The news out of the Detroit Lions OTA’s has been nothing but positive. Will that hold any bearing on the upcoming season?
This is the season of hope. In the Motor City where winning and the Lions are not at all synonymous with each other, this is the time of year for fans to feel good about their team. In the case of the Honolulu Blue and Silver faithful, you have to take it when you can get it.
Have you ever noticed that the players seem bigger, faster, and more skilled at OTA’s? I’m not sure if that is a common occurrence in other NFL cities, but it always seems to be the case in Detroit.
As the old saying goes hope springs eternal, yet even after what has basically been one hopeful offseason after another for 60 plus years, the end results haven’t matched up. Somehow all that talent we think we see added to the team each year fades away in the fall and winter.
It would seem to be a vicious cycle of the siren hopes of Lions football luring the fans to another painful disappointment. All that build-up for nothing.
Yet in the midst of that impending sucker punch to the gut that reality always seems to bring to Lions fans, for the most part, we don’t give up. We stand our ground stare deep into this hideous beast we call our team and insist this is different.
Each year we claim that this isn’t the false thrill of Andre Ware or Charles Rogers or Joey Harrington or Mike Williams which shattering before our eyes. This is real. This is different.
But is it really different or are we just telling ourselves this is different because we can’t bear to have the Lions slowly killing us for 12 months out of every year? Is the stark truth too much for us to handle?
This offseason has been different in many ways so far. These Lions even seem to look different so far. So is this offseason of hope actually different from all the others?