{"id":845215,"date":"2026-09-12T11:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T11:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/845215\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T11:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T11:24:19","slug":"people-process-perspective-how-jack-campbell-proved-the-lions-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/845215\/","title":{"rendered":"People, process, perspective: How Jack Campbell proved the Lions right"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2014 Out of uniform and out of his comfort zone, about a week before the chaos ensues, Jack Campbell could, and probably should, be doing just anything else with his time.<\/p>\n

With his season around the corner and so few days off remaining, it\u2019s understandable to suggest as much. And yet, his black Ford pickup truck pulls into a parking lot in Metro Detroit at the agreed-upon time of 8 a.m. ET on the first Saturday of September. Out hops Campbell to greet the reporter standing before him and settle in for a 90-minute conversation on a subject that, if it were up to him, he\u2019d never have to discuss.<\/p>\n

Himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why I get uncomfortable when the focus is me,\u201d Campbell says during our interview.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that talking to media is, um, lower on the list of job perks for Campbell. But fresh off the most transformative season of the All-Pro linebacker\u2019s career, the focus on him has never been greater. So when a story to discuss it all was pitched to him in January, hoping to dive into the year that was, Campbell agreed and made good on his word. It\u2019s what he does.<\/p>\n

You see, Campbell is, in fact, a people person. Just not in the traditional sense. His rough exterior and no-nonsense approach tend to typecast him as a football machine devoid of personality or emotion. Some of it is of his own volition.<\/p>\n

Jack Campbell recalls what his NFL Draft experience was like<\/p>\n

Colton Pouncy<\/p>\n

When Campbell was a rookie in 2023, a smile from him was so rare that his then-position coach Kelvin Sheppard had to ask if he enjoys this life. \u201cShepp, it ain\u2019t you,\u201d Sam LaPorta, Campbell\u2019s college roommate and now NFL teammate, would tell him. \u201cHe\u2019s been like that.\u201d During a joint practice that year with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Campbell accidentally took down running back JaMycal Hasty in a non-padded practice. He claims Hasty tripped, but that didn\u2019t stop Jaguars players from leaving the sideline to approach Campbell about it. The rookie was unfazed. \u201cI mean, I\u2019ll stand on the sideline and face whoever,\u201d Campbell said after practice. \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t really care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following year, after a physical practice against the New York Giants in which several fights broke out, Campbell\u2019s right glove was soaked in blood after a tackle attempt. \u201cI\u2019ve had tougher practices at Iowa,\u201d Campbell said with a straight face. And against the Baltimore Ravens last September, Campbell took a cleat to the mouth in an act of friendly fire, gushing blood for the rest of the game. He continued to call the defense, as a Joker-like laceration formed across his mouth that later required stitches. \u201cHe\u2019s at the end of the game trying to call plays, and blood\u2019s spitting out everywhere,\u201d Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said. Jack didn\u2019t get what all the fuss was about.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople try to make it seem like it\u2019s super tough,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 All you gotta do is be able to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are vignettes of the tone-setter the Lions drafted Campbell to be. Just don\u2019t mistake his stoicism for apathy.<\/p>\n

He cares. Deeply. Not so much about the people who thought the Lions reached to select him with the 18th pick in the 2023 draft. He has thoughts on them. We\u2019ll get to that later.<\/p>\n

Rather, Campbell cares about the people who were there in the early stages of this journey. About the people who molded him along the way. About the people who\u2019ve invested in him long enough to have seen the returns. About the people in Michigan who support him and his team each Sunday, and the people he\u2019ll spend his Sundays with decades from now \u2014 when it\u2019s all said and done.<\/p>\n

Spend some time with the man behind the helmet, and he\u2019ll tell you what this is all about.<\/p>\n

Ask Campbell about his hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and he\u2019ll tell you about the relationships he built there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He begins by thanking his immediate and extended family, for the sacrifices they made and the way he was raised. He takes a moment to shout out his best friends from back home, retracing steps in his mind, hoping not to leave anyone out. They know who they are.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the people who make it special.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a town where everyone knows everyone because it\u2019s so big,\u201d Campbell says, \u201cbut I would say it\u2019s a town where if you were ever in need of help, people would lend a hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see this instilled in Campbell, both then and now. In high school, Campbell befriended a student named Will Reinart. A fellow Cedar Falls native, Reinart was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when he was 9 years old. Years of chemotherapy. A stroke that forced him to miss time and school and even relearn how to walk.<\/p>\n

