Intro panda panda panda what does panda mean I like that call what we got here the fake oh no Alex no you're not going to pull that on Thor no I don't think [Music] so the Lions have completed their first few days of training camp and there is a ton of buzz in the air Unfortunately they suffered their first Serious injury of 2024 welcome back to the channel I am your host Johnny Gaz thank you for returning for another video we're going to get back into our unsung heroes but let's first dive into the recent news and notes coming out of lion's training camp let's [Music] Injuries go the biggest news of the day was the unfortunate injury to kicker Michael Badgley previous to the training camp session Thursday of this week in warm-ups he did suffer a torn hamstring that will now Force the Lions to put him on season ending IR leaving UFL St Jake Bates as the only kicker active on the Lions roster the lions in turn brought in four additional kickers to provide a little bit more competition to Jake Bates names such as Matt amandola Lucas havik Matthew mccraine and UFL standout from the St Louis battle Hawks Andre Schmidt who actually had a really good season in the UFL in 2023 along with Jake Bates and I think that's probably your main guy for the competition for Jake Bates moving forward here in training camp moving on from the injury jir Gibbs although he's still recovering from an injury coming off of last season has been putting in an additional amount of work in a wide receiver type roll even after the session ended um in one of the previous days this week he was working with Aman R st Brown on his releases and rout running trying to build off that excellent rookie season can you imagine if he added more additional wide receiver numbers to his already versatile skills last year he already had 52 receptions for 316 yards and one score three the air on top of that you had J Mo and Brian Branch excused from practice today for personal reasons so that really leaves now Michael Badgley now we know the season ending injury there you have DJ reer who has been doing light work on the side of training camp practice he's slowly recovering from his injuries and Christian mahogany the offensive lineman that they drafted this past off season has been suffering with an illness really ever since the start of training camp um but nothing too concerning there outside of the injury concerns the Lions today in training camp worked on their end zone drills seven on sevens and really the defense held their own they're really starting to show with that revamp secondary that they're able to compete now more with the offense here in training camp that continued with sort of the uh end of half session that they did today where the Lions start just inside their own 50 there's a minute 30 or so left on the clock and they got a try to drive and score again the defense the secondary really held their own that's nice to see there's a good competition going on for the third running back we know that last year Craig Reynolds filled in admirably as that third running back behind jir Gibbs and David Montgomery well this offseason the Lions drafted Utah standout C vaki who has been doing very well in training camp sessions he actually scored a touchdown today along with Craig Reynolds as part of that seven on seven End Zone drill so it'll be interesting to see kind of what they do at that third running back spot and if for some reason vaky doesn't take it does he still make the roster in a special teams or a safety type role starting the session today there was actually a scrap between linebacker Derek Barnes and tight end Brock Wright and Derrik Barnes has come out and said prior to the season that he's going to build off of the 2023 that he had you know the end of year in the playoffs where he really started to to show himself well he wants to get more aggressive in 2024 and it certainly started with the uh scrap there at the start of training camp and make sure it Like Subscribe sound right before we go any farther make sure to like the video If You Dig the vibe here at Johnny Gas Sports hitting the subscription button and the notify Bell is the best way to make sure you don't miss any future videos here on the channel I have a membership option available for you now and a ton of fun stuff planned for the regular season you don't want to miss out if you hit join on any of my videos I'll walk you through all the options you have to become part of the family I want to thank everyone that's become involved in the Channel all the likes the views the commenting it's been so much fun talking Lions football with you guys it's a true passion of mine and I love sharing it with you thank you guys so much for your time make sure to comment down below what do you think the Lions do at kicker is this Jake bat's job now to lose where do we see him going from here can the Lions defense continue to show themselves in training camp do you think the Lions have ultimately made the changes necessary to get to that next step to get to a Super Bowl let me know what you think in the comments down below let's dive in more into the unsung heroes for the lions in 2024 Alex Anzalone [Music] so let's get back into our topic for this week of training camp we talked about the unsung hero potentially for 2024 being wide receiver khif Raymond well let's jump to the other side of the Lions let's go on the defensive side and talk about a man who's also been with the organization for several seasons a man that has become a leader a captain and a true hero for this Lions defense I'm talking about linebacker Alex anzalone let's take it back Alex anzalone was born September 22nd 1994 and is originally from wyom missing Pennsylvania there he grew up with his two brothers and of course his parents and they have a strong family bond they teach the importance of academic excellence and striving to be your best very similar to a player we did a profile on not too long ago amanra St Brown Alex anzelone attended W missing High School from 2009 to 2012 where he turned himself into a fantastic football player running back fullback strong safety and of course outside linebacker he was the class daa senior Player of the Year in 2012 and an Under Armour and 247 Sports All-American he was a four or five-star recruit depending on the source that you checked he originally committed to the University of Notre Dame however they ended up losing the BCS National Championship that year and head coach Brian Kelly flirted with going to the NFL that caused Alex anzelone to decommit from Notre Dame and ended up attending the University of Florida there he spent time from 2013 to 2016 showing his size his athleticism and really becoming one of the better linebackers in college football however he had two season ending injuries in 2015 and 2016 he ended up declaring for the NFL draft after his red shirt Junior season and was picked in the third round 76th overall by the New Orleans Saints in that 2017 draft he played Four Seasons total for the Saints and overall accumulated 85 tackles 123 Solo four sacks and one interception in 20121 he joined Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn from coming over to the Saints over to the Detroit Lions at that time Alex anzalone received a one-year deal since then he's had career Seasons 2021 2022 and 2023 totaling 332 tackles 5 and a half sacks and two interceptions the line Lions rewarded Alex anzelone with a three-year extension this off season worth 18.75 million he's a captain on the defense in so many ways he controls the defense he plays every down and can go sideline to sideline he has been a key piece to the mid-season defensive turnarounds for the Lions the last several seasons and I think will be a cog to what the defensive turnaround will be in 20124 Lions players look up to him he's been a big reason in the development of the younger players Jack Campbell Malcolm Rodriguez the season before and again he's going to be a huge piece to why the Lions can take the next step and hopefully get to a Super Bowl he leads by example he's smart and he is truly a good human being I implore you to read the article that he wrote In The Players Tribune game he gives you an inside look into what it takes to overcome that to be a football player a husband a father it's really fantastic I'll post the link down in the description of this video definitely go check it out he's a great locker room guy he's a great family man and he's a great linebacker the stats prove it his teammates would tell you he's truly the most important piece on this defense he's been described as the LeBron James of the Detroit Lions that's a quote coming out of the Lions locker room what a fantastic compliment to be paid to a player Alex anzalone this season and everything he's done before has proven that he is a vital piece to the Lions organization and will be a huge part of their success in 2024 so much so that I'm confident to sit here and say he's turned himself into one of the top five linebackers in all of Outro football so what do you guys think is Alex anzalone as much as I've described to you here today is he an unsung hero and what can he be for the Lions moving forward do we trust what the Lions have done on defense do you think they can take the next step let me know Down Below in the comments love talking allance football with you guys all the recent action and interaction has been fantastic make sure to hit that like button on the video If You Dig the vibe here at Johnny Gas Sports we're going for 200 likes on today's video If you hit the subscription button and the notify Bell it's the best way to make sure you don't miss any future videos here on the channel thank you guys so much for your time make sure to take care of your mental health that's so important and I want to make sure I see you guys on future videos thank you again have a fantastic day [Music] it sound right boy