by Dan Cash
Bronco Sports First
Last season the Detroit Lions were the worst overall team in the history of the NFL. That's an easy statement to make. Not many people are arguing against an 0-16 season. In the past the Lions brass has argued that they lost 6 games by less than 7 points or tried to spin something similar to push fans back into season tickets packages...no such spin this season.
From a Public Relations standpoint a monumental task sits in front of them. Convince the rest of an economically strapped Metro Detroit that spending their hard earned money on 8 Lions home games is the best 'bang for their buck'.
A difficult task considering Lions fans were beginning to leave in droves even before the 2009 disaster.
This season however the Lions have something that people are beginning to talk about. They have Louis Delmas. The former Western Michigan Broncos star Safety is making a name for himself pretty quickly on the Lions defense.
The hard-hitting Delmas came in as a relative unknown to the general population outside of West Michigan, but in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids he's been a star for years. In his 1st weeks as a Detroit Lion he showed his skill, hit hard and probably most importantly his attitude rubbed off on his teammates.
Delmas was fantastic in games over the last few seasons in Kalamazoo and that's what eventually got his name into the 2nd round of the NFL entry draft. It's his practices in Kalamazoo that will show the rest of Michigan why it was so important that the Lions selected him with their 3rd pick of the 2009 NFL draft.
For the first time in a long while the Lions actually showed some smarts in their selection, they did their homework in selecting Delmas and it is already paying off. Instead of going after their “best on the board” prospect like Matt Millen continued to do (Mike Williams, Charles Rogers, Joey Harrington, Etc.) the Lions took a guy in Delmas who motivates his teammates, hits like a truck and most importantly cares about winning the right way.
It's something WMU Head Coach Bill Cubit continues to teach at WMU. There is no such thing as an individual problem, it's a team problem and it shows in every down the Broncos play. They are the epitome of a team and it's why so many players are now being drafted into the NFL from WMU.
Because the MAC continues to be overlooked, not by as much as in the past, but still overlooked players need to have that extra something. It is very rare that a MAC player with an attitude problem is going to be taken in the higher rounds of the NFL draft.
So what Cubit has instilled in terms of a a total team atmosphere is changing the way the Broncos are looked at across the country. Last season I interviewed every opposing coach the Broncos faced. From Ron Zook to Bo Pelini they all said a variation of the same thing, it's a well coached team that has great character.
It's something that cannot be overlooked. Louis Delmas is a member of the Detroit Lions because of his great talent there is no doubt. But he is going to star for the Lions because his coaches at WMU taught him how to act like you are just one of the guys. No prima donna there, just a team player about to star for a team and a city that truly needs him. All the conversation has centered around Matthew Stafford and that's fine for now, but give it 2 games before Louis Delmas style begins changing the way the Lions have played football for the last 60 seasons.
Harrington, Williams, Rogers and a host of other highly touted prospects couldn't change the Lions makeup, maybe what they lacked is exactly what Delmas brings to the table, real leadership.
If healthy Delmas could change the makeup of this team. Take it from someone who watched him his entire career at WMU, the Lions just signed someone who will finally take them to an intensity level that they have always lacked.
Things are about to change in Detroit. Well, at least at the safety position.
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