One of the most overlooked free agent signings for the Detroit Lions was defensive tackle Roy Lopez. The 28-year-old defender was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, and despite starting 29 games for the Texans in his first two seasons, he was waived in 2023. He again became a starter anew with the Arizona Cardinals, tallying another 21 starts with his new team over the following two years. Yet Arizona failed to re-sign him this offseason.
The Lions clearly saw something in Lopez, because
they handed him a one-year, $4.65 million contract this offseason—a fairly high number for someone who is expected to be a second-string nose tackle behind veteran DJ Reader. However, if you spend even a little time with Lopez, you’ll see exactly what the Lions saw in him this offseason.
Talking with the media on Monday, Lopez was asked how his wrestling background translates to the football field. That’s when Lopez started cutting a promo about how he’s developed an unmatched work ethic.
“When I get tired and I know I’m breathing heavy and I look across (to) the man—I know he’s breathing heavy—I know I’ve got a little bit more than you,” Lopez said. “I know I push myself a little bit more than you did. And I know if I can take you into them deep waters, as Dan (Campbell) said in his speech—it’s the truth, man. If you can take someone into the deep waters, and you can really lean on your mental toughness, I owe everything to the sport of wrestling.
“What it did for me of lining up across from somebody, I know you didn’t work as hard as I did. I know you didn’t put in seven days a week for the past 10 years. I know you didn’t. You weren’t traveling at seven years old, spitting in a water bottle with the heater on in the car, a sweatsuit on, your dad yelling at you. You didn’t do that. You didn’t do it like I did. So that was just something that was instilled in me at a young age. Now, it’s fourth quarter or whatever it is: tough days of camp, dog days, I know I’ve got a little more in me. I know I’ve always got something left in the tank.”
Lopez also takes a little inspiration from last year’s game between the Cardinals and Lions. Suited up for Arizona in a game, Lopez and the Cardinals’ defense had one more opportunity in a one-score game to give the ball back to the offense late in the fourth quarter. The Lions were trying to run out the last 3:48 of the game to seal the win. They did exactly that, and Lopez remembers how he felt Detroit just had a little more in them at that point—even remembering the key third-and-12 the Lions converted to Amon-Ra St. Brown to come away victorious.
“You get to play on the other side of that team and see when it got down to that fourth quarter late in the game, they had a little bit more than we did and (had) that advantage,” Lopez said. “Going through these dog days—and I’ve expressed this to the team, as well—you understand why they had a little bit more in the tank than us. And St. Brown, guy is staying after practice every day catching the ball. You can count on them at the end of the game. I think that’s the biggest thing. Seeing it firsthand, there is no coincidence in the game of football. Everything is worked for.”
Lopez feels at home in Detroit, where that work ethic is not only recognized but is essentially mandatory.
“They love ball, man,” Lopez said of his teammates. “I came into an organization, I came into a room that loves ball, that understands everything about it. To be in a room that shares the same interest, shares the same love for getting better, for the game of football as a whole, it’s a blessing, man. To be able to see guys like (Aidan) Hutch(inson), guys like Reader, (Marcus) Davenport, (Alex) Anzalone, Jack (Campbell), all of these guys flying around every day, there’s no shortcuts, man. It’s an old saying, old cliche, ‘There’s no shortcuts,’ but here is the true definition of that.”
