LAS VEGAS: Messages from folks in Detroit began to pour into Nic Jones’ cell phone.
The rookie defensive back for the Kansas City Chiefs had just wrapped up his team’s victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game when he began receiving calls from friends congratulating him on his achievement and cautioning him about the buzz that was to come. The Detroit Lions were playing the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game.
“The whole city, they called me,” Jones, a native of Detroit, said at Super Bowl 58 on Wednesday to the Free Press. “During the intermission. “Congratulations, I know you’re one of ours, but you got to see us,” they say when they call me. And I thought, ‘Come on, dude, you have thirty minutes left.'”
With one of the most dominant halves of football any team has played this season, the Lions took a 17-point lead into halftime against the 49ers. However, they gave up 27 points in a row to lose 34-27.
Jones, who attended Southfield for his high school and Ball State for his college ball, was one of many people who believed a Lions-Chiefs rematch was in the works at halftime.
MORE FROM SUPER BOWL 58: Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions “reminds me a lot of myself,” according to Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher.”I’ve been a Lions fan for 15 years and I’m really a hater because I can’t believe they got good the one year I don’t like them no more,” he stated. “I went to Lions games in 2008, and I remember watching Adrian Peterson tear them up.” My big brother and I attended our first-ever Lions game at home, which is why I kind of wanted them to lose—even though I’m no longer a fan after all those years of heartache.But after that, I began to cheer for them, saying things like, “Come on, Lions, do it then.” Although it was regrettable, I believe they have a good thing going there. I have no doubt that they will return.”
Chiefs defensive lineman Mike Danna, who attended Michigan and Warren De La Salle, said he had a similar reaction to Jones’s and that he even knew Lions fans who had booked flights for the Super Bowl.
“That was absurd,” Danna remarked. “It’s true that a large number of Detroiters were eager to visit Vegas; they were chirping me immediately. Some had to reschedule because they mistakenly believed they would be traveling to Vegas. It was absurd. There were undoubtedly a lot of individuals prepared to attend.”
In the Super Bowl, five months after the Lions defeated the Chiefs in the NFL season opener at Arrowhead Stadium, Danna noted that “it would have been cool” to play his home team.
He and Jones both expressed their happiness that their beloved city had a remarkable run and that the team they grew up rooting for had turned the corner in terms of NFL significance.
“I feel really good for the city just seeing how happy (they were),” added Jones. “I was relieved to see them triumph this year. Really, I thought it was great. “You want to throw me some tickets to go to a Lions game?” asked my mother. I say, “No.”
“Well done, them. They had an incredible season, Danna remarked. “It was amazing to witness since the team had previously been associated with a bad story and a bitter, sour image, but they have now altered the narrative. This year, they altered the team’s story. They emerged, making noise as they did so while swinging from the jump.”
