'It's once in a lifetime': Barberton's John Cominsky and Lions are one win from Super Bowl

DETROIT — In the biggest moment Sunday at Ford Field, John Cominsky made a play he could have only dreamed about as a boy growing up in Barberton.

Now Cominsky and the Detroit Lions are one win away from reaching the Super Bowl after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 in a divisional-round playoff game in front of a rocking crowd of 66,201.

Positioned at right defensive end, Cominsky rushed to his left and between center Robert Hainsey and rookie right guard Cody Mauch on second-and-5 at the Tampa Bay 15-yard line.

Cominsky broke through the offensive line and pressured Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, hitting the former Browns No. 1 overall draft pick a split second after he threw the ball. Linebacker Derrick Barnes then intercepted the pass over the middle intended for tight end Cade Otton to seal Detroit's victory with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter.

The third-seeded Lions (14-5, including 2-0 in the playoffs) will visit the No. 1 seed San Francisco 49ers (13-5, 1-0) at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the NFC championship game. With a victory in Santa Clara, California, the Lions would advance to the Super Bowl for the first time.

“It's once in a lifetime,” Cominsky told the Beacon Journal. “We have guys on the team that have been in the league for 10-plus years and haven't seen this opportunity. So you know that it's rare, and they're hard to come by.

“I'm just doing my best to enjoy this win as much as I can and make sure I do everything next week and make sure my teammates are doing everything they can next week to be prepared for the biggest game of our life.

“I think everybody collectively recognizes how big this moment is for us, and we're going to do our best not to waste it.”

Cominsky has played an underrated role in the NFC North champion Lions making a historic postseason run.

“He is an important part of our defensive group,” linebacker Alex Anzalone said, “and we wouldn't be here without him.”

Last week in a 24-23 wild-card triumph over the Los Angeles Rams — Detroit's first playoff win in 32 years — Cominsky played 22 of the defense's 58 snaps and compiled three tackles and a quarterback hit.

On Sunday, Cominsky started for the second consecutive game and logged 38 of 64 defensive snaps, plus five on special teams. He tallied two tackles and batted the ball with his right hand to force an incomplete Mayfield pass with 5:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Of course, Cominsky's highlight occurred when he pressured Mayfield right before Barnes caught the game-clinching interception. Cominsky and other Lions players followed Barnes into the nearest end zone to celebrate as Mayfield hunched over in agony.

“I love John, man,” Barnes said. “John Cominsky, I would ride with him, I would die for him any day. Dirty work, non-dirty work, he does what he has to do. He's always in the right place, always knows the call. He helps me out. Even out there when I'm trying to get a call, he knows exactly what the linebackers are thinking. John is a guy you have to have on the defense with you. He's an amazing dude on and off the field.

“The work he puts in, man, it's uncalled for. I haven't seen a guy like him in a long time. Obviously, a lot of other guys work, too, but it's nothing like John, man, and I can't thank him enough. If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't even got [the interception]. He does his job and doesn't care about the credit or anything like that.”

How John Cominsky and the Detroit Lions set up his clutch pressure on Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield

Cominsky, 28, is also a cerebral player. He often moves around the defensive line, alternating between end and tackle. He played nose tackle on several occasions against the NFC South champion Bucs (10-9, 1-1), and the treatment he received from Hainsey aided him in the clutch.

“The whole game, they were sliding the center to me, and so that center was just feeling pressure from me,” Cominsky said. “I was just pushing the pocket the whole game, and we had a call where I had an opportunity to kind of sell that same motion and then make a play across his face. So it was a great opportunity for me, especially considering how the game was going for me. It just set it up perfectly.

“It feels good because you're just doing your job, doing your job, and so much of our defense is selfless play. So it's really rewarding when I continue to do my job and then the play falls into my lap. Everybody's just doing their job, and sometimes the plays just come right to you. It's really rewarding just being consistent and disciplined and staying in my assignment and letting the play come to me.”

The Lions defense earned redemption by closing the game with a takeaway. Earlier, the unit had allowed Mayfield to orchestrate a two-minute drive to perfection. His back-to-back completions of 27 and 29 yards to wide receiver Mike Evans preceded his 2-yard touchdown pass to Otton with 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Cominsky was on the field for the entire seven-play, 92-yard drive, which led to a 10-10 tie at halftime.

