Welcome to the Detroit Lions' TikTok era, why it's not the distraction some think it is
Generations are funny. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like bringing up generations has become a bigger thing than ever, and every generation is sure that they're the best one and the ones after them are collectively the worst. Boomers think Gen X is lazy, Gen X thinks millennials are entitled, and millennials think […]
Generations are funny. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like bringing up generations has become a bigger thing than ever, and every generation is sure that they're the best one and the ones after them are collectively the worst.
Boomers think Gen X is lazy, Gen X thinks millennials are entitled, and millennials think Gen Z is toxic. Then it goes backwards, too.
The point of bringing up generations in relation to football and the Detroit Lions is that one of the things you always hear the older generation say is, "If he wasn't so worried about (enter generational activity, they don't understand here), he would have had a better game."
Lately, we've heard a lot of that when it comes to some of the younger players, like Terrion Arnold, for example. He is on TikTok a lot, and sometimes you see him in the bathroom in Allen Park doing stuff like this.
It's funny, it seems weird to people, but this is totally normal to 22-year-old kids like Arnold because this is what he and basically every player that's come into the league in the last few years, and the guys who are coming in the next few years have grown up with.
This is their Myspace if you're a millennial, their AOL messenger if you're a Gen Xer, or their message in a bottle if you're a boomer. I'm just kidding, boomers. It's their snail mail.
It's playing Halo online for Millennials, it's Super Mario for Gen Xer's and it's ball in a cup and cap guns for boomers. It's just their thing.
The overwhelming majority of people who are on TikTok right now are Arnold's age and generation. This is just part of their life. It's not him being distracted, it's not him trying to be an influencer or a big social media star, it's just Arnold doing what everyone his age does.
If you really pay attention to his social media, you'll see that it's not all jokes and dancing. This kid works on his game and does it a lot. He might be one of the hardest-working players on this team.
It's not something that is going to go away, and it's not something that's just happening in Detroit or with one player here and there. It's happening with multiple players on the team, and it's happening all over the league.
Someday, Arnold and his contemporaries will be going on TikTok and talking about the next generation of players and how their distracted by their hoverboards, self-tying Nike's, and their rehydrated pizzas are distracting them from the game. It won't be true then either.
Final Detroit Lions 53-man roster prediction ahead of training camp
The Detroit Lions will begin trading camp on Sunday and we’re going to take one final 53-man prediction ahead of training camp. Quarterback (2) IN: Jared Goff, Kyle AllenOUT: Hendon Hooker We'll see what happens during training camp, but right now I have to go with the guy who has the experience and the reps. […]
