Joe Thomas: Detroit Lions fans deserve a championship
An unlikely source proclaims that fans of the Detroit Lions deserve to win a Super Bowl
The first Super Bowl took place in 1967. The last time the Detroit Lions won a championship was 1957. The Lions are one of 12 teams never to win a Super Bowl.
In fact, the Motor City is one of four NFL teams to never have even played in a Super Bowl, with Detroit’s last playoff victory coming all the way back in 1992. And before that, the Lions’ last postseason win was in 1957.
In the Super Bowl era, the Lions have played a total of 14 playoff contests. Since the year 2000, Detroit has made it to the postseason only three times. Twice during former head coach Jim Caldwell’s four-year stint from 2014-2017.
The success Detroit had under Caldwell is part of the reason the last two seasons have been so painful for the Lions’ fanbase. It appeared Detroit was becoming a perennial playoff team and by hiring Matt Patricia as head coach in 2018, it was a move believed to transition those postseason appearances to playoff victories.
Instead, the Lions under Patricia have found themselves in the basement of the NFC North in back-to-back seasons. Detroit is coming off a dismal 3-12-1 season where veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford missed eight games due to injury.
It can be argued that there has been no single NFL fanbase more loyal than those who have stuck with the Lions through this historic postseason drought. And one longtime member of a similarly struggling franchise believes those fans deserve to be rewarded with an NFL title.
Here’s how former Cleveland Browns offensive tackle and 10-time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas responded recently when presented with the question of which fan base is most deserving of a Super Bowl title via NFL.com.
"“You would think my answer would be the Cleveland Browns, but … it’s actually the Detroit Lions! The original 0-16 team actually has a longer NFL title drought than Cleveland. The Browns last won it all in 1964, while the Lions’ dry spell goes back to ’57. Detroit, it’s your time!”"
Next. Top 5 former Lions who won a Super Bowl after leaving Detroit. dark
While getting an NFL title this season is the ultimate dream for every fan, the Detroit Lions would likely settle for seeing some sort of positive progress under Matt Patricia and his coaching staff. The group is three years into their New England Patriots Midwest experiment. And so far, the result has been a disappointing nine wins over the first two seasons.