(NewsNation) — Since Dan Campbell‘s first day as the Detroit Lion‘s head coach, he has been determined to get his team to the top.
“We are going to kick you in the teeth. And when you punch us back, we are going to smile at you. And when you knock us down, we are going to get up. And on the way up, we are going to bite a kneecap. And when we stand up, it’s going to take two more shots to knock us down,” Campbell said.
Now, in Campbell’s third season, the Lions are one win away from playing in Super Bowl LVIII.
“It’s just a magical season,” Lions superfan Ron “Crackman” Crachiola said.
Crachiola says he remembers the “dark days.”
In 2008, the team went 0 and 16, becoming the first franchise to finish a full season with no wins or ties, and became the first franchise to finish a full season with no wins or ties since the switch to a 16-game regular season in 1978.
Crachiola remembers Campbell too — but as a former Lions player. Campbell suited up for the team for three seasons, being a part of the 2018 team.
“He was a hardnosed, blue-collar guy,” Crachiola said.
Campbell kept his hardnose blue-collar mentality; his former teammates say that’s in his DNA.
“What you see on camera is what he’s like in everyday life,” former Lions player Jared Devries said.
The gritty, blue-collar approach has taken the franchise from the cellar of the NFL to the brink of the Super Bowl.
Lions superfan Tracy Sekula, known as “The Loyal Lioness,” says she’s been a fan since she was introduced to the team by her father as a young girl.
“I’ve never given up,” Sekula said.
This season, Campbell has led the Lions to their first division title since 1993, the team’s first playoff win since 1991 and the team’s second NFC championship appearance.
Winning on the field has translated to winning off the field for the city of Detroit.
The Lions will take on the 49ers this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The winner of this matchup will head to the Super Bowl on Feb. 11.
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