Former Detroit Lions Pro Bowler Darius Slay was back in town Monday morning.
The Philadelphia Eagles cornerback returned to the area where he began his NFL career to support his friend and former teammate Calvin Johnson and his charity golf event at Plum Hollow Country Club in Southfield.
Slay isn’t the only former Lion trying to win a title in Philadelphia.
It has been a pretty busy year for Slay, who made his first Super Bowl appearance in February. Despite not being able to hear Rihanna’s performance from the locker room at halftime, he still had a great time and is working hard to be in the position to come away with a championship ring next year.
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Slay’s former head coach with the Lions, Matt Patricia, was hired by the Eagles this offseason as a senior defensive assistant. Patricia, fired by the Lions after two and a half disappointing seasons, reportedly did not have a good relationship with many of his players, including Slay, as seen by the social media posts they made reacting to Patricia’s firing in 2020.
Slay told the Free Press in 2020 that he did not respect Patricia after an incident between the two during Patricia’s first season as head coach in 2018.
Now that the two are once again on the same team, Slay said the reunion has been “cordial.”
“It’s another day at the office,” Slay said. “We both got the same goal, just going out there to compete and win a championship, so that’s the main focus.”
Although Slay’s relationship with Patricia was rocky in Detroit, it’s easy to see he formed a close bond with Johnson, which is why he made the journey back to Michigan to offer his support.
“He kind of mentored me a good bit on the offensive side of the ball, just battling against each other in practice,” Slay said. “(He) helped me become who I am.”
Going up against the Hall of Fame wide receiver certainly prepared Slay for a bright future.
“We played against each other, day in day out, and I think that’s what made us so sharp,” Johnson said. “It made us have a lot of success in this league.”