Notes: Sewell Strong Foundation brings Polynesian flair to Ford Field

The phrase “Sewell Strong” is not just a family motto for Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell, it’s also the name of his family’s charitable foundation. Last week, the foundation held its first luau fundraising event in Detroit, and the Lions posted a large gallery of photos from the event on the team’s official site.

Based on the gallery of photos at the event, many current and former players were in attendance to support the event, including Lomas Brown (who spoke at the podium and was honored with the foundation’s Community MVP award), Rob Sims, and Calvin Johnson. Penei Sewell’s parents and family were there too, plus folks from the Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit who were there to receive a generous contribution from the Sewell Foundation to back their youth programs.

Great work by the Sewell family and all of the fine people at their foundation! There is already a second luau event planned for next April in Oregon to keep the giving and positivity flowing. Now, on to the rest of your weekend Notes:

• Joe Kania and our own Erik Schlitt posted a Bye week roster review episode of their Detroit Lions Breakdown podcast.

• Yes, the Detroit Lions were there to see Michigan’s offensive line obliterate everything in its path:

• Tim Twentyman at the official team site wrote about how the rookies are doing up to this point in the season. A new episode of Twentyman in the Huddle also went up on the official team site.

• Always lovely to see happy family news:

• Colton Pouncy and Nick Baumgardner from The Athletic posted a new (shorter than usual) episode of their Lions-focused podcast One of these Years. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts.

• A quick hitter on the magnificence of Barry Sanders from our friend Kent Lee Platte:

• The NFL Votes campaign is in full swing, with the Lions’ official social media accounts posting a get out the vote message from rookie Aidan Hutchinson and a call for volunteers with league partner Vet the Vote.

• The defense makes me sad: