Detroit – Many Detroit Lions fans have spent many years supporting the team without enjoying this immense level of success.
Some of them simply did not live to see it. But Local 4 learned of at least one longtime fan whose family has found a way to make sure the departed are at least there in a physical sense.
The Lions just keep setting milestones, especially with Sunday (Jan. 5) night’s win over the Minnesota Vikings.
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With Sunday night’s win over the Vikings, the Lions are NFC North champions for the second year in a row.
They’re just the ninth team in NFL history to reach 15 regular-season wins and are the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
This is the first time the Lions have had that designation since seeding began in the 1970s, which has led fanatics to do all sorts of things to celebrate the historic victory, like bringing their father’s ashes to the game, as Melanie Brown did.
“I am going to get teary-eyed again because he invested so much time with the Lions,” said Brown. “My dad was near and dear to me. I would spend Sundays when he got very ill, and I would watch the game, and I would do anything to bring him one more time, and that’s why I took him Sunday.”
Brown was at Sunday’s Lions triumph, and she brought a bit of her late father Irv Grifka’s ashes with her.
She says it was more than emotions that she was feeling at Ford Field.
“I’m telling you, it’s him,” Brown said. “I truly believe that when I bring him, and I hold my son’s hand, I’d be like, ‘Dad, we need a fumble, we need this first down,’ and then it just goes smoothly.”
Brown has a playoff plan as she and her father’s ashes will be at the Divisional Round, and if the Lions win, they will be there for the NFC Championship game.,
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