Anime fans, rejoice. You finally have a champion fighting on your behalf on Football Night in America. This is Jamal Williams, naruto fan and self-proclaimed “First Swagg Kazekage”.
Williams, running back for Detroit, has eliminated intros of all intros for the Lions’ season finale against hated rival Green Bay. In a showcase game like Sunday (or Monday) Night Football, the producers let starters introduce themselves, usually by name and alma mater. Williams, (who actually went to Brigham Young University) wore a personalized headband – engraved with the Detroit Lions crest – and revealed he was the “First Swagg Kazekage”, a title he claimed all the way back in july.
Perhaps even more interesting about this particular headband is the fact that it has a slash through the emblem. Usually this means that the Shinobi has left their village for some reason. Now, the Sand Village story doesn’t exactly match Williams’ time in Green Bay, so it doesn’t seem like he’s comparing himself to Gaara, but the idea of him using the symbol of the exiled Shinobi the week before that he’s playing his old team, which then switches to a new headband with the Lions logo, is nonetheless interesting and fun.
Additionally, he is the “Head of the Hidden Den Village”, which sounds like a play on the Lions nickname, as well as Detroit’s non-canonical addition to Naruto. list of hidden villages. Williams has worn Naruto headbands before, most recently in a postgame scrimmage after the Lions beat Chicago 41-10 on Jan. 10. During this appearance, he wore the emblem of the hourglass of the hidden village of sand.
Jamal Williams (@jswaggdaddy) is a treasure.
He doesn’t care if Aaron Rodgers talks badly about Lions. He just wants to play football and go home and play Pokémon. And don’t you dare mispronounce Pokémon. pic.twitter.com/Q0W7UtOGjt
— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) January 2, 2023
On Sunday night, he rushed the ball 16 times for 72 yards – and two touchdowns, to break the franchise single-season record held by none other than Hall of Fame tailback Barry Sanders (and the first star of the cover of Madden NFL). After the match, in a remarkably moving moment, he dedicated the performance and victory to his great-grandfather, who recently died at the age of 92.
And then he turned on the Packers and their media-fueled bandwagon.
“We Detroit Lions. Stop playing with us. I don’t even watch TV, but I heard everyone once preferred the Packers to us. Stop playing with us. That’s all I have to say, man. Don’t let those tears fool you. Everything revolves around this mug.
Detroit didn’t make the NFL playoffs. Their fate was sealed before kickoff when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams. But the win secured the team’s first winning season since 2017. And more importantly, the Lions knocked Aaron Rodgers and the Packers out of the playoffs, with their gloriously wicked 20-16 triumph.
