There was every reason for Dan Campbell to keep the game ball.
After all, it was his first win as an NFL head coach and it came in stirring fashion on the last play of the Detroit Lions’ 29-27 victory Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
The rookie coach showed how much he gets it. Big time.
Rather than keeping the football, Campbell said he has dedicated it to the suburb of Oxford, which saw four high students killed and others wounded in another senseless school shooting.
“I want us to not forget these names,” Campbell said, as he read the names of the students and one teacher shot on Nov. 30. That list began with the four students who were killed, Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling, and Tate Myre.
“For all those—they’ll never be forgotten, they’re in our hearts and our prayers, and all the families—not to mention all those that were affected by all of this,” Campbell said. “The classmates, the brothers and sisters, the cousins, the teachers—everybody.”
#Lions coach Dan Campbell says the game ball goes to the Oxford community, after the massive shooting this week. pic.twitter.com/HkFrfzvDUc
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) December 5, 2021
Quarterback Jared Goff was also moved in addressing the subject of Oxford.
QB @JaredGoff16 on playing for Oxford HS today pic.twitter.com/bozKkGYUuF
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 5, 2021
“I’ll try not to get emotional but sometimes special things happen in special circumstances. I think we saw yesterday what Michigan did against Iowa,” he said of the Wolverines’ 42-3 win in the Big Ten Championship Game.
“Then us today, getting our first win in 12-13 weeks. You never hope for a tragedy like this but you hope to be a light for those people and a positive thing that they could have fun watching today. I hope they were all watching today and were able to enjoy that win and we could talk their minds off it for whatever, maybe three hours,” Goff said. “I think anytime that we can do that it’s a lot bigger than our sports, it’s a lot bigger than us, and I think today was one of those special circumstances that we were able to rise to the occasion and make something special happen.”
Well played by Campbell and Goff.
