{"id":338412,"date":"2025-09-03T13:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/338412\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T13:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:22:15","slug":"what-detroit-lions-fans-can-learn-from-addiction-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/338412\/","title":{"rendered":"What Detroit Lions fans can learn from addiction recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n One of the coldest days of January gets even harsher. The Detroit Lions, the NFL\u2019s version of Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, were the NFC\u2019s one seed. The city of Detroit was buoyant with high hopes. Fans had no stress about the game\u2019s outcome. The Divisional Round versus the Washington Commanders would be easy, a stepping stone to greater success. After all, this was supposed to be our year.\n<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s not.\n<\/p>\n

\n Early in the fourth quarter. The game is no cakewalk. Detroit trails by ten points. The biggest throw of the season is inexplicably drawn up for receiver Jameson Williams, a player not known for his decision making, e.g., renowned for knuckleheaded choices like proudly eating McDonald\u2019s cheeseburgers topped with ice cream.\n<\/p>\n

\n Washington intercepts the throw. Detroit\u2019s dream is disrupted. The game is not over, but it is for some fans.\n<\/p>\n

\n Rational perspective gives the Lions a chance, but Lions fans aren\u2019t rational. Not at this moment, not when intoxicated by Detroit\u2019s first home field advantage throughout the postseason. Winning was supposed to be inevitable. Did someone forget to inform the Commanders?\n<\/p>\n

\n Fans file for the exits. Super Bowl hopes become eagerness to beat traffic. I sit in the nosebleeds, watching fellow fans pull on their puffers, side-step to the aisle, and exit. These fans literally and figuratively turn their backs on the best team Detroit\u2019s had since the 1950s.\n<\/p>\n

\n I hate seeing other Lions fans leave early but understand why they do so. Those of us who have spent a lifetime dedicated to this team deserve to recoup as much of their investment as possible. The Lions didn\u2019t get the job done. This has always been the case. Why is losing an issue now?\n<\/p>\n

\n Heartbreak. It stems from high hopes. This fanbase has limited experience with expectations. Getting out of the cellar made reaching the top seem inevitable. It\u2019s not. The reality check is a painful playoff departure. Even if this is as good as it gets it\u2019s still better than it\u2019s ever been.\n<\/p>\n

\n Losing hurts. Detroit emphatically knows this, but I was still stunned after losing to Washington and wept after losing the 2023 NFC Championship. How can I, a diehard Detroit Lions fan, be so heartbroken from playoff defeats? For most of my life I would have killed \u2014 or at least pawned my gold chain \u2014 just to get here.\n<\/p>\n

\n A playoff loss is a privilege. I got exactly what I wanted and still felt disappointed. Can you believe I have to eat complimentary Buddy\u2019s again?\n<\/p>\n

\n Fans must adjust to a paradigm shift: The Lions are a model franchise. The team evolved, but we haven\u2019t. Loving the \u201csame old Lions\u201d made us who we are. Constant losing taught resilience, reinforced optimism, and prepared Detroiters for anything life can throw at us except this: the Lions being good.\n<\/p>\n

\n A new season dawns Sept. 7. Optimism within the fanbase is higher than the average attendee of Movement Festival. The Lions could conceivably win the Super Bowl. I consider how seeing my team finally win would change me, but the kid who watched the 2008 Lions go winless pipes up: \u201cHey\u2026 I think you should enjoy this. Also, will you save me a trip to Windsor and buy me some Stroh\u2019s?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Joe Maroon <\/p>\n

The new Detroit Lions season starts Sept. 7, with the home opener against the Chicago Bears set for Sunday, Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

\n The thrill of rooting on a good football team has made us fans fixate on a potential outcome instead of enjoying the thrill of progress. I want to see a Lions\u2019 Super Bowl victory more than anything. I\u2019d trade anything for it \u2014 except the journey of getting there.\n<\/p>\n

\n These are the salad days. Instead of focusing on how things could get better, why not dwell on how far this franchise has come? This fanbase has lived through Matt Millen, Matt Patricia, and multiple seasons derailed by players wearing controversial Halloween costumes. We deserve to savor this. We need to.\n<\/p>\n

\n This chapter has altered the Lions but shouldn\u2019t change the attachment Detroiters have to them. Regardless of how last season ended, any fanbase should be thrilled with a 15-3 season. The problem isn\u2019t the team, it\u2019s us. We need to evolve, Lions fans.\n<\/p>\n

\n Don\u2019t worry. It\u2019s possible. As a matter of fact, I\u2019ve done it before.\n<\/p>\n

\n I am an addict in recovery, now entering my tenth year of sobriety. I didn\u2019t know how to stop drinking. I don\u2019t think anyone does, but I changed my relationship to the world. Values shifted, priorities changed, and the type of stable individual I avoided now greets me in the mirror.\n<\/p>\n

\n My favorite sobriety tool is making a calendar and scheduling my week. I list daily tasks with responsibilities orienting around the sacred part of my calendar: Sunday afternoon. This game day emphasis is the only thing about me that hasn\u2019t changed. I visit the sports bar religiously. Not regularly, religiously. This comparison may come across as trite but I\u2019ll put Barry Sanders\u2019s miracles on par with any deity.\n<\/p>\n

\n Addicts face tests: weddings, holidays, or other private milestones. Most addicts have a few months under their belt before exposure therapy but not me.\n<\/p>\n

\n Let\u2019s go back to week one of the 2015 season. I\u2019ve been sober for exactly six days. I pace outside the sports bar, wanting to watch the Lions but terrified of my booze-infused game day ritual.\n<\/p>\n

