Lions’ coach dedicates winning game ball to Oxford community

Dan Campbell held a football in his right hand and raised it above his head.

The Detroit Lions had just beaten the Minnesota Vikings 2927 for their first win of the season — Campbell’s first victory as head coach — and as Campbell stood at the lectern for his postgame news conference, he dedicated a game ball to the community of Oxford five days after a shooting at Oxford High terrorized the nation.

“I just, I want us to not forget these names,” Campbell said, naming the shooting victims — four dead and seven injured — one by one.“madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling, Tate Myre, Phoebe Arthur, Jon Asciutto, Riley Franz, Elijah Mueller, Kylie Ossege, Aiden Watson and Molly Darnell, who’s a teacher.

“Those names, for all those will never be forgotten and they’re in our hearts and our prayers, and all the families and not to mention all those that were affected by all of this.”

The Lions (1-10-1) capped an emotional week for metro Detroit with an emotional victory.

Jared Goff threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Amon-ra St. Brown as time expired to give the team its first victory since Dec. 6, 2020.

The Lions wore “O” decals in Oxford gold on their helmets, took the field for early pregame warmups in white Oxford Wildcats T-shirts and baseball caps, and held a moment of silence for the victims before the game.

Campbell showed a five-minute or so video to his players at their team meeting that took place Saturday morning, explaining the week’s events and letting them know“exactly what we were going to represent today.”