Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn had to send one of his assistant coaches home during a team meeting Thursday.
During her press conference Thursday, Lynn explained that the coach, whom she did not specifically identify, had to go home to be with her 14-year-old daughter because she was afraid to go to school after the shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday. . He told the coach to spend as much time as he needed with his daughter.
“That’s the world we live in today. It’s sad,” Lynn said. “I hope we can do something about it. I’m tired of talking about it. We have to do something. I don’t know what it is, but we have to do something.”
In the days after Tuesday’s shooting at Oxford High School, where four students were killed and seven others injured, Lions players and coaches have been feeling the impact the news has had not just in the state of Michigan, but in the nation in general. .
Both Lynn and defensive line coach Todd Wash were in Colorado in 1999 during the Columbine High School shooting, when 13 people were killed and 21 more were injured by two students. Lynn was a Broncos player at the time, and Wash was recruiting as Fort Lewis head coach.
“First of all, our thoughts and prayers go out to that community. I was recruiting in Colorado during Colombine when that happened, I was in Denver so I realize. But I have a son who has to go to school every day. So it’s scary, “Wash said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them. It hits, just because we all have children, when they go to school, they should be safe. And that’s not the case, so that hits us all a bit, as parents. It’s sad. but once again our thoughts and prayers are with them as a community and as a high school. “
Lynn said she could never become insensitive upon hearing the news of a school shooting. He said he remembered when he was with Denver, workouts were closed for a week and everyone was sent home to spend time with their families.
“My kids were very young at the time,” Lynn said. “I had to leave my kids and talk to them, and we had to talk about homeschooling. We raised it then. Certain schools to go to. I don’t think there is any school that is safe to be honest with you. if something like this is going to happen, it will go down. But it’s just, it’s sad when as a parent, when you send your child, your child to school and they may not come home. That’s sad. “
Head coach Dan Campbell began his press conference Wednesday by saying that Lions coaches and players are praying to the Oxford community. He said the news hit him “like a ton of bricks, especially when you have kids.”
Campbell said he reached out to his daughter, who is in high school, on Wednesday morning.
“This took us in a hurry, so I reached out to her this morning, told her to have a good day, and I just wanted to make sure she knows that I care about her. I mean, I think that’s the most important thing,” Campbell . said. “We have nothing guaranteed on this earth, so you just live each moment as if it were your last because you don’t know it. That’s the kind of reality behind it. It’s horrible.”
Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone spoke about his relationship with Zach Line, a former NFL player with whom Anzalone played with the Saints, who is now the Oxford varsity football coach. Among the victims of Tuesday’s shooting was Tate Myre, a 16-year-old soccer player, who had been with the varsity since he was a freshman.
Anzalone said he texted Line and told him that he would be there for him in case he needed anything.
“I was thinking about it, I feel like there is no better person in that position to really help the community get through a situation like this,” Anzalone said. “I think that when it comes to a person, a God-fearing person, all the things you want from a leader in a situation like this, he has them. He is strong and full of faith, so he will be able to help the leader. community cope with this bad time. “
According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, the Lions are preparing to honor the victims of Sunday’s game against the Vikings.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff said he remembered the shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, when he was a member of the Rams, and talked about how it felt trying to be a supportive presence for the community in times of tragedy.
“Obviously, there was some financial help, but I think more than that, it was just being there for those families. We were able to meet a lot of the families of the victims in practice,” Goff said. “And then we had that Monday night game against the Chiefs where we hosted them there at that game, and it was just a special night and seeing them after the game and only a week away from losing a family member, but the light and The joy that we can bring to people at times like these is not to be underestimated. It is part of our responsibility, I think as community leaders. What we can do to help lift those people up and be there for them. “
