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Eric WoodyardESPN
DETROIT — The reaction to a fictional football team is strong in Detroit Detroit LionsOn the eve Of Super Bowl LVIThe Featured Website is Los Angeles Rams Cincinnati Bengals.
The Detroit Rams shirts with the Lions head are on sale at the Pro Sports Zone in Livonia, Michigan.
Many Lions fans still support the former quarterback. Matthew StaffordIn his first season with Rams, the graphic continues stirring mixed emotions.
“He was in Detroit 12 years. The team didn’t make it, but he was so great on the field, you want him to do well.” John Yu, owner of the store which opened in 2008, said that although the team didn’t make it, “He played in Detroit for 12 years. “I still want to see him win.”
TheDLine, which celebrates Detroit, designed the shirts as a fun way of continuing to support Stafford who was traded to Los Angeles. Jared GoffThis season was already in full swing. Yu noticed that the graphic was popular on social media so he purchased the design.
Molly Gacioch (the store manager) said that she knows there is a lot to be heard online and that there are many mixed opinions about the shirt. “We are aware that this shirt might be controversial. Every fan is different in how they choose to show their support. However, everyone has the right to choose what and how they support a player/team.
Lions season ticket holder Mark “Pilgrim’ Mullins labels the Detroit Rams “ridiculous.”
Californian Errin Mikals is a Lions fan who became a supporter in the Barry Sanders years.
Robert Elbert, a Lions die-hard fan, found humor in the logo. He has also read many of the comments that have been posted since the image was viral. Elbert, a Stafford fan himself, said that he would not wear the shirt.
Stafford has helped us all grow. Elbert laughed and said that he would wear a Stafford shirt before he wore a Detroit Rams jersey. He going to the Super Bowl with me is like a part. However, it is also a bit of a sigh of relief because although I am a Lions fan I will never be a Rams fan. He’s still our quarterback to us, but it’s almost as if we’re saying, “We’re giving up, we won’t make it to Super Bowl, and this is the closest thing we’ll ever get.”
Despite having the NFL’s longest period of postseason losses, which has spanned three decades, the Detroit fanbase remains loyal.
Will Craft, a Detroiter and another Lions fan, has made weekly posts supporting Stafford. He has seen Stafford reach new heights this season with 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns. Craft shared the Detroit Rams tweet on his social media accounts as soon as he saw it. But Craft says he is smart enough to distinguish what the Detroit Rams logo represents.
“I like it. But at the end the day we’re not riding alongside the Rams for their Rams, we are riding for No. Craft stated that Stafford was number 9. “I don’t know why this is so difficult to separate. No, I am not bothered. Although he plays for the Rams, technically we must root for them because he is the quarterback. But for me, it’s all about No. 9 and it’s always about my quarterback. My T.O. [Terrell Owens]voice: That’s my quarterback.”