Detroit Lions preseason: 3 different approaches, choose your own adventure

The Brock Olivo Approach

Preseason games are: important, but for a different reason.

Sitting out is all well and good for a superstar like Barry Sanders. For a lot of guys though, it’s the difference between having an NFL job in September or working out at L.A. Fitness and hoping the phone rings.

Brock Olivo (blast from the past, a Lion from 1998-2001)  is the poster child in my mind for this school of thought. When I was growing up, I would watch Lions preseason games a lot more often than I do now. I could be remembering this completely wrong, but Brock Olivo was everywhere in the preseason. He’d run the ball, catch passes, return some kicks, and be in coverage for others.

Olivo would mainly be back on the bench once the regular season arrived, but preseason games likely kept an undrafted player employed in the NFL for four years (not to mention becoming forever synonymous with Lions preseason in my mind).

If you’re someone who’s drawn to the fight against the odds, the scrapping and clawing away from the limelight, chasing a dream and a paycheck, I can see why the Brock Olivos of the world are intriguing to watch. I definitely won’t fault anyone for following the preseason with this scope in mind.

Other beneficiaries of the Brock Olivo Approach:

• Zach Zenner– led the NFL in preseason rushing in 2015
• Havard “Kickalicious” Rugland- YouTube trick shot master didn’t make the team, but went three for three on preseason field goals and definitely earned some respect.
• Kenny Golladay– he went from nobody to Babytron overnight, based on one preseason game last year.