Meet 4 Detroit Lions fans who have had a front-row view of organization's rebuild

Thump, thump, thump — music is blaring, and flames shoot in the air, and screams erupt in Ford Field, as most of the Detroit Lions run through a tunnel of cheerleaders, leaving the defense behind for pregame introductions before the regular season finale last Sunday.

Art Wahl, a retired Allen Park elementary school teacher, stands in front of those defensive players, holding a sheet of paper with oversized print — the master list for introductions.

“It's surreal,” says Wahl, who has worked part time for the Lions for 31 years, missing just two games — once when he had COVID-19 and once for his granddaughter’s baptism. “I have my family and I had my (teaching) job, but you know what? On Sundays, I get to live with millionaires in the National Football League.”

Up the ramp in the tunnel, Aidan Hutchinson locks hands with Cam Sutton, and they start smashing shoulder pads loosening up their bodies, then Hutchinson punches Sutton in the chest plate.

Wahl is getting the Lions defense lined up — he looks comfortable, like he’s done this a thousand times — either working for the Lions or getting elementary kids ready for recess; and his close friend, Scott Kelsey, walks up the tunnel to line up the final few players.

“It's like herding cats sometimes,” says Kelsey, 60, who grew up in Dexter and Ann Arbor and now lives in Sylvania, Ohio. “It’s awesome man — there's noise, there's smoke, there's the flames.”

Strobe lights are going off in the tunnel, like it's a dance club, and Wahl positions cornerback Kindle Vildor, who will be introduced first. Not far away, standing against the wall is Dave Cook, another member of the Lions game day staff.

“I’m astonished that I get paid to do this,” says Cook, from Sylvania. “I would do it for free.”

Wahl has Vildor ready.

“And now,” the Ford Field public address announcer says dramatically, “your Detroit defense.”

Kelsey bumps fists with Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson — and if we can pause right here and appreciate the moment. Here is an everyday dude, a Lions fan who works full time in sales but he’s got this cool side gig with his favorite team; and he is bumping fists with a defensive back before an NFL game.

Surreal.

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“We work here,” says Paul Mrozinski, 61, from Dexter. “We're game day staff but we're fans, too.”

Finally, there is only one player left.

Alex Anzalone, the linebacker, rocks back and forth, and when he is introduced and takes off through that tunnel of cheerleaders and flames shoot into the air, Wahl and Kelsey follow him onto the turf.

“We look at each other and just giggle and go, ‘this is awesome,’” Kelsey said. “Remember the old two Muppet guys, the dudes who sat up in the balcony laughing? That's us — Statler and Waldorf. That’s basically who we are.”

Kelsey, Mrozinski, Cook and Wahl call themselves the Four Musketeers — everyday people who work for the Lions part time on the game day staff — and they have become tight friends. They carpool to the games, meeting up at Culver’s in Allen Park, and ride to the game together, talking mostly football, of course.

The ride home? It depends on how the Lions do. For years, it was pure misery. But this year? It’s like magic, just being around this team, just having a small role in this amazing season.

More than 1,000 people work behind the scenes to put on a game in Ford Field. Some are Lions staff members but the vast majority are part-time workers from all across the area, from all walks of life, doing all kinds of jobs: concessions, security, ushers, bus drivers, cooks and elevator operators.

And some? Like the Four Musketeers?

It’s almost impossible to describe everything they have done for the Lions.

“There is a story we forgot to tell you,” Kelsey said.

One Thanksgiving, the Lions brought in an eagle for entertainment. When the eagle started soaring through Ford Field, the handler freaked out because the field goal net was up.

“The hander goes crazy and starts screaming, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, you gotta get the net down. The eagle is gonna get caught in the net!’”

So Wahl and Kelsey sprinted across the field and screamed: “Get the net down!”

The net was lowered quickly and the eagle was safe.

“Can you imagine an eagle getting caught in a net on national TV?” Kelsey says.

Disaster averted. Because of the Four Musketeers.

