It didn’t feel like Victory Monday, and it sure didn’t feel like divisional Victory Monday this week.
There’s a dark cloud hanging over Allen Park these days, and while we continue to wait for actual, tangible good news on the health of Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell, I’ve officially moved into the rage phase of grief.
Lions vs. Vikings Song of the Game: Soldier’s Poem by Muse
Jack Campbell gave his all to this team. Most of his life he devoted himself to football.
And, yes, that has resulted in wonderful, amazing opportunities that few of us can even dream of. He got a college education and was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. In May, he signed a contract worth more money than most of us will see in 10 lifetimes.
But on Sunday, we got a terrible reminder that football can take almost all of that back in an innocent-looking instant.
No amount of money or fame can prepare you for that kind of physical and emotional trauma. We justify this game’s violence and horrible, long-term effects on its players because we give them fame and fortune. Then we convince ourselves that they know the implicit risk they are taking, and they don’t our that decision was their fault.
But do they really know the danger? Is the NFL prospect who isn’t old enough to buy beer really capable of understanding how even a short football career can change lives? At that age, you feel invincible. And showing any kind of weakness or doubt will cost you your spot on the roster. Do you think most college players saw a study a few months ago that found that of the 235 former NFL players who donated their brains after death from 2016 to 2021, 91.5% of them had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)?
As someone who not only paid thousands of dollars to watch this bloodsport, but now actively makes money from it—while putting zero of my life at risk—this forces me to rethink a lot of things. Horrifying reminders like Sunday’s provide a glimpse of just how ugly this whole operation is, and it’s hard not to get involved.
When you know it’s wrong?
I would still give my life for you
However, despite all that, I am confident that a fully informed Jack Campbell would have changed little in his life up to this point. The man loves football, and most of all, he loves the process. He loves to put in a full day’s work and throw everything into the task in front of him.
One of Campbell’s most impressive quotes came during his press conference after signing the $81 million deal. At a time when he was one of the highest-paid linebackers in NFL history, he instead admired the work, not the earnings.
“I just gained a deep appreciation for people who show up to work every day, even if no one notices, even if no one writes stories about them,” Campbell. “(They) go to work, do their job, and take care of their families and keep their families first. A tremendous value. It’s literally what the city of Detroit epitomizes, so that’s what I’m going to try to emulate.”
Campbell kept that promise. He has sacrificed so much time, effort, and now his body to this game that he loves, and there is something tragically beautiful about that.
But at the moment, nothing feels good about it. His sacrifices seem fruitless.
In an exclusive story for The Athletic, Campbell talks about his ultimate goal of giving back to the people who have provided him with financial stability throughout his life.
“How do I bring a Super Bowl to Detroit? How do I do everything in my power, every waking second in and out of the building, to do that?”
Now, despite putting more into that goal than any other player on the team, he may not get that chance. His days of putting in that job he loves may be over forever in Allen Park.
It may be difficult to compare Campbell’s situation to that of a soldier. He is paid millions for our entertainment, while a soldier is barely paid enough to eat in return (in theory) for our safety. But it’s annoying that people who give up so much of their own lives for us rarely seem to get the kind of compensation they deserve.
There is no justice in the world,
and never had.
If you want to relive past Lions seasons, you can find the playlists we’ve curated below: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. And if you want to read previous versions of our Song of the Game columns, you can find them here.