The quarterback bear-hugged the coach. The coach bear-hugged the owner. The general manager flexed his arms and shouted, "That's how you fu*king finish!!" The team danced in a circle and then doused the coach with water, which might as well have been champagne. That's how happy the Lions were after their first win of the season, the reward for 12 weeks of heartache.
"I can’t even lie to you, man, we were in that locker room just super lit. It felt like the Super Bowl," fullback Jason Cabinda said Thursday on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "We’ve had a ton of close losses this year, game-winning field goals on us and stuff like that, so to be on the other side of that and get the win, to be able to have this confidence and get this ball rolling, it’s absolutely huge for us.
"But the scene was crazy. We’re in the locker room dancing, we’re pouring water and Gatorade on Coach Campbell getting his first win with our organization. It was awesome to see."
Cabinda was on the perimeter of the dance circle smiling from ear to ear. The Lions had every reason to be thrilled, regardless of their record. Their path to a last-second win over the Vikings came with one cruel twist after another.
They lost to the same Vikings team on a last-second field goal in Week 5, two weeks after losing on a last-second field goal to the Ravens. They gave the Rams everything they had in Week 7 and it wasn't enough. They were a field goal shy of beating the Steelers in Week 10, and a field goal short against the Browns in Week 11. They lost on another last-second field goal to the Bears on Thanksgiving.
The Lions earned their moment of catharsis. So did Dan Campbell, who got the game ball from his players and then passed it on to the community of Oxford. This team is lacking in a lot of areas in the first year of a major rebuild. Unity isn't one of them. Campbell is the biggest reason why.
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"Man, I would run through a wall for Coach Campbell if I’m being serious," Cabinda said. "There’s not a lot of coaches you have where you can look your coach in the eye and know for a fact that that man would put on pads and a helmet and go out there and fight right next to you. He’s one of them. He’s one of the only coaches who you can say is going to bite somebody’s kneecap off. I’ll leave it at that.
"But he’s awesome. He’s inspiring. He’s such a great leader for us and does so much for us and we’re going to go to battle for him every single time. Our team has shown that grit and that fight and a lot of that comes from Coach Campbell. So thankful for him being here."
Likewise, Detroit is thankful for Jason Cabinda. He was named the Lions' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award this week for his efforts off the field. Among his many acts of community outreach this year, Cabinda provided school supplies and more than 800 books for students at Detroit's Davison Elementary.
"For me, the kids are the future," he said. "We sit here and talk about what we want the country to look like in 20, 30, 40 years. Well, what we do with the kids, how we nurture them, how we grow them up, is really what our country is going to look like. So the kids are super important to me and the kids here in Detroit at Davison are absolutely awesome."
Cabinda, who joined the Lions at the start of the 2019 season, has also held virtual weekly reading sessions with Davison students since the start of the pandemic and he's hosting a Lego-building event at the school later this month.
"Those kids are so bright. And to me, it’s just about giving them opportunity," he said. "These schools that don’t have as much in terms of resources and funding, just trying to look out for them, because these kids are just as bright and they can make it the same way. They just need that same opportunity."
On top of all that, Cabinda is teaming up again with Falcons and former Lions linebacker Brandon Copeland to surprise Detroit families with $1,000 gift cards at Target for the holidays.
"They’re going to come in to Target thinking that they’re just meeting some football players and we’re going to surprise them with gift cards," he said. "To me, every family deserves that holiday feeling. Every family deserves that gathering around the Christmas tree, whatever that holiday is for you, and opening gifts, seeing your kids smile. Thinking that there’s families out there who don’t have the resources and don’t get that feeling, everyone deserves that feeling, that holiday happiness, that closeness and love and being able to have gifts."
Cabinda said his nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award "means the world to me."
"Being blessed with a platform like we are in the NFL, it’s really all about what you do with it and leaving a legacy. Everything that you do on the field is amazing, but what’s really going to have a lasting impact is what you’re doing for others off the field. To be honored in this way, I really don't think there is a sweeter honor in the NFL. I’m really proud, my mom is super proud. It means a lot to me."