DETROIT — There are two numbers Detroiters will always remember: 0 and 16.
They signify the Detroit Lions’ 2008 season — the one through which they grew to become the primary crew in NFL historical past to play a 16-game schedule with out profitable a sport (although the 2017 Cleveland Browns finally joined them).
The crew set a file for many losses in a season, whereas permitting the third-most factors, the fourth-most touchdowns and the second-most speeding touchdowns in league historical past. These Lions had been eradicated from playoff rivalry in Week 11, which was tied for the earliest a crew’s postseason hopes had been dashed since 1990.
5 completely different quarterbacks threw not less than one go for Detroit — Dan Orlovsky, Jon Kitna, Daunte Culpepper, Drew Stanton and Drew Henson — with one in all them making probably the most emblematic play of that depressing season.
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In a Week 6 sport on the Minnesota Vikings, Orlovsky took a shotgun snap from the Lions’ 1-yard line. Feeling strain from Vikings defensive finish Jared Allen, he scrambled to his proper and took about six steps out of the again of the top zone earlier than realizing he had unwittingly handed Minnesota a security.
It was a play that will reside in infamy, as would the crew. However there was a silver lining, although the Lions did not understand it on the time. When the present Lions go to the San Francisco 49ers for Sunday’s NFC Championship Sport (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox), Dan Campbell, a veteran tight finish on that 2008 crew, will lead them out. Over his three years as head coach in Detroit, Campbell has taken the crew from a 3-13-1 file in 12 months 1 to a win away from the franchise’s first Tremendous Bowl bid.
A hamstring harm restricted Campbell to at least one sport in 2008, however he has since develop into the face of the present Lions turnaround — partly, he says, due to his expertise as a participant on that 0-fer crew.
“I acquired harm early. I wasn’t round for the entire yr, nevertheless it’s a type of the place you may’t get out of your individual method. You simply proceed to search out methods to lose, sadly,” Campbell stated of the 2008 season.
“You are all the time going to be taught classes over time, regardless of the place you have been, the great and the dangerous. And among the greatest classes you be taught are when issues do not go proper. And so, I have been lucky to see all of it,” he stated. “I’ve seen all of it. Been on the lowest and I have been on the highest and also you be taught alongside the best way. And that helps.”
With the Lions on the verge of historical past, members of the 2008 crew are feeling particularly linked to this yr’s squad — largely due to Campbell.
Here’s what they instructed ESPN in regards to the present Detroit crew.
What do you consider Dan Campbell, and what does it imply that he — a member of the 2008 crew — is now main the turnaround?
Jon Kitna, Lions QB: Once you expertise one thing like that, you have acquired one in all two issues you are able to do: You’ll be able to tuck tail and run, or you may simply proceed to method life head on, and that is who Dan is. He has a sense for the town of Detroit and the group of Detroit and what it has been by means of. It is one factor to see it from afar, however if you’ve sat in it, went by means of it, to the place we had been at midway by means of the season in 2007 [at 6-2] and feeling like we had issues delivering the best route then to see it disintegrate, I feel that definitely has been one thing that helps him be extra of the best man for that job.
Calvin Johnson, Lions WR: It is simply going full circle from the 0-16 crew as a participant on that crew to being a head coach and main your crew in the entire other way of the place we went again then. An enormous a part of that’s Dan himself, being a participant turned coach and surrounding himself with a bunch of player-coaches on his employees. … You form of dial in a bit extra when you may have a player-coach, and also you see that occuring. You noticed it when it occurred final yr and it form of clicked for them midway by means of the season.
Drew Henson, Lions QB: To have somebody from that group to be on the opposite aspect of the one of many best runs in Lions historical past, sports activities generally have a good way of telling tales and having narratives, and I definitely suppose that each man from that 2008 crew is entrance and heart, wherever they’re at, cheering for these guys with a giant smile on their face … as a result of it has been a very long time coming and so they deserve it.
Dan Orlovsky, Lions QB: Dan was lunch pail daily. Only a present as much as work, do your absolute perfect at work, work as onerous as you presumably can each single day, and that stood out. I used to be considerably youthful, and as a younger man if you watched a professional, he was a type of guys that you simply watched and stated “That is what it seems like. That is how a professional goes about it on a day-to-day foundation.” He did not let circumstances management him or feelings management him, he was simply there to work.
