The news got to the Lions through dribs and drabs.
The first piece of information passed along to team president Rod Wood came Tuesday, with the NFL letting Detroit know it wouldn’t be in an international game. On Wednesday morning, Wood was told that one Lions game would be announced Thursday morning, ahead of the full schedule release. And then came the schedule in full, later in the day Wednesday, with that top line being of most interest.
The one catch was the security around it. Wood needed two or three passwords to get to it, and when he did, the file itself was locked up like Fort Knox—he couldn’t print it, nor could he forward it to anyone else. Which only added to the moment he was about to have, in calling third-year coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes to his office.
