The Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn had to send one of his assistant coaches home during a team meeting on Thursday.
During Thursday’s press conference, Lynn explained that the coach, whom he did not specifically identify, had to go home to be with his 14-year-old daughter because she was afraid of going to school after the game in London. Oxford High School on Tuesday. He told the coach to spend as much time as possible 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 need to do something. I don’t know what it is, but we have to do something.”
In the days following Tuesday’s shooting at Oxford High School, where four students were killed and seven others injured, Lions players and coaches have felt the impact of the news not only for the state of Michigan but also nationally. .
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 others injured by two students. Lynn was a Broncos player at the time, and Wash was being recruited as head coach for Fort Lewis.
“First of all, our thoughts and prayers go out to that community. I was recruiting in Colorado during my time in Colombine when it happened, I was in Denver, so it’s going home. But I have a son who has to go to school all the time. So it’s scary,” said Wash. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them. It worked, just because we all have kids, when they go to school they have to be safe. And no, that doesn’t affect us. A little bit to all of us, as parents.It’s sad, but once again our thoughts and prayers go out to you as a community and as a family. is a high school.”
Lynn says he can never be paralyzed when he hears about a school shooting. He said he remembers that when he was with Denver, the workouts were stopped for a week and everyone was able to go home to spend time with their families.
“My children were very young then,” Lynn said. “I had to put my kids down and talk to them, and we had to talk about homeschooling. Then we brought up this issue. Certain schools to go to. I don’t think there’s any. what school is safe to be honest with you i think if it goes like this it will come down go to school and they might not come home. It’s sad.”
Head coach Dan Campbell began Wednesday’s press conference by saying that the Lions coach and players were holding a vigil for the Oxford community. He said the news hit him “like a ton of bricks, especially when you already have kids.”
Campbell said that Wednesday morning he reached out to his daughter, who is in high school.
“This put us in a rush, so I just reached out to her this morning, told her to have a good day and just wanted to make sure she knew I cared about her. I am I think that’s the biggest thing,” Campbell said. “We don’t guarantee anything on this earth, so you just live each moment as if it were your last because you don’t know. That’s the kind of reality behind it. It’s horrible. terrible.”
Lions winger Alex Anzalone spoke about his relationship with Zach Line, a former NFL player Anzalone played with the Saints, who is now the Oxford varsity football team coach. Among the victims of Tuesday’s shooting was Tate Myre, a 16-year-old soccer player who has been on the varsity team since he was a freshman.
Anzalone said he texted Line and told him he would be there for him if he needed anything.
“I’m thinking about it, I feel like there’s no better person in that position to really help the community through a situation like this,” Anzalone said. “I think as a person, a God-fearing person, all the things you want in a leader in a situation like this, he has. he will be able to help the community through this really bad time.”
According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, The lions are preparing to pay tribute to the victims of the game against the Vikings on Sunday.
Lions defender Jared Goff said he remembers the Thousand Oaks, California shooting, when he was a member of the Rams, and talks about how it feels to try to be a supportive presence in the community during tragic time.
“Obviously there’s been some financial help, but I think it’s more than that, they’re just there for those families. We met a lot of families of the victims at the internship.” Goff said. “And then we had the game Monday night against the Chiefs where we hosted them there at that game, and it was just a special night and to see them after the game and just a week. after the loss of a family member, but the light and joy we can bring to people in such times, it’s not too low. It’s part of our responsibility. I, I think are the leaders of the community. We just need to do what we can to help raise those people and there them.”
