Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Lions HC has a fantastic idea for livening up NFL games

By Tim Josephs | Last updated 8/2/23

Even though the NFL is far and away the most popular sports league in the U.S., there’s always a way to make a good thing even better and Lions coach Dan Campbell may have the perfect solution.

He’s come up with something that would infuse extra excitement, thrills and even some danger into every contest: having wild animals at the games.

On Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" recently, Campbell said that he approached Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp about having an actual lion on the sidelines, and he appears to be completely serious. Even better: She seemed to like the idea.

“I would say that Sheila … she had no problem with it,” Campbell said, “but the league apparently frowns on those type of things.”

Campbell wouldn’t, however, say that commissioner Roger Goodell was the one putting the damper on his plan. “I’m not gonna point out Roger on this. I’m just gonna say that the league frowns on that. Let’s just say that.”

If Dan Campbell was allowed to put a Live Lion on the sideline he would pic.twitter.com/xoPsP9t2zp
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) July 31, 2023

If the NFL did relent, think about what this could mean for games. Imagine seeing a bear in Chicago or a jaguar in Jacksonville or a Bengal tiger in Cincinnati.

Opponents — and perhaps home team players as well — might be a little less likely to venture toward that part of the sideline if a ferocious animal were lurking, even a caged one.

Sure, some teams may be out of luck — cardinals and ravens, for example, aren’t the most menacing of animals. Plus, there are several teams that don’t use animals as mascots; having a steelworker or a meat packer on hand may demonstrate a team’s blue-collar credibility, but they probably wouldn’t be terribly intimidating. And who knows what the Browns would do?

If this did catch on, maybe it would expand to other sports. We could see tigers in Detroit and rattlesnakes in Arizona. Bulls in Chicago and timber wolves in Minnesota. Sharks in San Jose and panthers in Florida. It would be a zoological delight, and probably one that would also anger PETA, which could be a bonus for some people.

But, until the NFL has a change of heart (or change of commissioner), for now it will stand for No Friggin’ Lions.

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