Notes: Detroit Lions media gets a new beat writer

On Tuesday, the folks over at The Athletic made some big news when it comes to the Detroit Lions beat. Colton Pouncy, who had been working on the Michigan State Spartans beat for The Athletic, has joined the coverage team for the Detroit Lions. Pouncy, as he explained in his introductory piece over at The Athletic, has spent the last four years tirelessly learning the culture, history, and institution that was Michigan State athletics. Now, he’ll do the same with the Lions.

“Whether it was learning about the marching band’s annual tradition during Michigan-MSU week, writing about flag football games between student newspapers, profiling student-athletes, diving headfirst into recruiting, watching film, covering a coaching search, adding basketball coverage to my resume and generally finding my voice as a writer — I’m a better journalist because of these last four years,” Pouncy wrote. “Those experiences prepared me for this next chapter covering the Lions.”

Pouncy’s arrival does mean that one fantastic voice in the Lions media is stepping back. Chris Burke, who has covered the team for the past five years, will be stepping back to assume an editor position with The Athletic’s fantastic draft team.

From the sounds of it, Burke will still be involved in Lions coverage in some ways, and his podcast with Nick Baumgardner “One of These Years” will continue to live on—with Pouncy now as a third co-host to the team.

If the response from Spartans fans in The Athletic comment section means anything, we’re getting a fantastic writer in Pouncy. On a personal level, it’ll be a bummer not to see Burke—one of the smartest and kindest in the business—every day during the season, but in my brief introduction to Pouncy, I’m confident the Lions beat has a talented, hungry mind in their midst.

You can follow Pouncy on Twitter here.

• James Mitchell’s favorite athlete of all time is Magic Johnson. Learn more about the Lions’ rookie tight end here.

• Just a reminder that Penei Sewell is incredibly fun, and we get to see him play football in less than two months:

• The first season of the USFL is in the books, and Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire points out eight players from the league that Detroit should consider looking at.

• It appears Tracy Walker’s $13,000 worth of fireworks were set off without incident. However, the gender reveal of his upcoming baby did not go as smoothly.

• PFF believes the Lions’ roster ranks 25th in the NFL. Maybe a little low, but overall seems pretty fair.