SHIT2GRIT

"The Lions finally roar"

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Author Bill Morris joins us to discuss ⁠The Lions Finally Roar⁠, his chronicle of the Detroit Lions's organizational dysfunction and dramatic turnaround.

  • (02:40) The time David kind of met William Clay Ford
  • (05:08) The urine-soaked legacy of the Silverdome
  • (07:49) How Bill’s father was almost the general manager of the Lions—and why that epitomizes the organization’s struggles
  • (13:44) The reversal of fortune that coincided with Sheila Ford Hamp’s backing of coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes in 2022
  • (15:27) Dissecting the team’s culture of failure
  • (17:26) Why Ford kept former general manager Russ Thomas in a position of power for so long
  • (22:26) How the Lions ruined former coach Bobby Ross
  • (26:28) Differing perspectives on last year’s playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers
  • (27:42) What it's like in metro Detroit on the eve of this highly anticipated new season
  • (29:09) Why Barry Sanders simply handed the ball to the officials after a touchdown
  • (30:08) The worst Lions loss Marshall ever saw—and what Sheila Ford Hamp did about it
  • (31:35) The uncomfortable design history of the RenCen
  • (35:38) The post-retirement signing bonus controversies of Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson
  • (38:34) The moment we knew the Lions would lose the NFC championship against the 49ers
  • (40:59) The organizational disasters that ended the Lions’s 1950s championship run
  • (44:09) The phenomenon known as ‘Lions-free’
  • (45:17) What rooting for the team again is like for us now

    • Post-interview, (49:03), we share what we would have said if someone had asked us to be general manager of the Lions.

    Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)

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    SHIT2GRITBy Marshall Zweig and David Hughes