Untold stories of Lions coach Dan Campbell as a player

DETROIT — Not even a torn triceps muscle could keep Dan Campbell off the field.

On Christmas Eve 2006, Campbell, then a Detroit Lions tight end in his eighth NFL season, faced the Chicago Bears wearing a knee brace on his right arm as protection.

With under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Lions quarterback Jon Kitna anticipated a post-corner route from Campbell on the backside, but Campbell instead beat his man on a corner post. Kitna adjusted and let it fly for a 23-yard touchdown. After securing the catch, an ecstatic Campbell raised both arms to celebrate in the back of the end zone before being mobbed by his Lions teammates.

“I think about those times with Dan, and he just never ever complained,” Kitna said. “Like to have to wear a brace on your elbow and not be able to straighten your arm and block people out, but still just kicking people’s tail, you just know there’s tough and then there’s Dan Campbell.

“There’s a reason why in Texas, you don’t mess with dudes that wear boots and hats, man. Do not mess with them — and Dan is a boot and a hat guy.”

The touchdown against Chicago would prove to be the last of Campbell’s career, which ended after three more seasons and just four games. His final numbers — 11 seasons, 114 games, 91 receptions, 11 touchdowns — show a career that lasted longer than most but don’t tell the full story of Campbell as a player and the blend of toughness, intensity, intelligence and humor he brought during his stints with the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Lions and New Orleans Saints.

“When I played with Dan in my first year [2007], he was playing with one arm, but he was still out there starting and playing with beasts out there, but still sustaining,” said Lions Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson of Campbell, whom teammates jokingly nicknamed “RoboCop” because of the bulky brace on his arm. “So, mad respect to him.”

Campbell’s football life has since extended into a promising coaching career. Now considered one of the NFL’s rising stars, Campbell — who was a member of the Lions team that finished 0-16 in 2008 — has drawn praise throughout the league for helping reverse Detroit’s fortunes with his no-nonsense approach and attention to detail. And on Christmas Eve 2023, his Lions clinched the franchise’s first division title since 1993 with a 30-24 win at the Minnesota Vikings.

“It’s really hard for people, to think it’s real, is how much he loves the game. There are not many people who love the game like that,” Kitna said. “I truly think Dan would’ve been one of those guys that would’ve played as long as he could for free. Like, he just loves ball.

“He loves teaching it, he loves everything about it, he loves being with the guys and it just seems like that’s the culture he’s created there.”

While Campbell the coach is focused on creating memories for a franchise that hasn’t seen a playoff victory in more than 30 years, Campbell the player’s legacy lives on through the teammates, coaches and friends with whom he crossed paths during his college and pro careers. Here are some of their favorite stories.

“Betsy” was with him in New York.

Not to be confused with his wife, Holly.

It was his transportation: a 1990s-style, white Chevrolet single-cab pickup truck.

Upon being selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft, one of the things Campbell brought with him from college to the professional ranks was his ride.

“He was proud of it. He loved that truck … ol’ Betsy,” said Steve McKinney, Campbell’s close friend and former Texas A&M teammate.

“I had to go get him a couple times,” added longtime Raiders and Texans punter Shane Lechler, another former Aggies teammate and roommate. “He was trying to drive to Glen Rose [Texas] one day and I think something happened and I had to tow him back or some s—, I don’t know.”

Taken six spots later in the same draft class by the Dallas Cowboys, Campbell’s former Texas A&M teammate Dat Nguyen was amused when he learned Betsy made it to the league and stayed the whole time Campbell was with the Giants. Nguyen can’t confirm if Campbell drove the truck or had it shipped, but Nguyen is 100% positive Campbell had Betsy there with him.

“It was a white pickup, beat-up, it was ugly, too. I don’t know if it had rust and I don’t know how he got it, but I know we didn’t grow up with much, so I’m assuming it might’ve been passed down from his dad to him,” Nguyen said. “He had it a few years in college. That was his ride in college.

“You see Betsy, you know that’s Dan,” he said, laughing. “If he parked in front of the weight room, that’s Dan. Your ass better get in there quick because he’s going to be on you because he’s already started.”

Campbell’s truck has become Texas A&M folklore among teammates and friends. When you mention “Betsy” to his former college quarterback, Randy McCown, it takes him back to riding as a redshirt freshman with Campbell to the local Wings’N More restaurant for his Thursday night tradition with teammates McKinney and Hunter Goodwin in 1996.

“He asked me what I was doing but then said, ‘Come on, you’re going with us,'” McCown recalled. “And it was kind of like that training of the mindset of like this is how we do it, this is the winning formula, and when I’m gone, you’re going to be expected to keep it going.”

Perhaps the most notable memory of Campbell and Betsy came when a recruit’s visit went badly.

“We were hosting a recruiting trip for somebody that came in, and me and Dan were taking the guy out. And the guy is like, ‘I really like it here, but I think I’m going to go to the University of Texas.’ Dan just pulled the truck over, kicked him out of the truck and we left,” Lechler said, laughing.

“He’s like, ‘You got to go, you’ve got to get out.’ I thought Dan was going to drive like a mile down the road, then turn around and go get him, but we never went back. We were at a party out of town too, not a fraternity party, but someone was hosting a party out of town like away from town. Man, next morning [Aggies coach] R.C. Slocum was so mad at us.”