'Every week I'm more proven right': Detroit Lions fan celebrates Super Bowl tattoo
Football fans often believe their favorite team has what it takes to win the Super Bowl every season. Some take it a step further and predict a championship win with permanent effect - specifically, a Super Bowl champion tattoo.
It's an annual tradition. Ahead of the 2018 NFL season, a Los Angeles Rams fan in Tempe, Ariz. got a tattoo predicting the Rams winning Super Bowl LIII. He came close as the Rams lost to the New England Patriots 13-3 in that game. The following summer, a Cleveland Browns fan got a "Super Bowl champs" tattoo on his leg. He wasn't as close; the Browns went 6-10 that year and missed the playoffs.
This year, Detroit Lions fan Alex Chepeska says he made a permanent prediction of his team winning its first Super Bowl title back in August. He's on track to be correct as the Lions face the San Francisco 49ers Sunday in the NFC championship game.
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"As soon as they didn't make the playoffs last year, basically, I was on board for this year and decided to get it," he told The Detroit News.
It was bold at the time. Ahead of the 2023 NFL season, the Lions hadn't made the playoffs in seven years. It'd been 32 years since they'd won a postseason game.
But head coach Dan Campbell and company had one of the best seasons in franchise history, going 12-5 in the regular season and winning playoff games against the Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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"About halfway through last season, I just really fell in love with Dan Campbell and the coaching and the team that Sheila (Ford Hamp) had put together," Chepeska said.
Steven Rodger Lemirand of B'z Ink Tattoo and Piercing Shop did the tattoo for Chepeska. He acknowledged that its one of the more unusual tattoos he's done but liked the idea behind it.
"He was wholeheartedly believing that they were gonna win way back in August," Lemirand said to The Detroit News. "At the end of the day, we're not really questioning what they're getting, unless it's something really bad or something like that, but he seemed really happy about it."
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The consecutive wins are building more confidence in Chepeska's prediction.
"In the incredibly, incredibly unlikely event that they don't win this year, I would just cross off 2024 and put 2025, and then maybe in 15 years, I'll have a full-sleeve," he said.
Even though he's just two wins away from a correct prediction, some others on social media aren't quite as confident in his choice.
"It felt like the right thing to do, and every week I'm more proven right," Chepeska said. "The team has proven itself over and over. It's the perfect team, it's the perfect team for this city. ... I really connect with the way these coaches act and the players are all responding."
Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone told local news outlet KKTV this is another example of Lions fans' unbelievable support.
“I mean a tattoo is a huge commitment. Obviously, you get it removed, but ... it’s awesome,” Anzaone said. “You can cement your name in history here and our opportunity is right in front of us.”
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2024 NFC Championship game: Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Lions and 49ers kick off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX to decide the NFC conference champion.