Before he was a famous American actor, Jeff Daniels was just a kid from Chelsea. A kid who loved Gail Cogdill and the Lions. One year, Daniels and his family sat in the endzone at Tiger Stadium on Thanksgiving. He's been hooked to the team ever since.
But Daniels, now 65, is getting close to cutting ties. He can't take it anymore.
"They break your heart," he said in an interview Wednesday on the Rich Eisen Show. "They don’t just lose, they lose and they break your heart doing so. It’s just, you can’t be ahead 17-3 or 23-6, you just know if you lean toward, 'We’re gonna win,' you’re going to get your heart broken. You think we’re cursed, I don’t know, but it’s getting difficult. It’s getting real difficult."
Daniels wasn't the only famous Lions fan to lament the team's never-ending struggles Wednesday. Rapper Big Sean likewise said, "I'm tired of having my heart broken."
But Big Sean added he's "a fan for life, so I’m riding with them either way." Daniels isn't so sure. These days, he watches the Lions from an emotional distance.
"They’re on in the background, let me put it that way," he said. "It's hard to sit there, leaning forward into the television set, when you know you’re going to get your heart broken. So sometimes you leave them on in the event something crazy happens, like they’re ahead by two touchdowns with 30 seconds to go — but still, hang on. And these first two games, it’s been the same thing."