The Lions-Cowboys rivalry remains personal for Darius Slay. Chatting with Micah Parsons on the All-Pro linebacker's podcast this week, Slay grinned when asked if had a chance to watch Detroit's 47-9 win in Dallas last Sunday.
"Of course I did, as soon as I got to the crib I watched the game. You know I’m a fellow Lion, too, so I was rooting for 'em, you know what I’m saying? I’m a Detroit Lion, too. They the ones that helped me change my life, so to watch them play y’all and spank on y’all, I was pretty happy," said Slay.
Now in year four with the Eagles, Slay still isn't over the Lions' controversial loss to the Cowboys in the 2014 Wild Card round when the officials picked up a pass interference flag on Dallas in the fourth quarter that changed the game. He once said he shot down a potential trade from the Lions to the Cowboys because of it.
"Detroit, we low-key got beef with y’all because back in 2014 we came there in the playoffs, Dez Bryant did that little cheap junk coming on the field, we got a penalty called on us, we could’ve got the PI and really won the first Detroit playoff game in 20-something years," said Slay. "We was rockin’ then. I think we were 11-5. And ever since then, that’s the reason I ain’t like Dallas, because they cheated us in the playoffs."
Slay, 33, spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Lions and grew into one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. The six-time Pro Bowler said he has "nothing but love" for the city of Detroit. He recalled speaking to local high school teams and getting to know cornerbacks who are now in the NFL like his teammate Avonte Maddox (Martin Luther King), Jourdan Lewis (Cass Tech) of the Cowboys and Sauce Gardner (Martin Luther King) of the Jets.
Parsons, meanwhile, got a taste of how much Detroit loves the Lions when their fans flocked to Dallas last week.
"So far what I’ve seen, Detroit is such an underrated fan base," Parsons said. "Because obviously they had some real rough times, but right now, as they’re winning and they’re getting back on the train, their fan base is bigger than ever, stronger than ever, booming. I haven’t seen too many peoples' fans take over AT&T (Stadium), but I would say, there was some blue in the stands and it wasn’t ours. It was like that. They moved seats up and everything."
Parsons and Slay also touched on last week's devastating injury to Aidan Hutchinson, who fractured his fibula and tibia while sacking Dak Prescott. Parsons was one of the players from the Cowboys who came to Hutchinson's side and patted him on the chest before he was carted off the field.
"I want to give a moment to pray for my man Hutch, bro," Parsons said. "Just because, seeing what he was doing out there on the field before he got hurt and then getting hurt on the sack, that was heartbreaking to even see. And regardless of how competitive our league is, you never want to see something like that, especially for someone who was having the year he was having. I think he was the leader for Defensive Player of the Year, 7.5 sacks (five) games in. I mean, he was dominant, leading the league in pressures. It’s just real sad to see the heart of their defense kinda gone like that."
Slay agreed: "You could see from the Lions that he’s for sure the heart of that team, the heartbeat. And to see him go down like that, that junk is sad, man, because he was having a year, like an All-Pro, Defensive Player (of the Year) type year."
Parsons said that "it’s hard to say who’s going to step up behind him, but that team is solid all-around. They got great scheme, finding ways to get guys one on one, blitzing, different type of line fronts and stuff like that. I think a lot of guys have a chance to really step up. But I would say to your point, the Dallas-Detroit rivalry is bigger than people think."