ESPN: Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell’ Just Banned By The Owner “Sheila Ford Hamp”
Win, lose or draw, one thing’s for sure: When it comes to Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, All-Pro offensive lineman Penei Sewell says he’s “got his back until the end.”
Campbell has received criticism for twice deciding to go for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal in the second half of Sunday’s NFC Championship Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Sewell, however, refuses to blame the loss on Campbell.
“I don’t agree with any criticism towards Coach. I’ve got his back until the end,” Sewell told ESPN from Orlando, Florida, during an Accelerator Active Energy event with popular YouTuber Donald De La Haye Jr., aka “Deestroying.”
“If he tells me to jump off a cliff with him, I’m right next to him,” Sewell said of Campbell. “I’m so serious. So, whatever he says, whatever he calls, we’ve just got to execute. So, that’s on us really. That’s my guy.”
Detroit ended just one win shy of reaching its first Super Bowl, with the Lions winning two playoff games in the same postseason for the first time since 1957 and matching the franchise record for most wins in a single season (12).
In his third season, Sewell was voted one of six team captains and allowed just one sack on 1,178 offensive snaps played. He is considered a foundational player for the organization and made the Pro Bowl for the second straight year. He credited maturity for his improvement.
“I’m just more comfortable with everything and I’ve experienced more at the end of the day,” Sewell said. “And the game is slower and that’s pretty much it.”
With defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson both returning to Detroit next season after receiving head-coaching interest, Sewell says he wasn’t surprised with their decisions. The goal is to build something special.
“It’s family really. Those two guys coming back, it kind of solidifies that and it just speaks to it,” Sewell said. “It’s on for real. We all love them.”
The expectations are high in Detroit entering next season. And Sewell says the Lions have unfinished business.
“Every new year going in, there’s always another level to tap into, and I feel like there’s no limit and we’ve just got to go attack it like that,” he said.
HS tales of Super Bowl stars: Mahomes, Kelce, Purdy, Kittle
Over 100 million people will watch some of the best athletes in the world compete for the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, but there will be a select group of observers who remember those athletes when they were less famous.
High school coaches or teachers of 15 players were asked to recall their most vivid memories of interacting with the future stars. The recollections included snagging a tuba player for kicking duties, convincing a linebacker not to be afraid of a hamster and sharing a poignant moment during a shiva with a tight end who would go on to be one of the greatest in NFL history.
Here are their stories.
There’s a tradition at Whitehouse (Texas) High School in which a player earns the right to carry a sledgehammer while leading the team onto the field for a football game. Whitehouse coach Adam Cook saw a motivational talk about how Georgia Tech used a sledgehammer to symbolize the strength it takes to get through a tough game.
Mahomes probably could have carried the sledgehammer each week, but that wasn’t his style. Mahomes knew it was something his teammates might like to do, so he told Cook to let other seniors have the honor. Mahomes finally took his turn before a playoff game his senior year.
“He was such a great leader, understanding those little things that most high school kids are unaware of,” Cook said.
Mahomes also would tell Cook which of his teammates hadn’t scored a touchdown, so they could try to get him the ball, and whose birthday it was, so Cook would make sure to wish the player a happy birthday before the end of practice. — Michael Rothstein
It was hours after the funeral when then-Cleveland Heights (Ohio) High School football coach Jeff Rotsky looked outside at who was walking toward his house. Rotsky was surrounded by family and friends as he mourned the death of his father, Mort Rotsky, but the person walking up the driveway was somewhat unexpected.
Rotsky joked that Kelce might have eaten seven sandwiches while he was there, but Kelce paying a shiva call during a time his coach was hurting stuck with him. It’s one of the reasons Rotsky, who now coaches at Villa Angela-St. Joseph in Cleveland, will be “forever loyal” to his former star, who has become an All-Pro tight end for the ChiefsKansas City.
“It’s not necessarily a comfortable thing for a high school kid coming to his coach’s house who just lost his father,” Rotsky said. “So, forever grateful. Forever grateful.”
How Rotsky helped Kelce, both in high school and during some turbulent days in college at Cincinnati, remained with Kelce, too. At some point during Kelce’s college career, Rotsky received a handwritten letter from Kelce, telling him he understood what his coach was trying to teach him.
“It was powerful,” Rotsky said. “And you know, he might not even remember, but his old coach does.” — Michael Rothstein
Kittle played safety during his early years at Iowa City West High School, where former defensive backs coach Garrett Hartwig would reward a player getting an interception with a slice of pie from a local store.
But on one occasion when Kittle picked off a pass, only pie halves were available. Hartwig bought it anyway and gifted it to Kittle during a 20-minute period between the team lift and a meeting.
In minutes, the pie was gone.
“I don’t even know where he found a fork,” said Hartwig, now the head coach at Iowa City West. “You know, most players will take it home. I looked over, and he was just stuffing his face with this pie. I’ll remember that until the day I’m done coaching.
“He’s just aggressive. He played hard. He lifted hard. And then he attacked that pie aggressively. I was honestly shocked.” — Kris Rhim
There’s nothing Greenlaw is afraid of on the football field, but there was something that spooked him during his high school days.
When the 49ers linebacker attended Fayetteville (Arkansas) High School, one of the pet hamsters in the home of assistant coach Brian Early got loose. The Early family took in Greenlaw when the group home he was living in shuttered.
For days, Mr. Fluffypants’ trail was spotted in the house, but he was not seen until one day when Greenlaw saw something scurry out of a shoe. And Greenlaw alerted the whole house.
“Here’s this 230-pound NFL linebacker now, and he’s screaming at a 5-ounce hamster that just runs out of his house shoe,” said Early, now an assistant coach at Missouri. — Ben Baby
