NFL. The Lions' mock-up can be seen here. I'm a pretty big fan of it.
- Leslie Frazier hopes the Minnesota Vikings will follow in the footsteps of the Lions and be the next team from the NFC North to successfully go through a rebuilding phase.
Lions Notes: A Look At The Latest Coaching Hires
by Sean Yuille on Jan 27, 2012 4:58 AM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- NFL.com put together best of videos for Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson that feature their top moments from 2011.
- The NFL said earlier this week that Nike isn't going to come in and dramatically change the look of logos and jerseys. Rather, any changes will be made with the approval of teams and the league. In all likelihood, the biggest changes will be with the equipment rather than the logos or colors or even the uniforms.
- We are going to get our first look at some Nike equipment at the Pro Bowl this week. They are apparently testing out some gloves and shoes, and Charles Tillman provided a look at his gloves, which form the Bears logo when he puts his hands together. They actually look pretty cool.
- The ratings were quite large for the NFC and AFC championship games.
- Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano was named the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts earlier this week.
- The Oakland Raiders hired Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen earlier this week. Amazingly, he is the first defensive-minded head coach to be hired by the Raiders since John Madden.
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly hired Oregon head coach Chip Kelly for their head coaching job, but he decided to stay with the Ducks after reportedly initially accepting Tampa Bay's offer. With the job still open, the Bucs looked back at the college ranks and decided to hire Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano in what was really a puzzling move.
Lions Notes: Matthew Stafford Voted Most Improved Player By Teammates
by Sean Yuille on Jan 21, 2012 11:25 PM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- Matthew Stafford was voted the Chuck Hughes Most Improved Player by his Lions teammates.
- Martin Mayhew compared all of the injuries Lions safeties suffered during the 2011 season to all of the injuries Lions quarterbacks dealt with in 2010.
- With all of the talk about the salary cap as of late, I have seen some people suggest that the Lions should get rid of Kyle Vanden Bosch and/or Nate Burleson because they signed relatively big contracts in 2010. I personally don't see the value in cutting veteran leaders like Vanden Bosch and Burleson just to save some cap room, and based on comments from Martin Mayhew recently, I doubt he thinks that's a very good idea.
The impact Vanden Bosch and Burleson have on the team goes beyond what they do on the field during games."Great," said general manager Martin Mayhew, when asked to assess Burleson's impact. "He's been great. He and Kyle both have been great leaders for us, great in the locker room.
"(They're) solid vets. They know how to prepare. (They're) great leaders for the young guys. Young guys look up to those guys."
- Mel Kiper's 2012 NFL Draft rankings for the top five players at each position are out.
- The Miami Dolphins have hired Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin as their head coach.
- The St. Louis Rams will be the home team in the NFL's annual game in London for the next three seasons. In 2012, they will take on the New England Patriots.
Lions Notes: Marty Mornhinweg Drawing Interest For Head Coaching Vacancies
by Sean Yuille on Jan 20, 2012 11:07 PM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- The Lions are slated to take Stanford offensive tackle Jonathan Martin in SB Nation's latest 2012 NFL mock draft. Personally, I don't think they can go wrong with picking one of the Stanford offensive linemen.
- Former Lions wide receiver Derrick Williams has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Despite his miserable stint as Lions head coach from 2001-02, Marty Mornhinweg appears to be on the verge of once again being hired as a head coach. He reportedly will interview for the Oakland Raiders' head coaching job, and he is actually the favorite to land the Indianapolis Colts' head coaching job.
- Speaking of the Colts, they are also apparently interested in former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel and former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress. That is not a very impressive list of candidates, to say the very least.
- The New Orleans Saints have hired former St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator. Spagnuolo replaces Gregg Williams, who left to be the Rams' new defensive coordinator.
- Darren Rovell is reporting that Nike may not be planning on completely changing NFL uniforms in year one of its deal with the league.
Lions Notes: Mike Martz Retires From Coaching
by Sean Yuille on Jan 17, 2012 2:42 PM EST
in Detroit Lions Notes
- Ndamukong Suh apparently stopped by Roger Goodell's office today, but Goodell was not there.
- Speaking of Suh, he went on CBS's pre-game show on Sunday and ended up being grilled about the stomping incident on Thanksgiving.
- Former Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz has decided to retire from coaching.
- Matthew Stafford and Tony Scheffler had some funny tweets about the bad no-fumble call in the Packers/Giants game on Sunday.
- Stafford, Suh, Calvin Johnson and Kyle Vanden Bosch are projected to account for nearly $60 million against the salary cap in 2012.
- Where in the world is Jim Schwartz? Scouting players at the East-West Shrine Game. (Via Michael Schottey)
- The Colts have finally decided to fire Jim Caldwell. I'm not sure what took them so long.
- After reading this piece from the Kansas City Star on what allegedly goes on behind the scenes with the Chiefs, I'm quite glad the Lions didn't hire Scott Pioli as their general manager.
- The coaches in the Pro Bowl will be the Packers for the NFC and the Texans for the AFC.
- The Giants/Packers game on Sunday was the most-watched divisional-round playoff game ever.
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