Dan Campbell has finally been Lionized but seems focused on one thing: Moving on
Well, it finally happened. Dan Campbell has been Lionized.
It’s not Campbell’s fault because this team, this franchise, just has a special way of driving every coach a little crazy at some point.
Ask Bobby Ross, who just up and quit. Ask Marty Mornhinweg, who took the wind. Ask Rod Marinelli about believing in the invisible, or Jim Schwartz about handshakes or Jim Caldwell about dungeons of doom or Matt Patricia about slouching reporters.
At some point in the tenure of every Detroit Lions coach, things go catawampus and these men are driven into a despair they’ve never known. So welcome to the club, coach. We have jackets.
Of course that point for Campbell happened Saturday night during the failed controversial two-point conversion in a 20-19 loss to the Cowboys. Maybe you’ve heard about it. OK, who am I kidding? The entire sequence has been the most replayed footage coming out of Dallas since the Zapruder film.
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But Campbell wasn’t fully Lionized until he conducted an emotional, three-minute postgame news conference that involved angrily balling up a piece of paper, furiously tapping the lectern and scolding a reporter (then apologizing) for daring to ask about his visible frustration.
Campbell erased all doubt about his membership into the Lionized Coaches Club on Monday when he declared himself “good,” “ready to go” and full of “controlled fury” … then nine questions snapped at a different reporter asking about the two-point play: “Why do you guys want to talk about this? I don’t want to get into it.”
The reason is obvious. An important game with crucial playoff-seeding ramifications was on the line.
In the three years Campbell has coached the Lions, he has been the model of calm, controlled confidence. Even after he fired Aubrey Pleasant or apologized for cutting Don Muhlbach on his 40th birthday or demoted Anthony Lynn, he has handled each moment with exemplary decorum. Until now.
I don’t blame Campbell. He has worked tirelessly and sacrificed endlessly to get himself and his team to this point. And one botched play cost him a big game he thought he had won.
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But Campbell did something important and said something even more important Monday when I asked him what his message would be to fans who think the NFL and its game officials are biased against the Lions and wanted the Cowboys to win.
“Don’t do that,” he said. “Don’t do it. I know, I get it, but don’t do that. Don’t buy into that. Don’t live in that world, man. That will just pull you down.
“And if it makes you feel any better, the NFL is against every team, all right? Because look, I was at New Orleans, so I know what that feels like.”
Campbell was referencing New Orleans’ controversial loss to the Rams in the NFC championship game Jane. 20, 2019, when L.A. cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman wasn’t called for an obvious pass interference on Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis.
And that game decided who went to the Super Bowl!
Campbell was philosophical Monday about the differences between the finality of that loss and Saturday’s defeat against Dallas.
“This one, we got a taste of what that’s like, but we’ve still got a chance,” he said. “We haven’t even started the tournament. So, this is a — I think it’s a blessing. And I would tell fans, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t even believe that.’ We’re just getting started.”
Fans have the luxury of playing the victim card and feeling like the NFL and the refs and Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell and probably the restroom attendant at league headquarters are all against the Lions.
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But Campbell doesn’t have that luxury. He needs to move on and he needs his team to move on in time for Sunday’s regular-season finale against Minnesota. That’s why he was frustrated with reporters’ questions about a series of events he can’t change.
The topic of the controversial call will persist — this week and forever more in Lions lore. That will make this week especially challenging for Campbell, whose hallmark with the Lions has been his ability to get his team to bounce back from a loss. At least less than 48 hours after the game, Campbell said that wouldn’t be a concern this week.
“Yeah, no, no, honestly, I feel great about it because I, for the most part, until you guys asked me the questions, I’m over it,” he said. “I don’t even want to deal with it.”
Campbell said Lions president Rod Wood is dealing with the league on the officiating issue, which has allowed him to focus on game preparation.
“He’s got it and I don’t even want to deal with it,” he said. “I’m done. I’m good. I just want to go and I want to get ready for Minnesota and our players will be ready to roll. I know they will.”
The Road to the Playoffs for Campbell and the Lions is reaching its conclusion. It hasn’t been an entirely smooth path and suddenly, we’re all discovering, it can be a difficult emotional journey.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell got Lionized but seems focused on one thing: Moving on