Mayfield entered two-minute mode again but didn't have any magic left when the Bucs began their final possession at the Tampa Bay 28 with 1:59 remaining.

Reflecting on Cominsky charging toward Mayfield with the Bucs needing a touchdown drive and a two-point conversion to force overtime, Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill said, “That was pretty special to see. I was really happy for Commish. I'm so glad, so glad for Commish. That was a huge play.”

The enthusiasm with which Lions players praise Cominsky is evidence of his underdog story resonating with them.

At Barberton High School, Cominsky played several skill positions, including quarterback as a senior. When Cominsky graduated in 2014, he weighed 215 pounds. But by the time he was a senior at Division II University of Charleston in West Virginia, he had transformed into a dominant, 285-pound defensive end.

Stow High School graduate Jonte Pooler arrived at Charleston the same year as Cominsky, and they both redshirted as freshmen. A former cornerback, Pooler remembers the 6-foot-5 Cominsky changing his body.

“I swear he just disappeared from freshman year to sophomore year,” Pooler said by phone. “I don't know if he just slept in the weight room or what he decided to do.

“I think the first year he put on 40 or 50 [pounds]. So he went from this 210 skinny guy to about 240, 250, and you could tell the difference then. I was like, 'Whoa!'”

Pooler explained he's rooting for Cominsky in the playoffs and hopes to obtain a Lions jersey autographed by his old college teammate. He envisions displaying it in the basement of his Cuyahoga Falls home.

Barberton High School supports Detroit Lions defensive lineman John Cominsky

Barberton football coach Tony Gotto said some teachers at Cominsky's alma mater wore his No. 79 Detroit jersey to school last week.

Gotto didn't coach Cominsky in high school, but he coached against him when he was on the Kenmore High School staff. The two have since grown close, with Gotto helping Cominsky run a summertime youth football camp at Barberton. Cominsky also works out at the high school in the NFL offseason.

“John Cominsky was overlooked,” Gotto said by phone. “He was a quarterback in high school, and he's playing D-line for the [Lions]. Hard work and being able to persevere and do what he's done is pretty amazing.”

In 2019, the Atlanta Falcons drafted Cominsky in the fourth round (No. 135 overall). A coaching change and reduction in playing time led to Cominsky requesting and receiving his release in the 2022 offseason. The Lions claimed him off waivers. They eventually gave him a two-year, $8.5 million contract extension last March.

During the 2023 regular season, Cominsky started 11 of the 16 games in which he appeared and compiled 36 tackles, including two sacks, eight quarterback hits and a pass defensed.

“Commish is a Swiss Army knife — put him anywhere,” McNeill said. “He's going to bring a lot of knowledge, a lot of veteran experience to the defense. But what Commish truly, truly brings is his mentality.

“We try to model ourselves after his mentality because he's a go-getter. He's hungry. He's going to hunt. If you watch Commish play, he's out to kill, and that's what he brings to the D-line.”

Barberton graduate John Cominsky and Cloverleaf graduate Kyle Juszczyk will meet in the NFC championship

With a trip to the Super Bowl at stake, Cominsky will encounter another native of Northeast Ohio: Niners fullback and Cloverleaf High School graduate Kyle Juszczyk, 32.

“He's obviously a great player — eight-time Pro Bowler, one of the best fullbacks in the NFL," Cominsky said. "So I have a lot of respect for him, a lot of respect for a lot of guys on that side, so we're going to have to bring our best. That's for sure.”

The eventual NFC champion will face the winner of Sunday's AFC title game between the Baltimore Ravens (14-4, 1-0) and Kansas City Chiefs (13-6, 2-0) in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.

If the Lions make it to the big game, Cominsky would relish a chance to represent his hometown under the brightest lights.

“Representing Barberton and being part of a big stage, it's really awesome,” he said. “I have so much of my roots tied to that city.”

And Cominsky has done plenty to make Barberton proud.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: John Cominsky, Detroit Lions continue historic playoff run