Watch Lions’ Dan Campbell deliver another instant classic speech to locker room

DETROIT — Dan Campbell has a unique ability to passionately and memorably address a room, no matter the mood or moment. And the Detroit Lions head coach is becoming known for these post-game speeches around the NFL.

Campbell delivered another instant-classic breakdown after the Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 to punch their ticket to the NFC title game. That’s right, the Lions are heading to San Francisco for a date with the 49ers, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

It’s been a year of firsts and “first time since” moments for this franchise. They won their first division title since it was known as the NFC Central. And the Lions won their first playoff game in more than 30 years, then won another to win twice in the postseason for the first time in the Super Bowl era.

And three years and one day after the Lions hired Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes, they made even more history from rowdy Ford Field.

“You guys are unbelievable, man. I’m tellin ya’ — We talked about it all year. This started a long time ago. You’re built for this,” Campbell told his team after the historic win. “You’re (expletive) built for this, man. And look at what you guys did — You went out there, and it’s another (expletive) hot team we knocked off. It’s the next hot team that you knocked off.

“Do you know how hard it is to win in this (expletive) league in the playoffs? Do you understand what you’re doing right now? What we’re capable of? That’s two. We got two to go, with a bye in the middle. With a bye in the middle. I am unbelievably proud of everybody in here, man — coaches, players. That’s the way to mount up, man. That’s a (expletive) difficult team to beat, man.”

The full video is embedded at the bottom of this page, courtesy of the Lions.

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Campbell then turned and presented the game ball to Derrick Barnes. The third-year linebacker made the game-clinching interception. And as a member of the first Campbell-Holmes draft class, this moment clearly resonated.

Barnes thanked his coaches and teammates for believing in him through the highs and lows. And he said he would share the game ball with his fellow linebackers before embracing team captain and mentor Alex Anzalone.

“Three years, man. It took me three years to get my first interception,” Barnes said to laughter and cheers.

“You got to believe how far we can go. Believe it now. Believe it now. This comes once in a lifetime. Like Alex (Anzalone) told me, a lot of people don’t make it this far. But we did.”