By Jef Rietsma
St. Joseph County was represented as part of the sellout crowd Thursday at Ford Field for the Detroit Lions’ annual Thanksgiving matinee game.
The Sturgis trio of season-ticket holders said considering the feel-good season the Lions have put together so far, attending the traditional Thanksgiving contest this year would go down as a highpoint of Detroit’s 2024 campaign.
Terra and Paul Draper, and her uncle, Terry Dykstra, were optimistic the Lions would up their season record to 11-1 with a win over Chicago Bears on Thursday.
“This is the second consecutive year we’ve been season-ticket holders and we had season tickets more than a decade ago, but this will be the first time we will have attended the Thanksgiving game,” Draper said, noting they sold their 2023 Thanksgiving game tickets to friends. “We’re taking our (two, teenage) daughters, as well, so we’re all really excited.”
In between their season tickets, the Drapers attended at least four or five games a season. That’s a testament to their devotion, as the Lions have fielded inept after inept teams during that period and long before it.
Their loyalty, however, has been rewarded. The Lions are now the hottest team in the NFL and home-game tickets sell at a hefty price on the secondary market.
“Oh, it has been a lot of fun this season, and actually last season, too … we got to go to the playoff games last year,” Draper said. “It was an unbelievable atmosphere and so awesome that we actually won both home playoff games.”
Draper, 48, said unlike when she and her 49-year-old husband had season tickets in the early 2010s, Ford Field now hosts sold-out games, pre-game tailgate parties are the rule and not the exception, and the game-day vibe in downtown Detroit is electric.
In fact, Lions home games used to draw more fans from the opposing team than those in support of the home squad.
For all the success Detroit has had this year and last, Draper recalls one game in particular and it occurred early in a forgettable 2-14 season. It was 2009, when she and her husband attended games on single tickets.
Draper said Detroit was coming off its infamous 0-16 season, so home-game tickets were cheap and plentiful.
“We were at the game where Detroit hosted Washington in Week 3 of the 2009 season and Detroit actually won,” she said. “It was their first win since the 2007 season and it was amazing to witness. The fans were going crazy. All the players came up to the guardrail and they were shaking hands with all the fans. It was unforgettable.”
Back to the current season, Draper said they park in a lot at Cass Tech High School. As she mentioned, pre-game tailgates are an event of their own and the camaraderie between fans is at an unprecedented level.
Draper acknowledged the Thanksgiving tickets would have fetched a handsome sum on the secondary market. Nonetheless, she said there was no thought put into giving them up.
“It’s actually the first Lions game ever for our (17- and 13-year-old) girls and it will go down, I’m sure, as a great Thanksgiving memory,” Draper said. “As for Thanksgiving dinner? We’ll get back to Sturgis early enough (Thursday) that we’ll sit down and have dinner with other family members.”
The downside to supporting a now-winning team? Draper said Detroit is scheduled for more prime-time games than it used to play. Those 8 p.m. starts often mean arriving back to St. Joseph County between 2 and 3 a.m.
She said their route to Detroit involves U.S. 12, I-69 and I-94, and the trek is a bit more than two hours one way.
Now, the big question. What happens if Detroit makes it to the Super Bowl? The contest is Feb. 9 in New Orleans. Draper said no question, they will purchase playoff tickets, which are priced close to face value of the regular-season tickets. If Detroit secures the coveted first-round bye, the Lions would host up to two home playoff games.
“As season-ticket holders, we get first access to purchase playoff tickets, and that’s something we would definitely do,” she said. “As for the Super Bowl? Nope. Not unless we were given tickets. I think the going rate for tickets, transportation and hotels is beyond $10,000.”
Her Uncle Terry, however, said he has not ruled out the possibility should Detroit advance to that stage – for the first time in franchise history, incidentally.
Dykstra, 69, said the likelihood of attending depends on whether he wins a lottery held for Detroit season-ticket holders, as the Lions would be allocated a certain number of tickets for their fans.
Meanwhile, his guest at the Jacksonville game earlier this month was David Conklin, a Three Rivers native who now lives in Florida.
Oh, and another perk of home games? Draper said she and her husband have amassed a nice collection of bobbleheads, given away as premiums at Ford Field.
Still, Draper admits nothing could top a regular season and playoff run that sees Detroit play for the Super Bowl.
“It would be a party in Michigan unlike anything the state has ever seen,” she predicted.
