Turns out, the Lion King socks were just the start. Or maybe the exclamation point. The sense of fate in the story of T.J. Hockenson joining the Lions can be traced back to his childhood, well before he was a football player destined for the NFL.
"I was meant to be here," Hockenson said Friday during his introductory press conference.
By here, Hockenson means Detroit. He's been tied to the city's sports teams since he was seven or eight years old.
And then it was the Tigers, Hockenson's Little League team a few years later. He remembers wearing his dark blue cap with the Old English D.
"There's a lot of signs that came to this," he said.
The last 48 hours were no different.
When Hockenson packed for the draft and the rest of the weekend Wednesday night, he swears he wasn't thinking ahead. He threw the Lion King socks he wore Thursday night into his bag because that's his favorite movie, and he chose the blue blazer and the blue shirt he wore on Friday completely by chance.
No, Patricia, had to tell him. Not until rookie minicamp starts May 10.
"I’ve got to wait a couple weeks," Hockenson said with an aw-shucks smile.
In the meantime, maybe he can pay a visit to Comerica Park. The Tigers return home next Friday for a weekend series with the Royals.
They might be looking for someone to throw out the first pitch.