I was saddened to hear of former Detroit Lions quarterback Erik Kramer’s apparent suicide attempt last week. I remember being a teenager working the parking lot at the old Silverdome for Lions games. It was always a catch-22 for me as I was able to attend games for free and see future Hall of Famer Barry Sanders play. The other side of the coin meant for this privilege I had to be on the receiving end of belligerent Lions fans who repeatedly failed to understand parking at the Silverdome. An experience now reflected upon with great joy.
Game days started early and the players would drive in often reluctant to talk with teenagers waving parking flags. Barry Sanders was always cordial and Wayne Fontes well he was Wayne Fontes, cigar in-toe, even early on a Sunday.
The starter Erik Kramer was different than other unnamed “showboaters.” He would roll up in his Ford Bronco, stop, say hello and proceed as if he was one of us. It left a mark on this PistonPowered columnist even to this day.
It harkens back to the recent and indelible statement, “Detroit versus Everybody.” It is different in Detroit. It always has been. Whether it was coming out of the riots of the late 1960’s or the recession of 2008, Detroit has always been considered the stepchild to other cities with less history and grit.
I think it is fair to say that Pistons fans are Lions fans. Pistons fans follow the Red Wings and root for the Tigers. When one team or player is down fans wince and then celebrate their return.
Sure, Erik Kramer played but for a blink of the eye in the early 90’s but he remains a part of the larger Detroit sports family. Sadly fantasy sports has changed the landscape for sports fans. Analytics has replaced gut reactions, refusals to use the restroom during the stretch run of a game and countless looks to the sky asking, actually begging for a miracle on the court, the field, on the diamond and the ice.
Lest we forget that the sheer love of the game, for most of us, came from the people in life’s great “play” of sports. It wasn’t a plus-minus or quarterback efficiency rating (QBR), but rather those people and moments that we could feel in our hearts and in the pit of our stomachs.
Erik Kramer’s story reminds us that while we can get ever closer to our beloved teams and players that they battle the same issues we all face. Just because they might be able to afford better or different help doesn’t preclude them from the same human experience. This Detroit sports fan will continue to tell his little boy that “we” added another Piston to the family when the next player joins Stan Van Gundy’s crew. This fan will continue to remember when the University of Michigan and the Detroit Pistons were reigning champions at the same time and the incredible feeling that we were all on top of the basketball world.
Champions, regardless of sport, are made from the internal fortitude of people and players that give everything they have. Our pleasure, as fans, is often at the cost of their bodies and sometimes the health of their minds. The least fans could do is support their favorite Detroit players not just when they are wearing the uniform, but also when the uniform hangs on a wall.
There is a reason athletes are idolized by the young and old. They reflect the uninhibited parts of ourselves that we only wish we could express with commensurate physical prowess. Fans will continue to support with their eyeballs and dollar bills – athletes their bodies and minds. It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child. I contend that it also takes a village to raise a banner too.
The rally cry is clear:
Detroit vs. Everybody!