Notes: Detroit Lions draw inspiration from Pistons Hall of Famer Ben Wallace

To help bring the Detroit Lions players’ focus back to work after their bye week, the team invited Detroit Pistons Hall of Famer Ben Wallace to the facility on Monday. Wallace, who recently took a job assisting the Pistons front office, provided some inspiration to a Lions team still looking for their first win of the season at the halfway point of the year.

“It was outstanding, man. I mean, what a stud. He was great,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Wallace’s appearance.

Campbell was particularly intrigued by Wallace’s personal journey from undrafted free agent to Hall of Famer. Before Wallace addressed the entire team, the two chatted and Campbell found out that Wallace’s story mirrored what he’s hoping to see from this team—fighting through adversity to greatness. Detroit is currently starting several players, who, like Wallace, went undrafted and now have the opportunity to make a career in the league.

“It really embodies everything I think this city is about, but also that’s kind of what we want to be, right?” Campbell said. “You want to mold your persona after a guy like him.”

Campbell mentioned that Wallace said two things that really stuck out to him. One, he kept to himself, and the other, he shared with the media on Wednesday.

“How much he missed the struggle and loved the struggle. That was pretty good, man, really resonated. He was awesome. The guys love him now. They ate it up. It was great.”

• Tuesday was mailbag day for many of the Lions beat, so here’s a quick roundup. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press talked about the merits of drafting a quarterback in 2022 vs. 2023 ($), and Justin Rogers of the Detroit News answered several questions about the wide receiver group,

• When asked about playing a winless team this week, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin brushed off the Lions’ record, stating that this is still a professional football team:

• Chris Burke of The Athletic took a look at the Lions’ current roster and predicted which players will be back in 2022 ($).

• Former Lions tight end Darren Fells cleared waivers, but it looks like he’ll be right back on a roster very soon—and he’s getting a significant upgrade in team:

• Did you miss Saturday’s game between two of the top quarterback prospects for the 2022 NFL Draft? Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire has scouting takeaways for Malik Willis and Matt Corral after the game.

• Speaking of draft content, Dane Brugler of The Athletic updated his top 50 prospects for 2022 ($), which doesn’t even include a quarterback in the top 15.

• Shoutout to our friends at the Detroit Lions Podcast, who raised over $27,000 for St. Jude’s while providing us with some good content, like this reunion between Wayne Fontes, Herman Moore, and Lomas Brown: