Pride of Detroit
Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta may have been limited to walkthroughs at OTAs and minicamp, but that isn’t stopping him from a trip down to Nashville for the sixth-annual Tight End University week of events.
Tight End University (or TEU) was founded by George Kittle, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen in 2021. Each year, some of the best tight ends descend upon Nashville for a week of fun, football, and sharing of knowledge. Here’s how their official website describes the annual summit.
Tight End University was created to bring the Tight End community together for an immersive three-day program. Over the course of the summit, attendees are able to bond, collaborate with, and learn amongst their peers while participating in a variety of activities including film study, on-field drills, recovery, rehabilitation, and more. In addition to current players, TEU also features several retired legends who provide attendees with the invaluable opportunity to learn from some of the best to ever play the game.”
This is far from the first time LaPorta has attended. He was there in 2023 for his rookie season, and got a huge compliment from Kelce while down there in 2024.
“Dude, LaPorta is a fuckin’ stud. LaPorta is nasty,” Kelce said. “Those Iowa guys. They’re all here. They’ve got it figured out.”
In the past, LaPorta has noted the value of surrounding himself with some of the best to ever do it for a few days.
“We got a YAC talk from (Rob) Gronk(owski). We got a pass game breakdown from (Travis) Kelce. He had run blocking from George (Kittle) too,” LaPorta said of his 2023 experience. “We got to operate around a bunch of guys that I grew up watching like Greg Olsen—he is intense —and Travis Kelce. Watching them break down tape and seeing how they operate on the field was really, really cool.”
On to the rest of your notes:
This week, we’re encouraging Lions fans to go over to The Feed and share who they think is an under-the-radar player for this season. It’s an outside-the-box choice, but I like the argument that 1951Lion made for Jameson Williams
We’ll be dropping ours soon, but if you want to look ahead to some 53-man roster predictions, Dave Birkett has one, as does Mike Payton.
Happy belated Father’s Day to Lions OL coach Hank Fraley, seen here being a Girl Dad supporting his daughter’s softball league:
Neat story here from John Niyo of The Detroit News on defensive end Ahmed Hassanein’s father’s journey to see him play football live for the first time.
Jack Campbell, a man of many emotions:
