Any NFL fan knows, the Lions are a hard team to like. Being a diehard Lions fan can be the worst at times. But it’s also the best. When your team is a roller coaster of good and bad, it makes for an exciting season, every season. We were the team that went 0-16 in 2008. The team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1991. Occasionally, we get that false sense of hope that maybe one day we could play in a Super Bowl, but we are always let down.

This year everyone’s feelings were a little different. We had the ups and downs, but for the most part, we had hope. The Matthew Stafford comeback game, after game, became something to look forward to. Eight games this season were decided in the fourth quarter comeback! This was never a thing we saw as Lions fans. We were used to losing by a lot and not having a chance to even make a comeback. But this year, we saw a different side of this team. We saw each game the effort being put in, the wins that we never saw coming, the losses that hurt to watch. Of course we stayed faithful to our team, even in the hardest of times, but inside we all knew you had what it took to make the playoffs this year.

We made it to the playoffs for the second time in five years. We knew playing in Seattle was going to be tough, and it was. This game ended our season with a 26-6 loss. Most of us saw this coming, seeing as we haven’t won an away playoff game since 1957, it was still a heartbreaking loss.

Being a Lions fan means a few things: year after year, we watch these patterns. Winning some, losing some, getting our hopes up, potentially making the playoffs, and then losing. None of us Lions fans can seem to give up on our team. If we didn’t give up on them after losing all 16 games in 2008, I don’t think any of us will ever lose that hope of seeing our Lions play in a Super Bowl someday.

This season is over for us, but we will all be back to wearing our Honolulu Blue come next fall. The hope we have for this team is all that will ever keep us going. They have to finally make it to a Super Bowl sometime, right? Let’s all hold on to that faith we know we have, as much as it makes us hate them at times! We will see where this next year can take us. Go Lions!