After some mishaps with their travels, a group of Lions supporters become friends
WLUC – MARQUETTE, Mich. After a number of travel mishaps, what began as a group of strangers traveling to the Detroit Lions’ first playoff game in thirty-two years ended with friendship.
Gary Howell, a lifelong Lions fan, had intended to travel directly from Escanaba to Detroit this past Friday. However, the winter storm forced the airport to close, so his flight was diverted to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Howell discovered his morning flight to Detroit was delayed until late afternoon after having to spend the night in Pittsburgh. That’s when he decided to act.
“I couldn’t risk staying here until 4:50 only to have my plans again derailed,” I reasoned. “I need to get to a game,” Howell remarked. Thus, I shouted, ‘Who would like to rent a minivan?’ We got a minivan and traveled from Pittsburgh to Detroit for four and a half hours after a group of strangers helped out.
Howell claimed that during the game, he kept seeing his fellow travelers. They grinned broadly and gave each other high fives.
This weekend, he is returning to Detroit to watch the Lions take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Though he expressed hope that his travel arrangements go well, he added that the memories he is creating are invaluable.
When Matthew Stafford and his family returned to Ford Field, they were met with cold receptions.
Both when Matthew Stafford entered the field and when his wife led their small daughters to their seats, she was jeered. Stafford’s wife continues to support the team that drafted her husband, even in spite of the somewhat hostile response to the veteran quarterback as the Detroit Lions defeated the Los Angeles Rams to earn their first postseason victory in over thirty years.
Speaking out about the game on January 13, Kelly Stafford said she understood the fervor of the fans and that she would still be rooting for the team as they moved on to the divisional round.
During her appearance on “The Morning After Podcast,” Stafford talked about her experience and predicted that when her husband returned to Detroit, the public would jeer at him. After spending 11 seasons in Detroit as a first-overall pick by the Lions in 2009, Matthew Stafford was traded to the Rams in 2021. The next season, he was the Super Bowl winner.
Kelly Stafford said that her husband’s booing was acceptable.
It’s acceptable that you are specifically jeering at my husband for running on that field, Stafford said. “I really have no idea what I was expecting. However, I wasn’t shocked.
However, Stafford claimed that some fans went too far when they jeered her when she was with her young daughters and when it seemed like her husband had been hit hard and needed stitches. Stafford acknowledged that the family’s experience was unpleasant, but she claimed to have reassured the kids that they weren’t the ones being targeted.
“I am not playing the game with my girls. I’m certain that my girls won’t be made fun of. I am capable of handling it, said Stafford. “But maybe not, there’s something to say about it when my girls are next to me.”
She expressed her continued affection for the team, saying that she is now rooting for the Lions to win the Super Bowl and “bring home a Lombardi.”
Matthew Stafford Is Not Talking to His Fans
With Lions supporters, Matthew Stafford wasn’t quite as giving. After the game, when a reporter asked Stafford about his thoughts on the city of Detroit, Stafford just said he was supporting the team and refused to discuss his feelings about the fans in general.
“I’m content.”