Building friendships was sometimes difficult for Reinart, given the circumstances. It wasn\u2019t with Campbell.<\/p>\n

A budding linebacker at Cedar Falls High, Campbell heard Reinart\u2019s story and offered his support. He\u2019d carry Reinart\u2019s books to class, walk with him in the hall, talk sports with him; he even helped the school raise money for a Coaches Against Cancer fundraiser. Reinart, in turn, gave Campbell a bracelet that read, \u201cWILL POWER,\u201d with the Bible verse John 3:16.<\/p>\n

Campbell wore it every day. All the way to the NFL.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Campbell and Reinart were set to graduate. Campbell walked with the rest of his classmates, but Reinart had to miss the ceremony. A school counselor planned a mini-graduation just for Reinart and enlisted Campbell to help spread the word to students. They held it in the high school\u2019s auditorium. Members of the band played \u201cPomp and Circumstance,\u201d as Reinart took the stage in his red graduation gown and a walker. A turnout of a few dozen would\u2019ve sufficed. A few hundred came.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe worked his whole life to get to walk across the stage, and then he wasn\u2019t able to with everybody,\u201d Campbell recalled. \u201cGetting to be there, and see that the kids in your grade care enough to come and pay respect to the journey and the battle that he went through to get to walk across that stage, \u2026 it\u2019s something that I\u2019ll honestly never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Will Reinart is such an important name to Jack Campbell<\/p>\n

Colton Pouncy<\/p>\n

During the 2019 season, his first at Iowa, Campbell stayed in touch with Reinart, who was studying biology at Hawkeye Community College and hoped to become a physician. Before or after a game, he\u2019d check his phone and could typically find an endearing message from Reinart \u2014 an Iowa superfan who now got to root for a close friend. Campbell was primarily a special teams contributor back then, but those words of encouragement meant the world to him as he navigated life in the Big Ten.<\/p>\n

One day, those messages stopped. In January 2020, Reinart died. A devastating loss for the community.<\/p>\n

Campbell was a pallbearer at Will\u2019s funeral, at the request of Reinart\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my perspective, Jack took Will under his wing,\u201d Susan Reinart, Will\u2019s mother, told Hawkeye Headquarters years ago<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s just a down-to-earth kid who has a big heart and cares about people, and uses his talent to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to be there to have a genuine friendship with him and let him know that I\u2019m there for him,\u201d Campbell said. \u201c\u2026 To get to be a pallbearer in his funeral was just a huge honor, and something I\u2019ll never forget. The lessons that I learned from Will and everything that went down throughout that time period, I hold with me throughout my daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n

All he had to do was look to his wrist for a reminder. It served him well at Iowa.<\/p>\n

Kirk Ferentz once said if he had five Jack Campbells, they\u2019d be his three starting linebackers and two starting defensive ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if the defensive ends are gonna be eating too much on third downs,\u201d Campbell said, flashing his self-deprecating sense of humor. \u201cBut I appreciate that Coach believes in me that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell can laugh about it these days, but there was a time when he wasn\u2019t sure if he\u2019d ever play meaningful snaps at Iowa. Many top high school recruits these days commit to schools expecting to start as true freshmen and hit the league in three years. Campbell was realistic.<\/p>\n

He understood there was a process to it all. Iowa made sure of it.<\/p>\n

Ferentz and his staff have a long track record of development, often boasting about their best success stories during team meetings. Campbell can recite the names like a party trick: Dallas Clark. Brad Banks. Brandon Scherff. Josey Jewell. Chad Greenway. Abdul Hodge. Christian Kirksey. Anthony Hitchens. James Morris. Bob Sanders. Robert Gallery.<\/p>\n

When the proof of concept is so readily available, you can\u2019t help but aspire to be next in line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot to be a football player there, just because they expect so much out of you,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cSometimes, that\u2019s a process, and a lot of kids don\u2019t like it. But man, the University of Iowa just does a fantastic job at developing people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

\n Campbell set out goals for each season at Iowa. After playing mostly special teams as a freshman, he earned All-America honors as a senior and won the Butkus Award. (Scott Taetsch \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Each season, Campbell wrote goals for himself. Realistic ones. Iowa strength coaches asked each player to write theirs down for the weight room every year. Campbell took it a step further and applied it to his career.<\/p>\n