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Getting an unique view of organization

Wahl started working for the Lions back in the Silverdome, monitoring a phone on the sideline. If a player was injured, his job was to tell the PR staff, or even then-general manager Chuck Schmidt, the injury update.

“It was very, very cool,” Wahl said. “Chris Spielman walked by me, and I realized I could see the stitching on the letters that spelled his name on his jersey. It just was like this reality check. It's kind of surreal, just to check into this environment for a day.”

The Four Musketeers had all kinds of jobs over the years, from handling out credentials, to setting up the press box, to making sure the photographers are in the right place, to recording postgame interviews.

To, yes, saving an eagle.

It has given them an unusual, up-close view of this organization from behind the scenes. They have shaken hands with billionaire owners, met Hall of Famers, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Tim Allen and Bob Seger; seen some absolutely gruesome injuries from far too close, watched NFL games in person during COVID — how many people got to do that? — and they’ve seen some of the biggest moments in the last 30 years.

OK, so there’s not a long list of great moments in recent Lions history, other than coaching meltdowns.

For Wahl, one of the wildest days was when Barry Sanders rushed for 2,000 yards.

“We got the T-shirts printed,” Wahl said. “I had the pregame briefing, but then Reggie Brown gets injured and he gets tracked on the field.”

Players came off the field stunned.

“Pro players look at me and go, ‘he, isn’t breathin' man.”

“Looking back on it, it was a traumatic and crazy experience,” Wahl said. “We get him off the field. We know he's breathing and then Barry gets 2,000. Everybody's celebrating and the offensive line is hugging each other and it was the most bizarre experience I ever had. Just flat out bizarre.”

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Stafford was a gentleman

One day, Cook was going up an elevator in Ford Field, and it stopped on the second floor.

In walked Matthew Stafford.

“He looked at me and he says, ‘I haven't seen you before. What do you do?’”

“I had just started,” says Cook, now in his ninth season. “From that day on, we're just good friends. He always said hi to me, and we'd have a little chit chat.”

Now, of course, Stafford is returning to Ford Field to play the Lions on Sunday night in the team's first home playoff game in 30 years.

“I can’t wait – it’s going to be crazy,” Kelsey says.

"The excitement this year is incredible,” says Cook, who stocks shelves at night at Meijer. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything."

“I think that's going to be over the top,” says Mrozinski, who is in his 15th season with the team. “The fans are going to be rabid. You're getting to see exactly how much the city of Detroit cares about football and the Lions and wanting a winner. I mean, it's just been so exciting to watch.”

Interesting tidbit from the Four Musketeers: Stafford and Goff act nearly the same before a game.

At least in a tunnel during introductions.

“Joey Harrington, you know, he'd give me a high-five before a game,” Wahl says. “Matthew Stafford was always very polite, but very focused on things. Jared Goff is focused, really polite, but he's zoning.”

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The real reason for Lions success

As the Lions get ready to host their first playoff game since 1994, the Four Musketeers are not surprised. They could see this coming.

They saw a massive change in the Lions organization when Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell took over.

“When the new regime came in, even when they were still losing, you could tell the vibe and the attitude in the entire building was different,” Kelsey said. “And it's only gotten better”

It’s the way everybody are treated, from the part-time workers all the way up.

“You can just tell people are happier man,” Kelsey said.

“Everything is different,” Wahl says.

When they say everybody is aligned? When they say the organization is unified? It includes the Ford family.

“They're very polite,” Wahl says, of the Fords. “They're always nice. ‘Hi, how are you? Happy Thanksgiving!’”

The Four Musketeers, just four everyday dudes who have become close friends working for the Lions, sharing car rides, agonizing about the losses and now savoring these wins, filling a role behind the scenes, and getting an up-close view of everything.

During a magical, unforgettable season.

They giggle to each other and go: “This is awesome.”

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.

To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 4 Detroit Lions fans with up-close, behind-the-scenes view of rebuild