What would you do with $70 million? Buy a car? A yacht? A private jet? Forget the money, Frank Ragnow wouldn't waste the time. Frank Ragnow would climb into his truck and drive six hours north to go fishing.
"That’s the first thing I'm doing," Ragnow said Friday after the Lions made him the highest-paid center in the NFL. "I’m going to the UP to try and smash my personal best smallmouth. And then get home in time for Mother’s Day."
His current record for a smallmouth bass? 5.33 pounds.
"Which is solid," Ragnow said, "but needs improvement."
Which is exactly what he would say about his performance on the field. Despite that fact that he was an All-Pro last season. Despite the fact that, at age 24, he might be the best center in the NFL. Despite the fact that Frank Ragnow has established his name, he says he has too much "pride in his name" to be content.
"I think there’s a lot of improvement I can still make, which is exciting for me and hopefully for Lions fans" he said. "I just have to keep working hard and keep climbing."
From the moment the Lions drafted Ragnow 20th overall in 2018, he felt right for this city. For this state. He runs his own fishing channel on YouTube called Grizzly Man Outdoors. He showed up to his press conference on Friday, the richest center in football, wearing a trucker hat and a Carhartt sweatshirt. (Carhartt, founded in Detroit in 1889). He celebrated his new deal Wednesday night by hanging at home with his mom, brother and fiance. His mom made cookies, and his brother yelled at the TV while watching basketball.
"It was a pretty normal night," Ragnow said with a laugh. "It just hadn’t hit us, right? We’re just normal people."
Ragnow has never felt more right for this team. Brad Holmes and the Lions are going all in on the O-line, and now they have their anchor signed through 2026. With left tackle Taylor Decker under contract through 2024 and first-round pick Penei Sewell stepping in at right tackle, Detroit has the makings of one of the best units in football for years to come. Ragnow said there's "a new energy" around the Lions with the arrival of the new regime. He said "it just feels right."
Holmes and Dan Campbell share a vision. What they're searching for is players who reflect it. Campbell is a former tight end who likes his hands in the dirt. Holmes' hands tell the tale of a former corner, long and muscular. They want a team full of hard-core football players, but not at the expense of skill. They want players like Ragnow, whose talent shines and whose will never shakes.
"For them to believe in me is something I‘ll forever be grateful for," Ragnow said. "I’m just excited to get with the coaches, give it all to my teammates and do great things for the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan."
There was one person missing from Ragnow's celebration on Wednesday. For all his might, Ragnow couldn't fight back the tears when he thought about him on Friday. He was running through the names of everyone he wanted to thank, his coaches, his teammates, his agents, when he got to his dad and slammed into a wall.
"Holy cow," he said.
He swallowed hard, steadied his voice and tried again.
"My dad."
Ragnow's dad taught his son to play football, and he taught his son how to fish. He knew his son had a future on the field at a young age. "I'm just gonna keep putting pizzas in the oven," his dad would say, "and one day you'll buy me a helicopter." As part of a project in elementary school, whenever he first learned cursive, Ragnow wrote that "my goal is to make it to the NFL and to be able to take care of my parents."
And now he swallowed hard again.
"My dad and my mom are just my people," he said.
Ragnow's dad died of a heart attack when his son was a junior at Arkansas. He's been gone almost five years. Ragnow wishes they could go fishing. He texted a group of his dad's buddies after signing his new deal and all of them said they were crying. One of them said Ragnow's dad "would be doing cartwheels" right now, and maybe somewhere he is.
"But he'd probably cal me a schmo for crying on national media or whatever, Ragnow laughed.
So what would you do with $70 million? Ragnow's going fishing, and maybe his dad will meet him up north. They'll both be home for Mother's Day. For a Minnesota native, it doesn't get more Pure Michigan than that.