As a freshman, that goal was contributing on special teams. Done. As a sophomore, he just wanted a role on defense. Box checked. As a junior, he aspired to win the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year award. He didn\u2019t win. At least, not that year. He reassessed and went to work.<\/p>\n

Extra film study, longer hours in the weight room, more questions asked in meetings, coming to practice hoping to get better at one thing each day entering his final year \u2014 the way the Iowa greats before him did it.<\/p>\n

The accolades tell the story. Unanimous All-American. Big Ten Linebacker of the Year. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Butkus Award winner, as the best linebacker in college football. William V. Campbell Trophy winner \u2014 known as the academic Heisman. That one came with bragging rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love bringing that up to my wife,\u201d Campbell says, laughing. \u201cShe gets so mad when she thinks she outsmarts me. I\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m the academic Heisman. I\u2019m probably right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He might not have learned the phrase \u201chappy wife, happy life\u201d at Iowa, but Campbell learned just about everything else there. It\u2019s where he learned about run fits and gaps, coverage variations based on formations and cut splits, pre-snap reads, situational football \u2014 all of it.<\/p>\n

These days, you can add Campbell to the long list of players Ferentz points to as an example of the process at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the finest players I\u2019ve ever worked with in my entire career,\u201d Ferentz said of Campbell. \u201cHe\u2019s just a really exceptional human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the notion that he\u2019s too serious, Campbell scoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m a robot,\u201d he says. \u201cYup, I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can tell a part of him doesn\u2019t love it. Because it\u2019s not true. He feels and thinks and internalizes like the rest of us.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no better example of that than draft night.<\/p>\n

As the draft neared in the spring of 2023, friends and family would ask Campbell when he expected to be selected. He told them he\u2019d probably be a mid-round pick. Behind the scenes, Campbell\u2019s agent informed him he could sneak into the first round.<\/p>\n

On April 23, 2023, around 9:06 p.m. at his draft party in Cedar Falls, Campbell and his family watched Roger Goodell announce the 16th pick. That\u2019s when his phone rang.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t think much of it. He didn\u2019t recognize the area code. But he stepped outside on the front porch, away from the noise, and answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Jack. It\u2019s Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions,\u201d\u00a0Campbell heard on the other end. He knew what came next.<\/p>\n

The Lions informed Campbell, an off-ball linebacker, that he would be their selection at No. 18. It was higher than even he anticipated. Campbell quickly returned to his draft party and relayed the info to his family. The room erupted. Campbell celebrated a dream realized.<\/p>\n

Until he watched the broadcast evaluate the pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get announced on TV,\u201d Campbell recalls. \u201cAll the commentators, I just remember they\u2019re like, \u2018Once you get outside of Pick 15, you never know what\u2019s gonna happen.\u2019 Pretty much saying, \u2018We like the kid, but I don\u2019t know what Detroit\u2019s thinking.\u2019 There was some other stuff said that I\u2019ll always hold dearly, just because I feel like it\u2019s pushed me to get to where I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

\n Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, left, and GM Brad Holmes, far right, posed with their first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. (Kirthmon F. Dozier \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

To this day, Campbell doesn\u2019t quite understand the rhetoric. Most of the critiques had nothing to do with his talent or skill. It was simply the position he played, and where the Lions took him. Something about positional value. You might remember the discourse.<\/p>\n

On what was supposed to be one of the best nights of his life, Campbell couldn\u2019t avoid it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can get a great football player that\u2019s going to help your team, why would you not?\u201d Campbell asks. \u201cA receiver, edge, offensive tackle \u2014 why would you risk taking, at 18, the third- or fourth-best player at that position when you can get arguably the best player at a different position? I don\u2019t know why people don\u2019t prioritize good football players.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lions did in that draft, with their selections of Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 and Campbell at No. 18.<\/p>\n

They knew what Campbell was about. The stories of his upbringing. How he didn\u2019t cut corners in college. The type of player he was and the type of person they\u2019d be getting. They\u2019ve never regretted it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, what are we trying to accomplish?\u201d Lions GM Brad Holmes said that night. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to win games. That\u2019s why we acquire these players. \u2026 We didn\u2019t acquire an inside linebacker in the first round \u2014 we acquired a legit anchor to elevate our defense in the first round. That\u2019s what the ultimate goal is, and that\u2019s what our vision is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two months after the draft, a man from a neighboring town in Iowa \u2014 the father of a kid Campbell played basketball against in high school \u2014 printed out a draft article, placed it in a children\u2019s book about dreaming big, and mailed it to Campbell.<\/p>\n

