Lions News: Meet the team trainer of 45 years who just retired

Between free company and the looming NFL draft simply over a month away, most of our Detroit Lions-centric studying includes the long run.

That’s why I believed you’d get pleasure from taking a break and trying out a profile on Joe Recknagel — an athletic coach for the Lions for a whopping 45 years.

After being with the Lions since a 1977 summer season internship, Recknagel lastly retired final month, having labored greater than 800 video games for the workforce. In an interview with The Blade’s Mark Monroe, the 68-year-old displays on a few of his most impactful reminiscences with the franchise.

Recknagel’s mission was primary in concept, something however in execution — get or preserve the gamers wholesome sufficient to play every week.

“Any job comes with the great and the dangerous. However you see some guys notice that their profession is over. if it’s a devastating damage. With Mike [Utley] we knew straight away one thing was not proper,” Recknagel instructed The Blade, referencing a former Lion who suffered an damage in 1991 so dangerous he would grow to be paralyzed from the chest down. “That’s actually robust to see these guys get damage. I nonetheless speak to Mike and he’s doing effectively, all issues thought-about.”

As he mentioned, there’s each good and dangerous. The nice: Barry Sanders. Recknagel recalled watching Sanders’ first recreation from the sidelines, and a number of other different huge moments in his profession.

“I appeared over there and all these guys had been clapping for Barry’s transfer. No kidding, the opponent was clapping. I can’t examine Barry with Billy Sims or (Jahmyr) Gibbs or (David) Montgomery. They’re completely different guys. They’re all very particular working backs,” he mentioned.

In the remainder of the interview, Recknagel goes on to elucidate the distinction between playoffs at Ford Area versus the Pontiac Silverdome, how particular the workforce’s resurgence has been after he watched a long time of failure, and why he thinks the Lions have struggled to win a Tremendous Bowl. It’s a profile I feel any true lifelong Lions fan will get pleasure from.

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