Lions dedicate game ball from win to Oxford
Dan Campbell held a football in his right hand and raised it above his head.
The Detroit Lions had just beaten the Minnesota Vikings, 29-27, for their first win of the season — Campbell’s first win 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 classmates, the brothers and sisters, the cousins, the teachers, the everybody. Coaches.”
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 win 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.
Afterward, Campbell and players said the tragedy was inspiration for their performance.
“Sometimes special things happen in special circumstances and I think you saw yesterday what Michigan did against Iowa and then us today getting our first win,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said, choking back emotion. “You never hope for a tragedy like this, but you hope to be a light for those people and a positive thing that they can have fun watching today.”
Panthers change offensive coordinators: The Carolina Panthers have relieved offensive coordinator Joe Brady of his duties.
The team announced the change Sunday.
“I met with Joe this morning and informed him that I have decided to make a change,” coach Matt Rhule said in a statement. “I’m very grateful to him for his time and effort in helping us get established over this past year and a half.”
Offensive assistant Jeff Nixon will take Brady’s place for the rest of the season.
Brady was considered a major hire by Rhule before the 2020 season. He was the coordinator of LSU’s prolific offense with quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019 when the Tigers won the national title. Then 30 years old, Brady was the NFL’s youngest coordinator.
Hall of Famer Humphrey dies: Pro Football Hall of Famer Claude Humphrey, one of the NFL’s most fearsome pass rushers during the 1970s with the Atlanta Falcons but long overlooked on mostly losing teams, has died at the age of 77.
Humphrey, who also reached the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, died unexpectedly Friday night in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, according to the Hall of Fame, which was informed of his death by his daughter. No cause was given.
Humphrey was the No. 3 overall pick by the Falcons out of Tennessee State in 1968 and went on to play 11 years with the team, earning the last of six Pro Bowl appearances as a member of the famed “Grits Blitz” defense in 1977.
He moved to the Eagles in 1979 and served as a designated pass rusher on the 1980 team that reached the Super Bowl.
Peterson catches Brown: Seattle’s Adrian Peterson moved into a tie with Jim Brown for 10th all-time in total career touchdowns.
Peterson’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against San Francisco gave him 126 for his career, tying him with the Hall of Famer..
Peterson now has 120 rushing touchdowns and six receiving in his 15 seasons. Brown had 106 touchdown runs and 20 touchdown receptions during his nine-year career.