Vince Lombardi on The 2010 Detroit Lions: Part 2

The man after whom the most coveted trophy in all of professional sports is named left us with some of the best quotes in all of sports history.  Vincent Lombardi’s no-nonsense style and unabashed passion for the game he loved serves as an inspirational legacy for athletes, former athletes, and fans alike.  To that end, I’m offering three of Coach Lombardi’s quotes and applying them to the 2010 Detroit Lions.  This article is the second installment.

“It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up.”

If you take a look at how the 2009 Detroit Lions responded in comparison to their opponents (by quarter, point scored), you would notice an interesting pattern:  keep it close in the first quarter, and then kiss it goodbye.  The pitiful part is that last year’s performance was actually an improvement over the 2008 “OwenXVI Championship team.

Talk about bittersweet.

For Lions FS Louis Delmas, the former Western Michigan Bronco, it’s playoffs of bust.  As the leader of the Detroit Lions secondary in only his sophomore season in Allen Park, Delmas has stated he believes the Lions can win enough games to get into the playoffs.

This year.  This season.  Right now.  Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?

I really enjoyed watching Louis mature as a player during his rookie season last year.  Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled with the pick at the time because I wanted the Lions to select Ron Brace.  I’m glad Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz were doing the pickin’ that day.

Watching Delmas get three scores in such an unusual fashion gives one just a glimpse of what he could do on a more routine basis if surrounded with true, starting-grade NFL defensive backs (in addition to the front seven currently assembled).  Schwartz was looking for “playmaker ability”, and I believe they got just that in both Delmas and Levy.

The point is, these young Lions who survived the 2009 season, the ones still on the club from the Owen-2008 season, and those veterans still with the team, will not soon forget the humiliating taste of defeat at the hands of their peers.  No man, no competitor cares for that, and to that end, his resolve is ultimately strengthened.  The 2010 Detroit Lions sound like a team on the rise, ready to answer the bell, ready to get up and fight it out until the bitter end (ask Cleveland how it feels to pull a “Lions” and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory – oh yeah, baby!). 

Time to gain some confidence.

“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”

A confident, well-trained, well-lead soldier is a very dangerous weapon.  A soldier who lacks confidence, training, and leadership is a danger to everyone around him.  In football, the principle is no different.

When Lions ownership released the cancerous Matt Millen and his head coach Rod Marinelli, Lions fans were released from a tortuous horror that left the roster bereft of talent.  A team in shambles and without consistent top-down direction, the 2008 Detroit Lions managed to find a way to lose every single game that season.  I can hear the disappointment in Dan Miller’s voice as the Lions allow yet another touchdown.

Not a lot of confidence going around headed into the 2009 season, campers.

Despite losing handily after the first quarter in most games, the 2009 Lions continued to fight on the best they could with the walking wounded they had.  In the end, it amounted to a two-victory season.

That’s not good enough, that’s not what anybody wants, and it isn’t the type of performance that anyone is going to tolerate.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that only four players will return to start for the 2010 Lions on defense, the NFL’s worst over the past four seasons.  The offseason additions of Kyle Vanden Bosch, Corey Williams, Chris Houston, Jonathan Wade, and the drafting of Ndamukong Suh and Amari Spievey will help to round out the future of the defense going forward.  The semblance of talent is there; the question is how fast they can come together to defeat the opponent’s offense.

If the 2010 Detroit Lions can get a win early, either September 12th against division-rival Chicago at Soldier Field or September 19th over Philadelphia at Ford Field, the pride could have the spark it needs to bolster early confidence.  Early confidence could spread into more wins in pivotal divisional games following thereafter.

We should know the bent of the contagion for these Lions about mid-way through the 2010 season.

“Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser.”

Do you know what I like about Dom Raiola the most?  He hates to lose.  Hates it with a purple passion.  Gets into it with the fans and all that jazz – very emotional.  And it is his passion for the game and his hatred of losing that I find his most endearing qualities.  Nobody on that team wants to win anymore than Dom.

When the Lions opened the season by getting shellacked by the eventual Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints, it was how Louis Delmas reacted to Jeremy Shockey’s touchdown reception that gave me an idea what a competitor Louis was going to be.  Louis had to swat the ball out of Jeremy’s hand after the score and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag.  Louis doesn’t take to losing well at all.

Coach Schwartz gets absolutely livid during the game on the sideline and can’t stand the losing at all.  His after-game pressers show you his competitive drive has no limit, and neither does his desire to win.

The thing of it is, most of these players have tasted success as they rose through football’s hierarchy from high school, through college, and onto the pro’s.  Martin Mayhew is assembling the makings of a good team and has been as aggressive as necessary to get the people he wants to build with going forward.  Martin wasn’t a good loser either, but he was the starting cornerback across from Darrell Green and is a Super Bowl champion.

I don’t see any losers on the Detroit Lions roster or in any of their leadership positions.  I see a group of men who are united in a common purpose, a purpose dedicated to winning. 

The desire to win and the result of winning, especially for the 2010 team, should not be confused, nor should their win-loss record be pinned to their jerseys like a scarlet letter.  Pragmatism suggests patience while this team comes together against teams who have already been at it “as a complete team” for several seasons.  In time, those teams will lose their aging veterans, and the Lions will move up the NFL food chain.

Millen didn’t destroy this franchise over night; it took him eight years.  The notion of a herculean effort by Mayhew, Lewand, and Schwartz that results in a playoff-caliber team during their second campaign is a little far fetched for me.  If it took eight years to destroy it, to return the franchise to respectability in half that time would be a job well done.  To complete the task in one-fourth the time would be outstanding and then some, yes, truly herculean.

The 2010 Detroit Lions will get knocked down, but I believe they will get back up again.  As the season wears on, a new confidence should emerge as Stafford begins to hone his game-time chemistry with his plethora of pass catchers.  As the season wears on, the retooled defensive line should be getting better at providing meaningful pressure that results in turnovers and defensive points scored.  Game by game, the offensive line should congeal, as should the defensive secondary.

You can gain confidence even when taking losses.  I will be patient with the 2010 squad and give them time to grow into a team.

Lookout 2011.