The worst thing Dan Campbell has ever publicly said has ruined how fans think about the Lions, Pistons, Tigers, and Red Wings
I wish he had never said it. Then we wouldn’t have to hear it over and over again everytime something goes wrong
I seriously wish he had never said it. Even after the moment it left his lips in January of 2024, I knew it was bad. I knew it would be misinterpreted, and I knew it would be regurgitated over and over again in the worst way. If you asked Campbell today, he’d probably say the same thing. That he wished he’d never said it.
“That may have been our only shot”
It happened right after the Lions’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. Campbell took to the podium and said the quote. Much like the knee-biting thing, everyone ignored everything that was said around it and heard just “that’s it for us. We’ll never get back.” Here’s what he actually said.
“You gotta live it, unfortunately. You gotta get your heart ripped out, which we did. And it’s a lesson learned. And look, I told those guys, ‘This may have been our only shot.’ Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I am well aware. It’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year.”
The whole point of this was that he was letting his players know that it’s only going to get harder to get back. Not that they wouldn’t be able to get back. But they can’t sneak up on anyone anymore. They’ve gone from the hunters to the hunted. But people took it as the window is closed, and before it closed, fans threw all nuance out of it. Then you see stuff like this.
The Detroit Pistons suffered one of the most embarrassing game seven losses of all time on Sunday night, and I don’t know how the take coming out of that game was that the window is closed on a team who still has one of the best players in the NBA who is just 24-years-old. A team that is also in a really good spot with cap space and mostly has young players on rookie deals. How is the wind closed? Did these guys suddenly turn 30 and nobody noticed?
It’s the same thing with the Lions. So many fans called this offseason a rebuild. How many rebuilds start with a team that already has its franchise quarterback, an All-Pro running back, an All-Pro receiver. an All-Pro tackle, an All-Pro edge rusher, an All-Pro linebacker, an All-Pro safety, and a bunch of Pro Bowlers? A team that is still one of the younger teams in the league, on top of all that. How is this team rebuilding?
Look, it’s really simple. The team had a bad year. They were one of the most injury-affected teams in NFL history. They lost their All-Pro center right after they really had a chance to replace him. You can’t just shut their window based on that. Again, if everyone were 30 and they still haven’t figured it out, it’s over. But this team is still expected to be one of the best in the league in 2026.
We have to stop looking at things in terms of windows. I mean, look at the teams that keep winning. It’s largely the same teams that were winning a lot 10 years ago. It’s because they’re beyond the whole window thing. It’s what the Liosn are trying to do. They want to just always be good and not good for a few years, and maybe you get one. The teams that do that are perennially rebuilding and often don’t even get that one.
The Lions and Pistons are going to be just fine, and they should be bringing home championships within the next few years. I’m not a baseball guy, but I’m sure the Tigers are fine too. The Red Wings might be screwed. We’ll see. Eveyone just calm down.
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