In Week 9 two years ago against the Packers, Kerby Joseph snared his first NFL pick. And then his second. In Week 9 this year against the Packers, he snagged his first pick six. He leads the league over that span in interceptions. It gets better.
In the Lions' workmanlike win over the Packers on Sunday, Joseph became the first NFL safety to reach 14 picks (and counting) by his third season since a guy by the name of Ed Reed. Through 40 career games, Joseph trails the Hall of Famer by two.
Joseph said it's "everything" to be mentioned in the same breath as one of the best safeties to ever do it, "even just the comparison."
"One thing I always tell myself, man, I’m chasing a gold jacket. I always tell them boys, ‘What do you want your legacy to be?’ So every time I’m out there, man, I’m just showing on tape, this is who I am, and this is who I’m going to be," Joseph said.
Joseph delivered the Lions' first pick six at Lambeau Field since 1979, at a critical juncture in Sunday's win. With the Packers trying to put points on the board in the final minute of the first half, it was Joseph who did so instead when he shed a couple blockers on a blitz, grabbed an ill-advised throw by Jordan Love and raced to the end zone to double Detroit's lead.
"It didn’t happen fast," Joseph said. "I seen it in slow motion."
Joseph almost always has a plan, especially on the field. But when he got to the end zone, he wasn't quite sure how to react. It was his first touchdown since he played receiver in high school.
"I didn’t even know what to do, I just had so much emotion rush through my body," he said. "I was just happy I could celebrate it with my teammates. I just love these guys."
They love him back. So do his coaches, who continue to watch Joseph grow at a position where he wasn't a full-time player until his final season in college. The Lions drafted him in the third round in 2022 believing in his instincts and athleticism and have since unleashed him on the NFL. It's not serendipity that Joseph continually winds up in the right spot at the right time.
As Love fell to the ground and made a poor decision, Joseph was exactly where he needed to be to make a play. And then he had the hands to finish it, despite a soaked field and a slippery ball.
"That’s him, he’s got a knack about it," said Dan Campbell. "He’s a football player. It's one of the things that we liked about him when he was coming out. There was a rawness to him, but he had these ball skills and the ability to track the ball and we really felt like he could grow and become a pretty good safety in this league, and he certainly has done that.
"And he’s not done. That’s what excites you."
To say Joseph has become a pretty good safety is to say Campbell has turned into a decent coach. He's tied for the NFL lead in interceptions this season with Xavier McKinney, who just won NFC Defensive Player of the Month. Since Joseph's coming-out party against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, Campbell's Lions are 27-8, second in the NFL to only the Chiefs. They are an elite team, with an All-Pro-caliber safety.
Detroit's destruction of the Packers, said Joseph, was "a statement out to the NFC" that the Lions control the conference. And once they seize the NFC, they "go into the playoffs and chase that Super Bowl." That Zuper Bowl, as Joseph likes to call it, is well within this team's grasp. The Lions are 7-1 for the first time since 1956, the year before they won their last NFL championship.
Joseph, who turns 24 this month, keeps his interceptions like souvenirs. He laughed when asked if his latest pick exceeds the first of his career as his favorite prize and said, "Nah, that’s Aaron Rodgers, man, that’s the No. 1. Hopefully one day he’ll sign it, but I ain’t get there yet."
He's come a long and way and he's still getting started, he's done a lot with so much more to do. Joseph said he's always aimed for the Hall of Fame, "not only for me but for the city and for my family, just to show ‘em that Orlando, we really got them boys down there." Joseph and the Lions are showing the same thing up in Detroit.