The Detroit Lions will be heading to camp in 16 days when rookies report on July 16. The vets will be in the building a few days late on July 19. Then the search for this year's camp darling gets going.

If you're unfamiliar with what a camp darling is, it's the guys who usually have a very small chance of making the roster, but do things during camp and mostly in the preseason that garners them a big fan base to the point where most fans feel there is no possible way this guy won't make the 53-man roster and be a big star.  

There have been a lot of guys in the last 20 years. Today, we're going to list out our 10 favorites in no particular order. Let's jump into it by going to Norway. 

K Håvard Rugland

We start off with Kickalicous. What a story this was. A YouTube trick shot kick from Norway got a chance to come to the NFL based on what he had done on video. 

He showed up at the perfect time. Longtime kicker Jason Hanson had just retired, and the lookout for his replacement was on. Everyone wanted him to make the team, but once camp started, you could see that he could do the fun kicks, but he did not have the leg for the NFL. 

The Lions cut him at the end of camp and then tried to sign him to the practice squad, but the NFL blocked the signing, claiming a rule the Lions were trying to use was no longer a rule. He worked out for the Packers once, and then that was that for his NFL career. 

LB Carmen Messina

This was my guy right here. I thought Messina was that dude in the preseason. He had seven tackles in one preseason game, and then the next week he sealed a win with an interception. It just made sense that he was the guy. 

He made the practice squad in 2012 and then got injured and was waived in 2013. 

WR Matt Willis 

In 2013, the Lions were looking for some receiver depth to help out Calvin Johnson. Good Morning America host Nate Burleson was there, but he was at the end of his career. 

Then this kid Matt Willis came over and blew everyone away in the first preseason game of the year when he had three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. That was that, though. He never had another solid outing, and 2013 was the last year of his career. 

RB Zach Zenner

Zenner actually did make the team, and there was one really good performance against the Cowboys. Other than that, he was mostly a practice-squad guy who had some good showings in the preseason and had a lot of people convinced that he was the answer to the running back problem the Lions had been having since Barry Sanders' retirement. 

 Zenner got three seasons with the Lions and then spent some time with the Saints, Cardinals, and Dolphins. He's now an agent. 

WR Tom Kennedy

Kennedy is a special guy. He sometimes makes it onto the field for regular-season games, but he's mostly been a mainstay of the practice squad. Preseason is really when we get to see Kennedy shine the most. He's a guy the coaching staff has a big trust in, and you wonder if he could ever parlay that into a spot on the coaching staff someday. It just feels like he's always going to be here. 

WR Isaiah Williams

He was everyone's favorite player during the preseason last year, and it's because he understood the assignment of being an undrafted guy and knowing that you have to outwork everyone to get a spot. He did just that. 

Williams did get a spot on the 53-man roster, but it was really understandable that he was likely to not get a lot of playing time since the stuff he was really good at was also the stuff that Amon-Ra St. Brown was the best at. 

The Lions waived him during the season, and the Bengals claimed him. It should be fun to see what he does there this summer. 

QB Kellen Moore

"All he needs is a chance." That's what some Lions fans were screaming from he top of their lungs in 2013 when they wanted Moore to get a shot as the Lions' starting quarterback over Matthew Stafford. Don't let anyone tell you these people didn't exist. They definitely did.

There was never any doubt that Moore had a great knowledge of the game and that he was a great college quarterback, but he did not translate that onto the field in the NFL. He has parlayed that into being an NFL head coach, though. 

Edge Mathieu Betts

You couldn't blame anyone for being excited about this one. He was coming off an 18-sack season and a Most Outstanding Defensive Player award in the CFL. A lot of people thought this could work out, but it did not. He just could not make the translation from the Canadian game to the American game and never really had a standout performance. Now he's back with the BC Lions in Canada. 

RB George Winn

You could really understand this one. Winn is from Southfield and played at the University of Detroit. Everyone wants to root for the hometown guy, and Winn did carve out three seasons with the Lions, but he never really made it onto the field outside of the preseason in those years. He at least made the 53-man roster for one of those years. 

WR Dylan Drummond

This was such a fun story. A guy with essentially no NFL interest gets an invite to rookie minicamp after a solid showing at the Lions' local pro day, and for a few weeks, he really captivated everyone in Detroit and even people around the league. He was really wowing everyone in camp. 

The problem is that he would disappear in the preseason, and that was when he needed to continue to show what he was showing at practice. He was cut at the end of camp and is now with the Falcons.