Lessons from Lions

The 2022 Detroit Lions season serves as a roadmap for overcoming helplessness - being bold, brave, and better.

Like any good aspiring doc, I must do what good doctors do… and give disclosures. With this article I have but one to offer: that I am a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan. HOWEVER, having lived in Detroit for a few years I’ve developed a begrudging respect, bordering on admiration, for the Detroit Lions. This is especially true after their most recent season. Why? Well, the Lions not only posted a winning record for the first time in 5 years, which to some seemed impossible, but they also conquered a culture of learned helplessness - a victory that transcends wins and losses. This past season was a complete moral triumph, rejuvenating the organization, the city and its fanbase, all while providing lessons we can apply in our own lives to be bold, be brave, and be better.

A Losing Tradition

Question for you - have you ever watched a Lions game with actual Lions fans? It’s an excruciating experience. Every penalty, every mistake, every “whatever” is viewed as evidence that the Lions will blow it. It’s evidence that the league, the referees, and fate itself is out to get them, as if Roger Goodell himself will personally see to the Lions persecution and devastation. It’s Detroit vs Everybody - a mindset that, being a Packers fan, is completely foreign to me. Only when I decided to dig into this franchise’s history, I began to understand how that mindset developed. The Lions are the “lovable losers.” They (seemingly) are an eternally “snake bit” franchise, containing a history of losing, which morphed into a tradition of losing, which unfortunately became a culture of losing.

Entering the NFL in 1930 as the Portsmouth Spartans, they have since reached the playoffs 21 times and earned 4 division and conference titles. Their last playoff victory came in 1991, the same year the World Wide Web was publicly launched and currently the longest drought in the NFL. The last national championship won? 1957. I say national championship instead of Super Bowl because, in 1957, the Super Bowl didn’t exist yet.

To put this into perspective, in 1957 Elvis Presley’s single “All Shook Up” topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It was a time when Henry Fonda, William Holden, and Marlene Dietrich starred on the silver screen and when Lucille Ball and Ed Sullivan lit up the small one. The Eisenhower administration was in the process of building the National Highway system, and the toy company Wham-O released “frisbees” for sale. That’s right, folks, the most recent Lions championship predates highways and frisbees. Just let that sink in.

This is without going into detail regarding the slew of unlucky aches, pains, and woes fans have endured over the last 60 years. Reflecting on this… you get a different perspective. These football fans, these brave men and women, view their team with a sense of fatalism unique to those with intimate knowledge of the consequences that come with incessant loss and defeat. It changes you. A certain mindset develops, something like, “no matter what we do, in the end we will get the L.” Something will happen to spoil any Lions’ success; like Murphy’s Law on steroids - a special brand of Learned Helplessness.

What’s Learned Helplessness?

Psychology Today gives a great example – “a smoker may repeatedly try and fail to quit. He may grow frustrated and come to believe that nothing he does will help, and therefore he stops trying altogether. The perception that one cannot control the situation essentially elicits a passive response to the harm that is occurring.” You become used to the harm, like Lions fans have become used to losing. Numb. You could say they’ve come to expect it. That’s learned helplessness, an anesthetized state of being in direct opposition to growth, progress, and well-being.

Enter Dan Campbell

Brad Galli @BradGalli

January 21, 2021: Dan Campbell is introduced as the Lions head coach. No opposing kneecap has been safe since. Here is the speech:

Hired in 2021, Dan Campbell came in to lead the Lions organization as their new head coach. He set the tone, through bold leadership and character, focusing on who the Lions would be… not what they would do. The Lions would be a team that scraps, bites, and claws. They would always get up when knocked down. They would never give in. They will bite your kneecaps off.

It’s with that mentality Campbell took the Lions into his first season (in 2021). They finished 3-13-1. Not a great record. In fact, they failed to win a game until the thirteenth week. Yet Campbell and his Lions stayed the course - dialing in what worked and what didn’t, improved where they needed to, and stayed true to their mission. This consistency and resolve was needed in his sophomore year too, starting the season 1-6. But again, staying true to the process and their identity, they ended the season 9-8.

Part of that success is due to getting new essential pieces around them. With the second overall pick of the NFL draft, they selected Aidan Hutchinson to bolster their defense. They promoted coach Ben Johnson to coordinator and further developed their offensive scheme and attack. These moves paid dividends, with Hutchinson and Johnson currently in the running for Defensive Rookie of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively.

All of these things powered their style of play, which can only be described as bold. In 2022, the Lions had the third most 4th down attempts and conversions, ranked 5th in total points scored, ranked 11th in 4th down conversion percentage, and ranked 4th in red zone conversion rate (the number of times a team scores a touchdown when in the red zone). The only team to score more touchdowns in the red zone? The talented Kansas City Chiefs. The 2022 Lions were scoring touchdowns, winning games, and biting kneecaps while they did it. A complete about-face from their losing ways. It is a truly impressive feat.

Dan Can and You Can, too.

The first thing to understand is just because you may feel helpless or feel hopeless in an aspect of your life, doesn’t mean you are. To actualize this, switch your focus from the outcome to the process. Dan Campbell laid this out explicitly in the press conference above by saying who the Lions would be, not that he could guarantee a certain number of wins. He focused on the culture of his squad, the process, and as a result they went from 3-13-1 in his first year to 9-8.

• The takeaway? Emphasize the process required in reaching your goals. For example, if you’re looking to lose 20 extra pounds, instead of focusing on that two-digit number, focus on proper nutrition, consistent workouts, adequate sleep, etc.

The second thing is you MUST. STAY. THE. COURSE. This resolve was imperative in the Lions success going from a losing record to a winning one.

• The takeaway? You will fail, you will lose, and you will face adversity. Stay the course. Stay true to who you are and your mission. Consistency over time will get you everywhere.

Third – get the right pieces around you. The Lions picking up Hutchinson and promoting Johnson were paramount in their hunt for success.

• The lesson here? Understand what you need to hit your goals, and then go out and do it! Example - develop a new skill via community college or Skillshare, ask for that promotion, start the side business, find a mentor – whatever! Get the right pieces around you to succeed.

And finally… BE BOLD. The Lions played aggressive football and weren’t afraid to just go for it. Boldness is required in overcoming helplessness. And bravery is required for boldness.

• The lesson? Be brave to be bold. And don’t be afraid to bite some kneecaps.