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While his weight has likely changed since his playing days, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell reportedly clocked in at 6’5″, 265 pounds when he played as a tight end for the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and New Orleans Saints from 1999 to 2009.
Still, he certainly hasn’t shrunk and is clearly still jacked, which is to say that: Dan Campbell is a big dude. Therefore, do you understand just how big a podium has to be to create an optical illusion that Campbell is actually tiny? Really big. Comically big, in fact.
Well, speaking to reporters at the start of Detriot Lions training camp on Wednesday, July 24, Campbell found himself in that exact situation.
“This is a huge podium.” – Dan Campbell pic.twitter.com/cXF3x8sgL2
— Colton Pouncy (@colton_pouncy) July 24, 2024
After being the darlings of the NFL last season and making a run to the NFC Championship game, Campbell and the Detroit Lions enter the 2024 season not only as favorites to win the NFC North but to make it to the Super Bowl, which would be the first in the history of the franchise.
While the Lions haven’t necessarily made any splashy acquisitions this offseason — their biggest signing was defensive tackle DJ Reader to a two-year, $27.5M deal — they instead invested their resources re-signing some of the franchise’s key players.
Quarterback Jared Goff signed a four-year, $212 million extension, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown inked a four-year, $120 million extension, and right tackle Penei Sewell was handed a four-year, $112 million extension.
Heading into the 2024 season, the Detroit Lions currently have the fourth-best betting odds to win the Super Bowl (+1200), behind the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, and Detroit Lions.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the Lions are received by the NFL world this year as they’ll no longer be the plucky underdogs that they’ve been in Campbell’s past seasons at the helm.