Category: NFL Stories

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Lions First Place Seat Brings Fans Back to Ford Field

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Detroit Lions Logo 3D Image. Photo taken by: Whitney Bryan

The Detroit Lions are ranked number one in the NFC North and their fans are considering becoming season ticket holders due to the team’s comeback in recent years. The Detroit Lions aren’t known to be fan favorites due to their poor performance overtime. Although there have been key players on the team in the past such as Barry Sanders (running back) and Jason Hanson (kicker) they have still not made an appearance to the Super Bowl. Fans thought for sure that the Lions success would change in 2007 when wide-receiver Calvin Johnson was drafted and signed.

There have been many upsetting moments and seasons for Detroit Lions Fans. The team went with a 0-16 record in 2008. It became so bad for the team that in 2006 many fans walked out of the stadium during the game. “The Same Old Lions” have become a saying in many conversations involving the Lions due to their horrible record on the field.

“As a fan of the Detroit Lions I feel that the team have some great players but for some reason they haven’t been able to take advantage of their opportunities, and over the years it shows with losing record with them being one of the first teams to go 0-16, so as a fan I never really wanted to go to any of their games at all” said David Robertson a long time Detroit Lions fan.

This season has been up and down for the Detroit Lions fans, but remaining number one in the NFC North for 4 straight weeks and sweeping the Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving have given the fans their faith back. Opening up the season in Indianapolis to the Colts and winning gave the fans hope for the season, but after losing three straight games, once again they were the same old Lions. The Lions never lost faith winning six of the seven games played since their losing streak, placing them in a great position for the second half of the season. The success is also great because the fans are now wanting to cheer the team on from Ford Field causing more and more fans to look into season tickets.

“Now that the Lions are winning it is easy to just jump on the bandwagon and say that you want to be a part of the season and contribute and be a ticket holder. But I always had faith in them and knew that they would be this good” says Robertson, “Now I think that I would like to be a season ticket holder considering that they are wining and they may even go to the super bowl this year.”

Fans know that this may not be the season that the team make it to the Super Bowl, but the way that they are looking this season gives them hope for the future. Although football is a game, winning means more for the team. There is an increase in revenue for the team and also for the surrounding community. The fans are depending on the team to bring a championship home to Detroit, and with the way that the Lions have been playing this season it doesn’t seem like it will be too long before they do.

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Success After Football

screen-shot-2016-11-12-at-3-05-15-pmLeft to Right: Mike Utley, Keisha Hardison, Brandon Scott, Whitney Bryan, Larry Lee. Photo taken by: Mrs. Utley

Larry D. Lee born September 10, 1959 in Dayton Ohio began his journey into sports and bass guitar in the sixth grade. At a young age he decided to start a band with his friends after requesting instruments for Christmas; Lee also started playing football that same year. Everything seemed to work for Lee until his senior year of high school when he played bass for Soul Explosion. There was a show and a game the same day and after six years of doing both he had to make a choice to focus more on one than the other.

“I knew that at the time football was more important, I was a freshman playing varsity football. My senior year I was an All American and All State player. I was not in the position to choose the guitar and from then on my football career took off,” says Larry Lee.

Lee attended UCLA for college and was then drafted in 1981 at the age of 22 to the Detroit Lions, as an offensive lineman. Lee played four and a half seasons as a Detroit Lion from 1981 to 1985; he then started playing with the Miami Dolphin’s in 85-86, and ended his playing career with the Denver Broncos from 87-88. Lee spent nine years in the NFL as a professional football player, and went on to spend another nine years as vice president of the Detroit Lions.

Larry Lee and Back In The Day is the name of his band and is known as one of Detroit’s hottest. Spending 18 years in the NFL, Lee was not able to focus on his love for the bass as much, but after leaving the Lions in 2001 he has been focused on the strings ever since. The band not only preform in the city of Detroit, but they travel and do events all of the US.

“This is it this is my profession. I have retired from athletics, and at one point I thought about going into the front office for another team and become and executive, but I have done the band now for 14 years and we have done big things. Such as super bowl parties to major concerts, and this is my love and my passion. The beauty about it is if I work back in football or something I am working for somebody, but this is my business, I am the boss and this is my profession. I do this for a living now,” said Lee.

(TO LISTEN TO LIVE INTERVIEW CLICK HERE)

It’s hard to become and pro-football player, it takes a lot of hard work and determination on and off the field. It’s also a challenge to become a popular musician with the same amount of work needed to be successful. Larry Lee is someone that can say that he has been successful at both. 18 years of knowledge in the NFL and at least 50 years of experience playing the bass guitar, Lee is definitely someone that we can call an expert in his field.