Rod Marinelli, Lions head coach: I am going to let you know what, there is no doubt in my thoughts that he will succeed or would succeed as a result of the kind of participant he was, he is the identical kind of coach — precisely. Exhausting-nosed. All the pieces he had. On daily basis. He had a nasty elbow and I imply; he was all bandaged up daily and the delight he took, profitable a one-on-one in both a go block or a route and the depth of it. You bought every little thing he had each second. And that crew is reflecting Dan’s persona.
Trying again, did you may have any concept Campbell would develop into a coach and be good at it?
Johnson: I do not even know if Dan knew he can be a coach again then, however he is a frontrunner of males. He led by instance again then. Now, he can lead by instance, he can lead with phrases as a result of he is been there and carried out that and he is had some nice examples, whether or not it is some gamers round him or coaches that he is been round, and you’ll see that paying off. He is surrounded himself with good firm.
Mike Furrey, Lions WR: Once you performed with him, he was most likely probably the greatest teammates that you might ask for as a result of he was honest. He helped out the youthful guys and he simply had a ardour to do no matter he may to assist the crew win. And he performed like that, he acted like that, and it was daily. So, it is not stunning that that locker room has purchased into who he’s as a result of he is very real.
Orlovsky: I used to be by no means shocked that he acquired employed or that he climbed so shortly due to his self-accountability and the private delight that he carried. I wasn’t shocked in that regard. I wasn’t shocked by the press convention [when Campbell famously talked about biting kneecaps]. That is most likely not the best factor to say, however I am simply being sincere: I assume my shock with him is how well-coached they appear and the way clever and detailed they appear.
What is the largest distinction in regards to the group from then to now?
Henson: They drafted very well. They know what they need to be. They have nearly all former gamers as coaches and their skill to have guys which have been there and carried out it and may relate to the gamers and the gamers can relate and belief them goes a great distance.
Marinelli: I see unbelievable management from the highest of the group, and I see that management come down, and I feel how they decide gamers and I do know that Dan is concerned in that, and so they hearken to him. That factor begins from the highest down, and Dan’s the right man and ideal match for that group and so they’ve carried out a terrific job in hiring good coaches and making it a spot the place guys need to keep.
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Kitna: To me, it looks like there’s vertical alignment. From possession, straight on down your roster, your teaching employees, the people who work within the constructing. It simply seems like there’s full alignment there.
Johnson: Numerous it has to do with what [Lions general manager] Brad Holmes and Dan are bringing to the crew. We have seen Brad construct a Tremendous Bowl-caliber crew coming from out west, from [the Los Angeles Rams], and we all know what Dan does as a player-coach. All we wish is a player-coach as a result of he will get us. He understands the wrestle. So when you may have someone that understands the wrestle, however on the identical time, understands the place Detroit has been and understands the grit that represents Detroit, that’s nothing however his genuine self. He’s Detroit.
Furrey: It all the time felt like every little thing was towards you again then, and now it simply seems like, watching the sport, it seems like every little thing is beginning to match the best method and go the Lions’ method. Ever for the reason that hypothetical Bobby Layne Curse, it feels prefer it’s gone the other way.
What does this season imply for Lions followers?
Kitna: It is every little thing. We all know what sports activities does. Sports activities is a unifying factor. And when cities and communities and organizations get to expertise among the issues that Detroit is experiencing now, coming off the heels of what occurred proper down the highway in Ann Arbor [with the Michigan football team winning the national championship], it is superb.”
Johnson: That is nearly up there with faith. This factor is bringing of us to tears. You’ve got acquired of us crying out right here. And I get it. It warmed my coronary heart to see them dudes do it simply because, although we weren’t capable of do it, we nonetheless bleed blue.
Henson: That is for the individuals in Michigan, that is for the followers of generations. They have been ready on this and there is no higher sports activities city within the nation, if you may get on the best aspect of issues, and I feel everyone’s seeing it. … I do not suppose you may assist however pull for the Lions as a result of it stands for all the great in sports activities.
Furrey: Even again within the day in 2008, after we did not win any video games, [the fans] did not stop. That city is legit. That city is stuffed with a fan base that’s actual and deserving and I simply could not be extra joyful for everyone that is been ready for this to occur, and it has been enjoyable to observe.
What do you most like in regards to the 2023 Lions?
Jim Colletto, Lions offensive coordinator: They play so onerous. They have an ideal quarterback. And defensively, they play with nice depth and energy and their offense capabilities effectively. They run the ball effectively and you’ll see that the perspective of the top coach that is watching them on the sideline is [injected] into the crew.
