Detroit Free Press

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 6:02 AM EDT Aug 17, 2020 The Detroit Lions start their first of three weeks of padded practices Monday before they turn their attention to their Week 1 opponent, the Chicago Bears. While fans are not allowed in Allen Park this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, a limited

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 7:58 AM EDT Aug 16, 2020 Calvin Johnson remains estranged from the only NFL team he played for, but five years into retirement, there is a glimmer of hope for a reunion. Johnson, the Detroit Lions’ all-time leading receiver, told the Free Press in an exclusive podcast Saturday that

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 AM EDT Aug 16, 2020 Disclaimer: Some language in this interview may not be suitable for all audiences.  Listen in on Free Press writer Dave Birkett’s exclusive interview with Calvin Johnson, during which the Detroit Lions legend discusses his Hall of Fame candidacy, his frosty — but possibly repairable —

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 6:11 PM EDT Aug 15, 2020 Three years after she criticized Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said she was wrong. “When Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem, I had strong feelings about it,” Kelly Stafford wrote in an

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 5:20 PM EDT Aug 14, 2020 In case they needed another reminder that this is not a normal NFL training camp, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia gave his players one Thursday. “I said this to the team (Thursday) night, ‘Think about where we would’ve been (tonight) if things hadn’t changed,'”

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 3:35 PM EDT Aug 14, 2020 In case they needed another reminder that this is not a normal NFL training camp, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia gave his players one Thursday. “I said this to the team (Thursday) night, ‘Think about where we would’ve been (tonight) if things hadn’t changed,'”

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 11:25 AM EDT Aug 14, 2020 Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is helping to fund a social justice program for athletes at his alma matter. The University of Georgia said in a news release Friday that Stafford and his wife, Kelly, earmarked $350,000 of a larger donation to the

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 7:39 AM EDT Aug 14, 2020 They were some of the most powerful conversations anyone who sat through them had ever been a part of. As protests against racial inequality and police brutality raged across the country earlier this spring, the Detroit Lions spent in June more than a week

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 7:43 PM EDT Aug 13, 2020 First game, first play. That’s how long it took Desmond Trufant to learn playing cornerback in the NFL was “a different game” than college. “So we were scrimmaging the Bengals in (joint) practice,” Trufant said Thursday. “I was talking to (Jermaine Gresham), talking

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 2:21 PM EDT Aug 13, 2020 No one should have to endure what Marvin Jones has gone through the past eight months. Before the coronavirus pandemic brought much of the nation to a halt, and after an ankle injury ended his 2019 season, Jones’ infant son Marlo died unexpectedly

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 AM EDT Aug 13, 2020 With last weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony postponed until next summer because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN decided to look at potential Hall of Famers on every NFL roster and separate them into four groups: The locks (who writer Bill

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 AM EDT Aug 12, 2020 When Matthew Stafford put his $6.5 million Bloomfield Township mansion up for sale this spring, it raised the antennas of football fans everywhere. Tom Brady listed his Massachusetts mansion last fall and left the New England Patriots as a free agent a few

Carlos Monarrez Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 AM EDT Aug 12, 2020 Detroit Lions safety Duron Harmon said Tuesday the conversations the team is having about racial equality and social justice continues to move forward. “Progress has been made,” he said in a conference call with reporters. “We have some things that we’re working on

Carlos Monarrez Detroit Free Press Published 7:41 PM EDT Aug 11, 2020 Kenny Golladay made his first Pro Bowl appearance last season and Matthew Stafford said Tuesday he likes the way the Detroit Lions receiver has continued to mold himself into a better player. “I think Kenny, like a lot of guys on our team,

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 6:17 PM EDT Aug 11, 2020 Duron Harmon is like a lot of parents, trying to decide right now whether to send his oldest son, Christopher, to school this fall. “We still haven’t made up our mind,” the Detroit Lions safety said in a video conference Tuesday. “This is just an

Jeff Seidel Detroit Free Press Published 4:23 PM EDT Aug 11, 2020 Jamie Samuelsen used to intercept the magazine at the mailbox. It was People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue. He would print out a picture of himself and paste it on the cover, right over whoever had won that year. Then, he’d hide it

Dave Birkett Detroit Free Press Published 3:14 PM EDT Aug 11, 2020 Learning he tested positive for COVID-19 was “scary,” but Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said that diagnosis — which he later was told was a false positive — did not make him consider opting out of the 2020 season. “I think like everybody,