They hate to see it go, but as the old saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” The Detroit Lions’ time on “Hard Knocks” was so much fun. We learned a lot and saw players and coaches in a new light. We also really saw the Lions organization as a whole in a new light. The rest of the country certainly. Now it’s over. The good news is that Lions Football is just around the corner.
As always, I have thoughts on this episode. These are these thoughts:
The cuts
It’s never easy to watch. You see a few different things here. First of all, you see someone losing their job. Then you either see someone taking a hit on the path to living their dream, or possibly the end of their dream. For many of the vets, you are seeing the end of their run. It can be emotional to watch, even knowing the players know this league is a business.
Tom Kennedy
The cut that stood out the most was Kennedy. There is respect and you can feel it. It seemed like coach Dan Campbell had gotten a little emotional about that as well. He felt that while Kennedy deserved it, it just wasn’t in sight.
The running backs
“Hard Knocks” led us straight into the room to find out who would be the Lions’ third running back. We’ve seen all the talks, and we’ve also seen the unfortunate side of things when the Lions cut Godwin Igwebuike. Soak up those moments. After “Hard Knocks” we stand outside the building again and wonder what the Lions are going to do and why.
Follow Luke
Amid all the heartache, we also saw triumph. Chase Lucas is a guy who worked really hard to build this team and we saw some of that in this episode. The episode highlighted Aubrey Pleasant’s relationship with the rookie. It was almost as if Pleasant had taken Lucas under his wing.
It was fun to see the little boy and his eagerness to show that he can play this game and really wants to. It’s really great to see that confidence he has.
What do you think the artist is trying to say here?
I can tell you myself that Vincent Van Gogh’s immersive experience is definitely awesome. Also a really good day-date option. The whole German speaking part of it is something I can’t speak to. My wife taught me some Spanish and that’s pretty much my bilingual life.
Obinna Eze
Here’s a side of things that was cool to see. We’ve seen the cuts and we know what that looks like. But it was cool to see what it looks like when a player is lifted but then immediately made aware of the team’s intentions to bring him right back into the training roster once they clear the waivers. As we now know, Eze has made clear disclaimers and is now part of the Lions practice team. It’s cool to see how this works.
New boot Goofin
I wish that Rodrigo guy would stop destroying my marriage. The guy comes out in this episode wearing tight pants and a cowboy hat. Man, I can’t keep up with that. Now over here she is talking about how she would like to get a Malcolm Rodriguez shirt this season. Apparently everyone wants one. Lions President Rod Wood says Rodriguez’s jersey is the second most requested jersey after Aidan Hutchinson.
Eminem
When word got out that the Lions would be on Hard Knocks this season, I wondered if Eminem would be involved with the show. Eminem did not disappoint. He was his normal funny self. I never thought we’d have a wee moment with Dan Campbell and Eminem. By the way, Eminem is really small. Campbell towered over him, as did Jared Goff. I gotta try that Mama’s spaghetti one day.
“Hard Knocks: Training camp with the New York Giants”
We need to take a little break from the Lions and go to New York or New Jersey to see Kalil Pimpleton get a tryout with the Giants. That was cool. As we already knew, Pimpleton made the Giants. We even saw part of that contract signing.
“Hard Knocks: Training camp with the Minnesota Vikings”
Then we got the chance to see David Blough in purple. That was strange.
Duce vs. Glenn
These guys should get their own spinoff if you ask me. One of the sad parts of the “Hard Knocks” ending is that we won’t be seeing their competitive relationship as amplified on our TVs.
The Lions 2022 will…
“The 2022 Detroit Lions will be the team they can and want.”
Interesting answer from Campbell. I’m still not quite sure what to think of it. If I had to guess what Campbell meant by that, I would say he meant that he believes very much in this team and that he knows what they are going to be. Sunday can’t come fast enough.