Shrouded in secrecy and guarded around-the-clock, Detroit's new logo was still somehow leaked to the public via a toy advertisement on NFLshop.com. You don't expect that from a well-oiled machine like the Lions' front office.
Proving emphatically that investigative sports journalism is not dead, John Niyo, reporting from the NFL Meetings in Dana Point, Calif., spotted a collectible toy truck on the NFL site with a new Lions' logo on the side. Could this be an official switch from the pouncing silhouette we have come to love through so many Home Improvement reruns?
Although MLive may have reported it first. Dig the new lettering.
Anyway, by early this afternoon, the toy truck had been pulled from the NFL site. Lions' personnel were tight-lipped about the logo; more so, curiously, than they have been about their potential No. 1 draft pick.
"We understand and genuinely appreciate the incredible interest surrounding this issue from both the fans and the media," Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said Tuesday at the NFL owners' meetings. But beyond that, the team had no comment, declining to either confirm or deny the authenticity of the new logo.
A logo revamp was imminent, of course: If you're coming off an 0-16 season, the first thing you want to do is re-brand. That'll make the fans forget that last season even existed! But personally, I was expecting something more like this below. Bubbles! Nooo!
Collectible Features New Lions Logo [Detroit News]
And The Winner Of The Dtroit Lions New Logo Is ... [MLive]