Lions GM Brad Holmes was brought to tears talking about powerful bonds with his players

While they didn’t qualify for the postseason, it’s not hard to see Dan Campbell’s tight-knit Lions as one of the best stories of the 2022 NFL season. After starting 1-6, Detroit rallied to finish with a  9-8 record. Eventually, while already eliminated from the playoffs, the Lions spitefully punched Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the mouth to drag their rivals down into the muck with them.

As the Lions look ahead to what might be a bright future in Detroit, GM Brad Holmes sat down with team reporter Dannie Rogers to recap the team’s most recent campaign. And when the discussion came to how key cogs like Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown credited the GM for making their pro football dreams come true, Holmes couldn’t help himself from tearing up.

It’s obvious the now third-year GM cares a lot about his players:

They aren’t just draft picks to @Lions’ GM Brad Holmes and Head Coach Dan Campbell…they’re family.

Watch more of my sit down with Holmes tonight on Inside the Pride airing on Fox 2 Detroit @ 7:30. pic.twitter.com/l3fdo9Lhbb

— Dannie (@dannierogers___) January 11, 2023

Man. It can be so easy to be cynical about football culture and how executives and coaches sometimes treat their players as nothing more than machines. For Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, that clearly isn’t the case. They know they’re working with brilliant young men, with human beings, and understand that vital relationship aspect that can make a football team an actual family.

A vital offseason to sand over any flaws — particularly the NFL’s 28th-ranked defense by DVOA — awaits the Lions. With the right moves, it’s hard not to see the Lions becoming a legitimate contender come September 2023. They seem to be in excellent hands with a caring, meticulous leader like Holmes.