2023 Detroit Lions Name Bracket Tournament: The Field

The internet can be a cold, mean place. Social media has become a haven for cyberbullying and political hate spewing. Web media outlets are abandoning their own comment sections for the good of their own writers’ mental health and to avoid the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation.

At Pride of Detroit, we... pride ourselves on being able to keep a fairly civic community and comment section. Detroit Lions fans have had it hard enough. There is no reason for cannibalization here. We are forever bonded by the decades of strife we’ve already lived through.

But every year around this time, we purposely tear at the fabric of our own peace. The Detroit Lions Name Bracket Tournament is entering its ninth year, and somehow we’ve all survived through it.

For the uninitiated, the Detroit Lions Name Bracket Tournament will consume your soul for the next month or so. I have cut down the Lions roster to the 64 best names and given them seeding by my own personal preferences. I did this process hastily and inaccurately, because otherwise, everyone would just agree with my opinions and we’d have a boring tournament. Because the rest of this damn thing is up to you.

You will be presented with matchups one-on-one, along with my own commentary on each name and a poll to vote on. After a certain amount of time, we’ll close the voting and move onto the next round.

It is contentious. It is ugly. Cheating is both rampant and passively accepted (I’m too lazy to find a foolproof polling option that is compatible with this publishing software). You will be fascinated. You will be frustrated. You will not be able to look away.

Here are the past winners of this tournament:

2022: Amon-Ra St. Brown
2021: Damion Ratley
2020: Dee Virgin
2019: Amani Oruwariye
2018: Quandre Diggs
2017: Storm Norton
2016: Jace Billingsley
2015: Ezekiel Ansah

Here is a look at this year’s field. Because this picture is tiny, you can also view the 2023 Detroit Lions Name Bracket on Google Sheets here.

Voting begins later this week. You’ve been warned.