The Lions are playing for Detroit and a legion of supporters scattered across America.
But the top seed in the NFC is also playing to honor past greats who never reached a 15-2 record or No. 1 playoff seed.
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Topping the list of ex-Lions is Barry Sanders.
He was one of the greatest running backs of all-time, earning 10 Pro Bowl honors and winning the 1997 NFL MVP.
Yet an abrupt retirement in 1999 at the age of 31 initially cut Sanders off from Lions fans and the franchise.
“The reason I am retiring is very simple,” Sanders said in a statement.
“My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it.”
Twenty-six years later, Detroit is two wins away from reaching its first Super Bowl, while Sanders has reconnected with Dan Campbell’s resilient team and its fiery supporters.
The 56-year-old Sanders has formed a unique bond with current Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who ran for 139 yards and scored four touchdowns on the night that the Lions locked up a first-round bye and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.
With his four TDs, Gibbs matched Sanders in Detroit’s record book while one of his football idols was in the same building.
“I went up to him (Gibbs) in the locker room … and I was just like, ‘Hey, I know how much of a big Barry Sanders fan you are,’ ” Eric Woodyard, Detroit Lions beat writer for ESPN, exclusively told talkSPORT.
“Gibbs was like a little kid in the locker room, just saying, ‘Hey, that meant a lot.’ ”
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