He was \u2026 confused. The article graded his selection an \u201cF\u201d \u2014 again citing positional value.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, man. Why is he sending me this? I don\u2019t need to see this,\u201d\u00a0Campbell thought.<\/p>\n

But remember, the people in this town lend a hand to their own. The book came with a written message, one that reminds Campbell why he does this.<\/p>\n

\u201cShow them what you\u2019re all about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A self-described introvert, Campbell would probably be content spending his Sundays with his loved ones on a few acres of land, enjoying a Busch Light somewhere in the heart of Iowa. If he weren\u2019t living this life, he says, he\u2019d be the exact same person. He just so happens to be quite good at this football thing.<\/p>\n

The NFL finally noticed last year.<\/p>\n

Campbell is coming off of what was undoubtedly the best season of his career. He ranked second in the NFL with 176 tackles to go along with five sacks and three forced fumbles. He made his first Pro Bowl appearance and was named a First-Team All-Pro. He became the fifth player to win both the college Butkus Award (2022) and the professional Butkus Award (2025). He earned a spot in the NFL\u2019s top-100 rankings, where his peers spoke glowingly of him. He won the Pro Football Writers of America Detroit chapter\u2019s \u201cGood Guy\u201d award, honoring the player who shows the most professionalism, cooperation and help to reporters during the season. In July, Campbell and his wife, Megan, welcomed their son into the world. Just this week, for the first time in his NFL career, Campbell was voted a team captain by his peers.<\/p>\n

And, of course, Campbell signed a four-year, $81 million contract extension<\/a> this offseason \u2014 perhaps the greatest sign that he\u2019s exactly where he\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t about proving them wrong,\u201d Campbell said at a news conference to announce the deal. \u201cI feel like, for me, it was proving the people that believed in me right.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Campbell\u2019s career has taken off, his coaches and teammates acknowledge this isn\u2019t the same player who never smiled as a rookie. An admitted deep thinker, Campbell can now look back and admit he was in his head back then. He had to process everything before the process could begin.<\/p>\n

These days? His teammates see his personality, his ability to laugh at himself, his sarcasm, his dry wit. They see his improvement, mirroring his time at Iowa. They see his work ethic and his trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing Hall of Fame stuff now,\u201d Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill told The Athletic. \u201cHe\u2019s trying to reach that type of level now because he\u2019s already one of those guys. He\u2019s on his way there, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that Jack says, people listen,\u201d Dan Campbell said. \u201cHe\u2019s earned that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some things have changed, while others haven\u2019t. Campbell has newfound perspective after his son\u2019s birth. On one of the final days of training camp, Campbell, his wife and son, his family and others lingered on the practice field, posing for photos to commemorate the moment. He wants to be the best version of himself for his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the bad days when I come home, seeing him, it changes everything,\u201d Campbell says. \u201cIt\u2019s just been the best. It\u2019s been the greatest change for my wife and I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite a year of accolades and individual success, the most-coveted trophy in Campbell\u2019s possession is one you\u2019ve never heard about. It\u2019s called the Golden Spurs Award \u2014 given annually to the Campbell family member who shoots the turkey with the biggest spurs. You can leave Iowa, but Iowa never leaves you.<\/p>\n

Now that he\u2019s firmly established himself in the league, Campbell \u2014 a people person through and through \u2014 is focused on the people of Detroit. He says his time in the city has been fantastic, and reminds him of home. He sees how much folks love football here. How deeply they care.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust all the stories of people coming up to me, telling me that they\u2019ve been Lions fans their whole life and wish that their parents were still here to see it,\u201d Campbell says. \u201cComing up at a gas station and being like, \u2018You changed my life.\u2019 It\u2019s so crazy that football can do that to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for me, it\u2019s like: How can I bring a Super Bowl to Detroit? How can I do everything in my power, with every waking second inside and outside of the building, to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

When people are your motivation, this life is always enjoyable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 Out of uniform and out of his comfort zone, about a week before the chaos ensues,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1810,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-845215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-detroit-lions","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}