ALLEN PARK, Mich. — It was over for a few minutes when Jim Caldwell gathered his team in the locker room inside U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. He praised his team’s effort. Told them they won a game that “wasn’t pretty.” Then he invited Haloti Ngata to the middle of the gathering of Detroit Lions coaches and players.
They were about to give out the game ball — and Ngata was the player chosen to make the announcement. He, after all, understood what Steve Longa had been through.
“Losing both my parents at a young age, Steven Longa, this is for you, buddy,” Ngata said in a video posted on the team website. Then Longa came from the back of the locker room, his head down, to claim the ball.
It had been a tragic week for Longa. On Thursday, his father, Etienne, was killed when he was struck by a SUV in Pennsylvania. Longa was not with the team Friday, excused to be with his family as they grieved the sudden death of his father.
He came back to the team in time for Sunday’s game against Minnesota, where he had two defensive tackles and two special teams tackles. After an injury to Paul Worrilow, he was forced into a larger role. Despite the grief, he played one of the better games of his young career.
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