An open letter from Detroit Lions fans to national sports media

I always approach my Detroit Lions coverage in a certain way that sort of hides the fact that I’m a Lions fan and I’ve loved this team my entire life. I don’t want readers to see me as a fan that’s just spewing out fan talk. I want to be taken seriously as a journalist and I want my columns to be respected. But after Thursday—and frankly, most of this offseason—I just can’t sit idly by anymore. The fan is me is taking over on this one, because I’m truly tired of things like this.

Let me just upfront say that I have no ill will towards Joy Taylor. She has a job to do and she does it very well more often than not. But stuff like this is nothing more than an insult to Detroit Lions fans.

Why is it an insult? Because national sports media ignores the Detroit Lions very existence 95 percent of the time. When they do talk about the Lions, it's always some corny, overplayed joke about the team’s losing history or assumptions that the team will lose just because they’re called the Detroit Lions.

Then there’s the recent Dan Campbell hatred that literally has no basis and has been going on all offseason. Nobody can tell you why. The reason this is so annoying is because if they took the minimal amount of time, they’d see that Lions fans are quite happy at the moment.

There’s a feeling in the air right now that the Lions are finally on the right path. Everyone is having fun. Detroit Lions flat out love Dan Campbell and company. Players are smiling in practice. Some are even saying they finally feel free to be themselves both on and off the field.

That’s why nobody that actually cares about the team can understand videos like the one above. You feel bad for us? Why? Because Campbell is eccentric? Well, that’s just what the doctor ordered for both the fans and the players here in Detroit. Just ask them.

The Lions and their fans just went through absolute hell with the previous coaching staff and front office. They’ve lost everything they love in the last five years. Calvin Johnson is gone, Matthew Stafford is gone, Darius Slay is gone, the losing records piled up and the team is a full-on rebuild mode. You honestly think we care about the new head coach wearing a helmet for 90 seconds? You think anyone that loves this team believes that 90 seconds will be the reason if Campbell doesn’t get the job done? You’re insulting our intelligence.

The video asks if Bill Belichick would do that. Joy Taylor said her first thought was that Brian Flores would never do that. Look, we don’t give a damn about Belichick or Flores. The Lions had their version of those guys the last three years and it blew up the entire organization. You’ve got former players on Twitter saying things like this.

There’s a real issue with how that type of guy ran this team into the ground. Now the Lions have a head coach that has a sense of humor. So what? The players are reacting well to him and former players that’s he’s coached said they’d run through a wall for him.

We’re not asking for much from the national sports media. We know you think we’re a joke. We know you laugh at Lions fans all the time. Take your thoughts elsewhere. We didn’t ask for them and you clearly didn’t care enough to find out how we actually feel. So just leave us alone.

- Detroit Lions Fans