Detroit Lions success brings grieving family together

DETROIT – As the Detroit Lions celebrate another win, Ford Field will take center stage Sunday when the team hosts the Minnesota Vikings.

Monday night’s game at Levi’s Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers highlighted a showdown made in revenge paradise. The Lions defeated the Niners 40-34.

Lions’ fans chant of quarterback Jared Goff’s name rivaled the atmosphere of a home game.

An emotional coach Dan Campbell gave his players praise while admitting he couldn’t even put it into words what he saw on the field.

Campbell rattled off new records including the team’s first 14-win season with the Lions remaining undefeated on the road during the regular season.

“Which tells you at its worst – we can go anywhere and win gentleman,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Wherever the team has gone, through the wins and loses so have the fans. The Lions are not just a team. The team has become embedded in the lives of its fans like Elese Stubbs and her fiancé Keith Butler.

“When the Lions are playing, we watch that together on Sundays,” she said.

Monday game felt epic and bittersweet.

Butler, 69, died of Stage 4 colon cancer Nov. 19, five days after his birthday.

The last win he watched was when the Lions annihilated the Jaguars.

“Oh, he was telling everybody, ‘They’re going to the Super Bowl.’ That’s all we would tell everybody. Anybody said, ‘Oh, they’re the same Lions” – No, they’re not,” Stubbs said.

They’re not. Now, Sundays feel different.

But the Lions remind her of a love she still holds close to her heart.

“It still feels like he’s there hollering at his TV like I’m hollering at mine,” she said.