Furrey: You see a crew. You see a bunch of men which are unselfish. They’re working their rear ends off. They’ve a excessive ardour for taking part in the sport. They execute at a excessive stage. They make large performs in huge moments, on either side of the ball, and so they play with that grit that I do know that got here from one particular person and Danny has instilled that.
Marinelli: They combat. I feel they play like Dan performed. They’re powerful. On protection they fly round. They’ve a great perspective, hustle, well-coached, all of these issues. On offense, they run the ball with toughness, and he is acquired the QB [Jared Goff] that everyone would love. That man’s a terrific chief and a terrific participant. So, it matches. All the pieces simply form of matches.”
Johnson: What I like most about this squad is that, yeah, you may have a pair stars on this crew, however I really feel like actually we’d have had extra stars again on the crew once I performed, however you may have some guys who’ve been across the league and you’ve got some strong veterans. And what excites me most is that you simply’re beginning to see a few of these gamers that individuals may not have identified about, begin to emerge and make performs.
Is that this the best Lions crew of the Tremendous Bowl period?
Johnson: There have been stars on among the different groups, like Barry [Sanders], and we had stars on our groups with Matthew [Stafford], myself and you’ll hold happening and on, however so far as only a crew, what we’re seeing, the power that we really feel … Hey, I am going to let you know this, the conversations that I be having with all the fellows that come again and that I performed with, we simply be fascinated by, “Canine, if we had been on this crew, you understand how good we’d be?” Yeah, we had some expertise, nevertheless it’s like with this coach, with this employees, with that tradition.
Kitna: They have an opportunity to do one thing that no person’s ever carried out. So, yeah.
Furrey: That might be onerous to debate making an attempt to place someone else in that image with what they’ve put along with that entire offensive line and that line of defense. That entrance, these linebackers, the duo that they’ve within the backfield proper now with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs and their wideouts and Amon-Ra St. Brown. After which clearly Goff taking part in at a excessive stage. I do not know if Detroit has ever actually seen the fruits of all these items put collectively, taking part in the best way they’re taking part in on the identical time. Clearly, there’s been loads of expertise with Barry Sanders and Herman Moore and Calvin Johnson and loads of expertise there, however the collective of all these guys, it might be onerous to check anyone to that.
Colletto: It is acquired to be proper up there. This point in time of the expertise they’ve within the NFL and what they’ve completed and the file they’ve completed, it is acquired to be proper on the prime.
Did you ever suppose Detroit can be this good?
Kitna: I did. As a result of I noticed the funding of the possession, and it takes so much to get everyone aligned and so they’ve carried out that. They acquired the best man. He was tough-minded sufficient to be 0-10-1 and nonetheless imagine in what he is aware of to be true, and he acquired the best man to associate with him with [GM] Brad Holmes, so it is unbelievable.
Furrey: To be sincere with you, I did. It is as a result of there’s one thing up there in Detroit that is particular. And it is an enormous sports activities city and so they’ve acquired nice amenities and what the Ford household represents. You all the time felt such as you had an opportunity to be a crew like this and for some motive, somehow, the soccer gods, it simply wasn’t meant to be. Now, they’re and it is lengthy overdue. I feel everybody that is performed in that group is aware of what they have been by means of and what the group has been by means of and the potential that they’ve had at occasions, and now to see all of this occur, I am very proud to be a veteran of the Detroit Lions.
After having suffered by means of the 0-16 season, do you may have any recommendation for this crew?
Marinelli: Do what you do. Simply proceed to do what you do and it is adequate. And hearken to your coach. That is what they’ve created in that metropolis.
Kitna: Take heed to your coach, man. Take heed to your coach.
Johnson: Reside within the second. Get pleasure from this second. Do not overlook the second. … I solely acquired to go to the playoffs twice, and also you hear about guys speaking about how they made it to the Tremendous Bowl as a rookie after which they did not contact [it] once more for the remainder of their profession. So simply reside within the second and do not overlook it as a result of that is large.
Furrey: Benefit from the second however do not miss it both. They acquired there due to their execution, their preparation and the targets that they’ve had. They’ve achieved every little thing they’ve got down to, and so they did it the best method, so I would not change one bit. They’ve performed in huge video games from Week 1. I’d not change something. It is one other sport. It is one other huge sport. And simply proceed to do what you are doing.
Henson: You are carrying the torch for each squad that got here earlier than you. We’re within the historical past books for that yr [2008] and so they’ve acquired a chance to vary the narrative of the entire franchise and I feel they’ve carried out that to a degree. And if they will end it off, they’d be clearly the best crew in historical past, however one which’s remembered for generations.
