For as long as I have been a fan of the NFL, some of my favorite content outside of the actual games themselves has always been mic’d up segments. You get some of the most raw, hilarious, and sometimes iconic moments ever by having a player or coach mic’d up. In my opinion, that kind of content will always be some of the most revered footage that NFL Films will ever have in their possession.
With training camp kicking off next week, it got me thinking about times the Lions have opted to mic up a player
or coach for a practice. As you probably already know if you are reading this, training camp in the NFL is a grind. Maybe not the grind it was back in the day, prior to the newer collective bargaining agreement getting rid of things like two-a-days and multiple padded practices in a single day. Still, even with the aforementioned limitations in place, it is a marathon of sorts. A long, winding road that seemingly takes forever to arrive at that first or second weekend of September.
Going back to the Lions’ training camp in 2022, HBO’s “Hard Knocks” was in town, and the Lions, despite a lot of love for coach Dan Campbell and others, were still coming off of a 3-13-1 season. However, that didn’t deter coaches and players from having a good time in Allen Park. Remember the back-and-forth between former Lions coaches Duce Staley and Aaron Glenn?
That brings us to today’s question of the day: who would you want the Lions to mic up for a training camp practice?
My answer: I am going with Lions running backs coach Tashard Choice in hopes that we get something similar to the fun rivalry we had between Staley and Glenn several years ago. If you didn’t already know, Choice is good friends with Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. They are both Georgia natives, and played together during their time as players in the league.
“Oh, I’m going to talk trash. We don’t like each other,” said Choice on his friendship with Sheppard. “I may fight him. It’s funny – when you’re in them (enemy) lines, I hate him as a player on the team, but I love him at the same time. You know what I mean? But you’ll see, that’s how we are. That’s the pushing part. Because we know when they’re going against him, they’re going to need that. My players are going to want to feed off of me. I’m going to feed off of them, and he’s the same way. So characteristics on how we are with our players are pretty similar.”
What about you? Who would you want mic’d up for a training camp practice? Let us know in the comments below.
