Allyson Dykhuizen

Jason Hanson was the one consistent shining light through the darkness that was being a Detroit Lions fan throughout my childhood and into adulthood. He played his entire 21-year career as kicker for the Lions, and whenever those truly horrible teams got anywhere near field goal range he got them 3 points! So the final score would be 24-3 and not 24-0.

In 2007 I was living in Chicago and got a pity invite to join my office fantasy football league AND WON! My Chicago Bears fan coworkers found a Jason Hanson trading card to give me with my cash reward, probably as a joke--but the joke was on them because I loved that thing. I taped it next to my desk where it lived until I left that job to start my own business. Seeing Jason every day was a reminder that I can do anything I put my mind to, and that being the underdog is a powerful motivator.

After a few moves that card got tucked here or there and hadn’t been seen in a long time, but I thought about it a lot last season when the Lions made it to the NFC Championship Game. Before last season it was such a weird choice to be a Lions fan, and then all of a sudden all of these other Michigan transplants were everywhere, wearing their Lions hats and sweatshirts! We’d lock eyes on the street like, “WE DID IT!”

Digging through that Stuff You Don’t Know What To Do With Cabinet recently, under old tax filings and years of birthday cards, I finally unearthed my checkbook and safely tucked inside there it was! A Topps Fantasports Jason Hanson Lions card from 1993. “Jason Hanson,” the card reads, “drafted in the second round by the Detroit Lions last year, did not disappoint the Silverdome fans,” SILVERDOME! Be still my HEART! “going 15 for 15 from inside the 45-yard line.”

Casting my checkbook aside I quickly restored that card to its rightful place of prominence near my desk, next to my grandfather’s obituary (who died during a season the Lions only won 6 games), on top of a picture from my wedding. Welcome back, Jason!