Dan Campbell Delivers Emotional Locker Room Speech to Lions After Unusual Victory

Campbell has nothing but respect for his players.

Dan Campbell addresses his team after they moved to 14-2. / Detroit Lions on X

Anyone who has paid any attention at all to Dan Campbell's coaching style knew that his starters would be out there for a full 60 minutes on Monday night as the Detroit Lions tried to maintain momentum heading into a colossal Week 18 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings that will decide both the NFC North and the NFC's top seed. Yet his decision to play the first unit sparked a conversation pregame that spilled over to the broadcast to the point where we all discovered just how many times (and ways) it can be said that a football team sustaining another injury would be bad.

The Lions succeeded in their mission to bring everybody (and everything) to a rematch of last year's NFC Championship, scoring 27 second-half points to outlast the San Francisco 49ers, 40-34, in a MNF showcase. Campbell's gamble paid off as no impactful Detroit player got hurt—save for Jahmyr Gibbs sustaining a facial laceration—and he's doing just fine as evidenced by a game-sealing 30-yard touchdown scamper.

When it came time for Campbell to address his team in the victorious locker room, he opted not to affect the stance of a coach who wants his team to run through a brick wall for him, but instead one that is extremely thankful that they'd be willing to do that despite all the outside noise.

"I got an unbelievable amount of respect for you guys," a hoarse and emotional Campbell said. "I know what this was and there's all these arguments about what did this game really mean because of next week. I respect the f--- out of you guys. I respect the f--- outta how we roll the ball out and you guys just go out and compete. I can't even put it into words, man. I love the hell out of you guys."

Love the hell out of these guys pic.twitter.com/sqpBnr5XRz

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 31, 2024

Campbell went on to inform his clubhouse that they have set franchise records for wins in a season and were the first to post a perfect road record in a season. Then they turned the page to Sunday night, when Ford Field will host arguably the most significant regular season tilt on record.

A person could quibble with Campbell constantly having his foot on the gas. But he did add in his postgame media availability that it wouldn't have been as simple as just punting on the game. Sitting six guys while having others put their bodies on the line and creating a situation where unprepared players are out on the field is a giant can of worms that isn't without risk either. Then there's the thought that missing a week of game work can cause rust at exactly the wrong time.

Still, if you listen closely, there's definitely some relief in his voice. Campbell understands it couldn't have gone better and, because it's football, it certainly could have gone a lot worse.

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