Merry Christmas, Lions fans. Your NFL franchise is a division champion for the first time since the 1993 season.
This writer here was less than a year old the last time the organization laid claim to a division title. Meanwhile, only four present Detroit players were actually born at the time: long snapper Jake McQuaide, offensive lineman Graham Glasglow, backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and left tackle Taylor Decker.
In case you were wondering, Lions starting passer Jared Goff was born a year later, in 1994.
And, the division, at the time, wasn’t known as the NFC North yet. It was still referred to as the NFC Central, and featured five teams instead of four. The Buccaneers, which were the fifth team, moved to the NFC South once the NFL expanded to four divisions per conference in 2002.
It was a vastly different world back in ‘93.
For instance, a loaf of bread cost just 75 cents, a gallon of gas cost only $1.11, Bill Clinton had just been inaugurated president for the first time, “Jurassic Park” was tops at the box office and the late Whitney Houston was still queen of the music world. Her hit, “I Will Always Love You,” was the No. 1 song in America.
Undeniably, a lot has changed over the last three decades, including with the Lions.
And fortunately for Detroit fans, in 2021, Lions ownership finally made a commitment to establishing a winning culture, and hired Chris Spielman, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell to their respective roles.
Because from 1994 until then, Detroit had made just seven playoff appearances, had failed to host a lone playoff game and had failed to win a single postseason contest. Additionally, the franchise had gone a measly 165-266-1 in that time span, with a winless season (0-16 in 2008) smackdab in the middle of all those campaigns.
If anyone has deserved a winner, it’s been this passionate Lions fanbase, a group of fans which has endured 19 losing seasons since ‘93.
Goff, just like the team he’s currently employed by, has been dogged and underestimated in the not-so-distant past.
In the Matthew Stafford blockbuster trade of nearly three years ago now, Goff was viewed as nothing more than a throw-in to complete the transaction. And, in the eyes of many pundits and fans, the veteran signal-caller was going to simply serve as the “bridge quarterback” to Stafford’s true successor in the Motor City.
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