Lions Player Reveals Old Coaching Regime Disliked His Rookie Skit

Tracy Walker said his rookie skit didn't go over well.

During NFL training camp, teams tend to have some fun by requiring rookies to perform skits in front of them, like when Aidan Hutchinson sang “Billie Jean” for the entire Lions team. However, before Dan Campbell arrived in Detroit, this custom wasn’t as popular.

On the Stoney & Jansen Show on 97.1 the Ticket, Lions safety Tracy Walker said when he was a rookie in 2018, then-head coach Matt Patricia wasn’t as welcoming to his rookie skit.

“I had to do three skits. My first skit, we clowned on the coaches and they didn’t like that very much,” Walker said, via Audacy.com. 

“Oh man, it was bad. We had to wake up at 5:00 the next morning and redo that skit, made up another play and everybody laughed, but it still wasn’t what they wanted because we weren’t acting. So I had to do another skit.”

Walker was a free agent in the offseason but returned to Detroit on a three-year, $25 million deal. However, he says he would’ve gone elsewhere if Patricia’s coaching staff was still in charge.

“I wouldn’t have came back,” he said. “Just being honest, I wouldn’t have came back.”

• All Lions: Inside Allen Park: Frank Ragnow Does Not Practice