I should apologize to you. To be honest, I was irritated when the Detroit Lions, who have been among the worst
teams in the NFL and sports in general, selected you in the draft. You were such a fantastic player and leader at
Tennessee, and by all accounts, you were also a better person during your time there. This culminated in a fantastic
2022 run that included victories against Alabama and Florida. I felt that you deserved better.
I suppose my expectation was that you would be chosen by a successful, historically significant team like the New
England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, or Dallas Cowboys. To varying degrees, those teams weren’t quite as successful
this season in hindsight. The Lions are now the team making waves in the postseason.
I even suggested (half-jokingly) that you wait a year and reapply for the NFL Draft. Once more, I was incorrect. That
was an emotional reaction, and in hindsight, it would have gotten you kicked out of the league. I won’t apologize,
though, for stating that you were unable to overcome being selected by any team in the draft. The fact that you
overcame obstacles to excel in college demonstrated your ability to flourish in the NFL. I believed that you would
eventually need to find success elsewhere since the Lions would ultimately let you down when you were drafted. That
hasn’t happened. The Lions actually made sure that space was made available for you to be on the postseason roster.
The Lions realize what they have in Hooker and, not unexpectedly,
First off, this management of the Lions is the best it has been in almost 50 years. Secondly, there’s no reason why you
can’t start for Detroit rather quickly. Despite having two straight strong seasons, Lions quarterback Jared Goff does
not have a permanent chokehold on the starting position. Goff helped lead Detroit into the playoffs. That might alter,
though, as Goff is anticipated to get a contract extension.
