Sheila Hamp Preaches Patience, Does Not Want Lions Fans to Panic

Detroit Lions owner Sheila Hamp speaks with reporters on the state of the team, after a 1-5 start to the 2022 season.

The Detroit Lions began a rebuild with the hire of general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell. Now, in the regime’s second season, the team is enduring a frustrating start.

Just 1-5 through the first seven weeks of the season, concerns about the new regime’s longevity have grown louder. Team owner Sheila Hamp has heard the concerns, and has her own frustrations, but told reporters Wednesday the organization is committed to the rebuild.

Detroit's owner attempted to address concerns of the fans regarding the rebuild and indicated she did not want supporters to abandon hope during the tear down and rebuilding process the team is now going through.  

“I know this is difficult, a rebuild is hard, but we really believe in our process,” Hamp said. “We really believe in, we’re gonna turn this thing around the right way, through the draft. It requires patience, it’s frustrating. Am I frustrated? Absolutely. Are the fans frustrated? Absolutely. Are you guys frustrated? But, I really think we are making progress, you’ve seen it. This was a huge teardown and then turnaround. And, really, we’re only a third of the way through the season, we’ve got 11 more games to go. So, I just don’t want to push the panic button and give up the ship, because I think we’ve got the right people in place to pull this off and I truly believe that.”

Wednesday marked the first time in several months that the owner had been available to reporters. She spoke for nearly four minutes about the state of the team after six games in 2022.

Though the process appears to be lengthy, Hamp pointed to the youth of the team and explosive start on offense as key optimistic points.

“The positives are the way we started the season with the offense. I think we’ve got to get back to that,” Hamp said. “And any turnaround, there’s gonna be ups and downs. It’s not gonna be smooth. Boy, I wish it were. Wouldn’t that be simple? But, it’s not. 

Now, there’s gonna be fluctuations, and the other thing is you all well know our team is young and that’s not an excuse. That’s a fact. And, young players are gonna make mistakes. We’ve had some key mistakes that have cost us games. Hopefully, we’re not gonna repeat those, hopefully we learn. But, it is a process, and that’s what it is. It’s hard, it’s really hard to stay disciplined. I mean, no one hates losing more than I do, than my family does. But, we’ve kind of got through it.” 

When asked about Dan Campbell's future, Hamp expressed she is confident in the process the organization has used in the rebuilding process. 

Her closing comment at the end of the nearly five-minute media session was, "I believe in the leadership."