Detroit Lions Dec 3, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the Detroit Lions helmet during warmups before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

If you’re on the Internet and don’t want to be gotcha’d for something, we suggest not leaving a paper trail. That especially counts if you’re willing to make a wager on something. For example, before the NFL season started, you didn’t buy into a team’s hype. So, you went online and said that you felt this way, and you felt so much conviction that you offered up a friendly wager. One Minnesota Vikings blog learned this lesson the hard way on Christmas, as the Detroit Lions apparently kept receipts.

There was a lot of hype on the Lions’ shoulders going into the season. After ending last year on a lengthy winning streak, Detroit was out to prove they weren’t the “same old Lions.” Christmas came a day early for Lions fans in Michigan as they won the NFC North with a 30-24 win over the Vikings.

On August 4, 2023, the Vikings Central blog apparently had enough of the talk. They said, “If the Lions win the division, I’ll buy a Jared Goff jersey to the Vikigns home opener in 2024. It ain’t happening.”

Flash forward four months and three weeks and… it DID happen. Against all odds, Detroit won the NFC North for the first time ever. The last time they won a division title, the NFC North was nine years away from existing. In the 1993 NFL season, Detroit won the NFC Central Division, once formerly popularized as the “Black and Blue Division” for its hard-hitting affairs.

While they continued to celebrate their early Christmas present, the Lions poked some fun at the blog. They apparently caught wind of the post, because they quoted the blog and included a handy link.

The link would proceed anyone who clicks on it to the Detroit Lions’ Shop, specifically for a men’s Jared Goff jersey.

What’s Christmas without a little light trolling anyway?

[Vikings Central, Lions]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022