After seeing all of the Detroit Lions fans in attendance for a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Jared Goff gushed praise for his supporters.
A sea of blue flooded Raymond James Stadium and profusely cheered after the Lions 20-6 win. Goff was so taken back by the outpouring of support that he proceeded to call them the best in the NFL.
It’s easy to see why Goff thinks that. Teams usually only hear this level of support at home games, not roughly 1,200 miles from their home stadium.
Frankly, it makes sense that Lions fans are showing up in droves this season, since they finally look like a legitimate NFL contender. Sunday’s matchup with the Bucs wasn’t the only time the Lions faithful have shown up in droves for an away game.
When the Lions drubbed Green Bay in Week 4, so many Detroit fans attended that the Packers made a statement to do damage control afterwards.
“The Packers have encouraged our ticketholders to sell to other Packers fans when possible. The secondary market, however, allows fans from anywhere to purchase tickets and Lambeau Field remains a popular destination for all fans, including those from other teams,” the statement read. “We have seen this, particularly with divisional games. Conversely, this is how the Packers often enjoy many Packers fans at away games.”
Translated: sorry so many Lions fans came and showed up our home base, but there’s nothing we can do about it!
Detroit Lions Fans Supported Their Team In The Worst Of Times
Before you start getting the impression that Lions fans only show up when the team is successful we should look at some data.
Since 2006, the Lions have had respectable fan attendance for home games. Detroit got at least 412,000 fans to attend games at Ford Field in 15 of the 17 seasons, within of those being the COVID year.
If you take the lower end of the yearly attendance numbers (412,177) and divide it by the stadium’s seating capacity (65,000), that means that the Lions filled Ford Field six times. Obviously, the stadium wasn’t filled for six games and empty for two, but you get the picture: Detroit fans still showed up.
The numbers are even more impressive considering that Detroit endured one of the worst stretches in league history. During that span, the Lions had more 0-16 seasons (one) than playoff wins (zero) in that stretch. And yet, the fans still came in respectable numbers.
Now the good days have arrived, and a fan base starving for victories is finally getting their fill and showing up in droves. Goff called his supporters the best in the NFL, and thanks to their dedication in the hard years and attendance on the road, they deserve that title.
The post Jared Goff Calls Lions Fans ‘Best In The F***ing League’ appeared first on OutKick.
from OutKick https://ift.tt/eScCpG8