\n Having almost drunk myself to death, I had to get sober but didn\u2019t want to lose my identity and friend group, a fate worse than death.\n<\/p>\n

\n I longingly eye the bar\u2019s entrance. My friends were inside, my team was too. For someone from a broken family this was my closest approximation of home. I couldn\u2019t numb my emotions. Time to feel my feelings and confront them. Routine that once brought comfort now petrified me.\n<\/p>\n

\n I went inside, ordered a Coke, and watched my team. It was fine. It was fun. I returned the next week, continued for the following decade, and made it a teetotaling tradition.\n<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s different watching sober. I still sing \u201cGridiron Heroes\u201d after touchdowns and get yelled at by bartenders for picking up my friend John to celebrate big wins, but the day unfurls on a slower time axis, a portion of a cherished whole. I walk to the bar, call my Mom at halftime, and repeat the same jokes each week. You would think going to a sports bar would make sobriety more difficult but that hasn\u2019t been my experience. I\u2019m just like any other fan except I can drive a car afterwards.\n<\/p>\n

\n Lack of substances affirmed my love of the team and illustrated how little winning or losing had to do with it. A season\u2019s peak isn\u2019t baked into the outcome but the broader experience. I love a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown, but my favorite memories aren\u2019t any highlight plays but tapestries woven over the course of a season.\n<\/p>\n

\n That isn\u2019t to say there aren\u2019t rewards. A win leaves me bubbly for days, drifting through the work week like a cartoon character smelling a delicious aroma. But the defeats? Sobriety makes them easier to accept.\n<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Courtesy of the author <\/p>\n

The author at Ford Field.<\/p>\n

\n Watching this team is what I do for fun. It\u2019s a simple idea borrowed from blue-collar forefathers. The motivation of having my shit together enough to enjoy football has helped traverse some of temperance\u2019s biggest challenges. I have my problems but never on Sunday afternoons.\n<\/p>\n

\n A key difference is that the loss became the only negative consequence I had to deal with. Now sober, my post-game activity became pickup basketball. Exercise chases away the negative emotions of a bad Lions performance and operates as the victory cigar of a good one. Lions losses always hurt my feelings so I used my schedule to reframe them in a healthier manner.\n<\/p>\n

\n People will notice me not drinking and ask, \u201cIs it hard?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n It was at first. I gave up a destructive but \u201cdearly held\u201d habit. I didn\u2019t want to sacrifice a favorite activity and social circle as well. I didn\u2019t. Enjoyment grew and so did my friend group. I had more fun watching this team than ever \u2014 and then they started winning.\n<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s not so hard anymore. This team isn\u2019t the cause of emotions but a lens that helps me understand them. Years of sobriety? A winning team? A key factor behind my enjoyment is knowing how bad I had it earlier. The Lions would always lose and I would numb the emotions with alcohol. Letting the team determine my emotional state caused frequent downward spirals as well as holes in my drywall. All because I \u201cneeded\u201d to see my team win.\n<\/p>\n

\n Now? I want a win but don\u2019t need it. Watching the Lions is the primary activity. They\u2019re an entity I enjoy spending time with. Simply put, they\u2019re a source of joy. I perk up at the site of Honolulu Blue like a toddler eyeing an ice cream cone. Why would I let something as negligible as their performance change that? The Lions don\u2019t bring me joy because they win. They bring me joy because watching reminds me who I am.\n<\/p>\n

\n I\u2019m sober. I\u2019m a Lions fan. These facets intermingle as part of my personal journey but might possess broader lessons for or a fanbase still adjusting to success.\n<\/p>\n

\n I do not control the outcome of Lions games. [Author\u2019s note: Please don\u2019t tell my lucky shirt I wrote that.] I greet them like a family member \u2014 which makes sense given that they\u2019re always a part of Thanksgiving no matter how many times they ruin the holiday. This team \u2014 in good times and bad \u2014 is what makes me happy.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cGrit\u201d is this franchise\u2019s defining ethos. The word\u2019s embroidered on Dan Campbell\u2019s hat and equally apparent in seeing this franchise conduct business. What is a willingness to go for it on fourth down besides a microcosm of trust? Working with addicts, I see this trait as the key ingredient in success. Stacking the good days, navigating adversity, and honestly assessing our shortcomings are key components to a successful recovery journey. The days might not all be good but the life they comprise will be.\n<\/p>\n

\n Fandom\u2019s no different. The last two seasons have contained some of the most difficult losses I\u2019ve experienced but I look back on these as the best seasons I ever had. I want a Super Bowl at the moment, but in hindsight? I feel only gratitude.\n<\/p>\n

\n I believe that\u2019s the task facing Detroiters \u2014 at least those dedicating hearts and minds to the Lions. We want a Super Bowl but need to reframe the present and appreciate how good we have it. There\u2019s Goff, Hutch, MCDC, and Amon-Ra. This is the team we dreamed of. Winning the Super Bowl is still the destination but the real reward is the journey. At least that\u2019s my experience.\n<\/p>\n

\n A new season is upon us, Lions fans. Time to count our blessings and enjoy every moment\u2026 until the final whistle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the coldest days of January gets even harsher. The Detroit Lions, the NFL\u2019s version of Charlie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,2506,7,10955,18885,147,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-338412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroitlions","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-ford-field","13":"tag-health-and-wellness","14":"tag-lions","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115140581471910704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}