The Sports Fan Project

Full disclosure: The Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys game of the Texas Football Trifecta portion of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project was not part of the original plan. It was simply going to be Friday Night Lights and the Red River Rivalry. A daily double, if you will;-) But then the NFL schedule makers revealed the 2024-25 schedule in May and there it was, Lions-Cowboys the Sunday following Oklahoma-Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Suddenly, we were scooping up Standing Room Only tickets as soon as they hit the market to ensure we were in the building for a rematch from last year’s muffed call by the officials. Yes, Decker reported!

As I’ve noted several times in this space since I began The Sports Fan Project, my relationship with my hometown NFL franchise – the Detroit Lions – is of the love/hate variety. And, until a year ago, it leaned more heavily on the hate side of the ledger. For as long as I can remember, the Lions would figure out innovative ways to lose games. Sometimes with the help of officials (see that 2023 Cowboys’ game, for example) but more often than not it was simply due to ineptitude on the playing field, the sidelines, or the board room.

It should suprise no one, then, when I say that the last time I saw the Lions play in person was almost 18 years ago in Glendale, AZ, during a yawner of a 17-10 loss to the Neil Leinart-led Cardinals; one of just eight games Leinart won as a starting quarterback during his 6-season NFL career.

I’ve still not seen the Lions play a game in Ford Field, which debuted during the 2002 season, but in the name of sports fandom research and experiencing Texas football at all three levels, I’ll absolutely subject myself to whatever product the Honolulu Blue and Silver put on the field at AT&T Stadium.

Jerry’s House

I’m sure if I was a Dallas Metroplex native I’d be more tolerant of Dallas Cowboys’ owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones. Afterall, following his purchase of the franchise in 1989, the Cowboys have been to the playoffs 18 times, appeared in three Super Bowls, and won each of them. Granted, an entire generation (or three!) of Cowboys’ fans has been born since their last Super Bowl win in 1995 which makes fans of Dallas’ pro football team not too dissimilar from Lions’ fans, I suppose.

One of his more recent successes was convincing the City of Arlington and its residents to go all in on constructing a new home for his team (and other events). That became AT&T Stadium alternatively known as Jerry World and/or the Death Star. It opened in 2009.

It. Is. Massive.

With a capacity of over 100,000 (including standing room guests) it is the largest NFL venue by capacity. Sitting in a wide clearing among Arlington’s Entertainment District, it does have a the look of a massive spaceship that’s been moored in metro-Dallas.

My friend Rob, whom I was paired with for this event, has a goal of seeing the Lions play in all opposing venues. AT&T Stadium was his 16th and he wanted to give it a thorough walk through so he and I arrived shortly after the gates opened.

There’s plenty to see and do even without a game ticket, which I’m sure was part of the plan. We entered from the West and it features a massive outdoor plaza known as the Miller Litehouse which includes a mini football field (ala the green space adjacent to the high school football field all the little kids play ball on during games), food trucks, beverage service, merchandise stands, and plenty of screens to watch any and all of the NFL action. Following the game there was even a band performing on a small stage.

^{Clockwise from upper left, the West plaza included plenty for fans of all ages; Rob and I just outside the plaza; the East plaza as seen from inside AT&T Stadium; the West plaza post-game was still rollicking close to an hour after the game ended; the decision to stay in a house within walking distance to the stadium more than paid for itself with these parking rates in private lots adjacent to the venue.}

It was more of the same inside.

There was plenty of largese, from the massive video boards over the field to the spacious concourses to the luxury suites at virtually ever level of the stadium.

Much later, I noticed one thing that was lacking: public restrooms. Rob and I set up shop on the East end Standing Room Only area between the third and fourth levels of seating. Unless you had access to the suites on the level we were standing you either needed to go up or down two flights of stairs to get to a public restroom. For a place that routinely tops 90,000 spectators (93,644 for this game) and claims to have room for over 20,000 standing room only patrons, this seems a massive oversight in the construction plans.

^{Clockwise from upper left, we had a encounter with the famous Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders as they entered the stadium following a pregame peformance at the Miller Litehouse; me and Rob on the fourth level; a view from the lower level; the view from my vantage point near the end of the game; the look at the East stadium plaza, the building on the right is Globe LIfe Field, home of MLB’s Texas Rangers.}

Not the Lions of My Younger Years

As noted above, me attending Lions’ road games does not have a solid track record. In addition to the aforementioned Cardinals game, my previous two Lions games were also road losses: a 2003, 20-16, setback in Denver; and a 2001, 28-6, season-opening loss in Green Bay.

To say I was a bit nervous before kickoff was an understatement.

This was, after all, the only game on this Texas gridiron triology where I had a dog in the fight. Sure, Wayne’s son Macker – part of our traveling party – was a University of Oklahoma graduate, but beyond that I had no connection to the Red River Rivalry and certainly none for our Friday Night Lights experience in Odessa on Friday.

Wayne, an ardent Lions’ fan, was confident, and Rob, a longtime Detroit season-ticket holder, was predicting an easy Lions’ win.

Still, when the Cowboys showd an ability to move the ball on their opening drive, appeared to be an functioning NFL team, and took a 3-0 lead on a field goal, I was not yet feeling as comfortable as my traveling companions.

Then, as some Detroit players said during post-game comments, the Lions got the ball and “unloaded the clip” (a handgun reference) on Dallas.

The Lions did not punt during their 47-9 rout of the Cowboys. They did not allow a touchdown. They forced five Dallas turnovers. They targeted Taylor Decker on a tackle-eligible pass. They ran a hook-and-lateral play with another tackle, Penei Sewell, that was waived off due to a penalty.

It was an absolute a$$-whooping … and it was glorious! Especially after learning that it was Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday.

^{Clockwise from left, the irony was not lost on me that Ford Motor Company (with a plant in Arlington, TX) had advertising all over the stadium but is also the eponymous company of the Detroit Lions’ ownership; the Standing Room Only area was expansive, though views of actual field are minimal (there are big screens in the areas as well as the video boards over the field); me and some of the other Lions’ faithful.}

The best part, however, might have been the number of Lions’ fans who made the trip. Though there is no way to know for sure, I’d place the number of Detroit fans in AT&T Stadium between 15,000 and 20,000 and, due to the way the game was going, they made their presence known.

On more than one occasion, Rob remarked at how quiet (Lions’ fans aside) the stadium was. It was almost eerie.

All Silent

AT&T Stadium did take on an even eerier silence midway through the third quarter when Detroit’s All-Pro defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, lay on the turf writhing in pain.

There was but one replay of the incident on the video boards – rightly so – but it didn’t take long for the throng of Lions’ fans around us to view the play and injury on social media and ascertain it was not good.

When the cart came out to carry Hutchinson off the field, well, everyone else in the facility knew what most of Detroit did in that moment.