After Dan Campbell talked about his team biting off a kneecap in his introductory press conference last month, he began to see accusations of him being a meathead.
But Campbell says he wasn’t delivering that message for everyone. It was mainly to those fans in Detroit who care a great deal about a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1991.
That’s why Campbell doesn’t care much if people from around the country give him that label.
“I said this to Chris [Spielman] the other day, I was like, ‘I love the fact we’re only known as meatheads,’” Campbell said, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “I’m a meathead? I have limited brain capacity? I like [that people think] that. I’m good with that, you know what I mean? I have zero problem with it.
“That whole press conference was literally for our team and our fans and community and people that want the Lions to succeed. ... I want to be in Detroit. I want this job, because I identify with this job. You talk about it fitting like a glove? This thing fits me like no other, because I just feel like I can relate to this. I understand, man. I think I’m kind of a gritty guy, you know? Without trying to toot my own horn, I just know who I am.”
Meathead or not, Campbell has plenty to prove as a first-year head coach with Detroit. Fortunately for him, he’s armed with a six-year deal to figure it out.