Of of all the quotes and notes from all the different press conferences and radio row interviews I heard at the Super Bowl this week, I can't help but think back to comments Lions coach Jim Schwartz made on Thursday when he was asked how close the Lions are to playing in their first Super Bowl.
Schwartz's answer to the question was perfect.
"Things are crazy in the NFL," he said. "Last year, if we don't beat Tampa on that overtime field goal, Green Bay doesn't make the (Super Bowl). Rather than winning a Super Bowl, they aren't even in the playoffs last year, so how close were they?
"If the Giants don't beat the Cowboys in Week 17, they aren't here. So, how close were they?"
His point was simple. Get into the playoffs and anything can happen.
The Lions took an important step forward this year making their first playoff appearance in 12 years and, with a healthy 
Once they're in, anything can happen.
Being around the Giants and Patriots all week - particularly the Giants - it's hard not to think the Lions' time could be coming sometime soon.
I wrote earlier this week about the similarities between the Giants and Lions and I was reminded of them every time I talked to Eli Manning or Jason Pierre-Paul or Victor Cruz. The Giants are built to throw the football and rush the quarterback. It's the same formula the Lions are building in Detroit.
From a media perspective, though, a part of me will dread the week leading up to Super Bowl if the Lions ever make it.
Press conferences are overcrowded, radio row is a mad house, everyone wants access and media day is a circus.
I can see it now: I'm trying to ask Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford a football question for a Detroitlions.com feature on media day and I'll have to wait until the guy in a superhero costume from Nickelodeon is done asking him about his favorite cartoon (please remind me to pack a large bottle of aspirin).
After watching a relaxed Patriots coach Bill Belichick this week (relaxed enough to wear a pink shirt and blue jeans to a press conference), I'm also interested to see how Schwartz would handle the week.
Schwartz is a smart guy, and he gets the media, but how close to the vest will he play it? He's a Belichick protégé after all.
Being here, I can see right now how the media will flock to Lions players like safety
If the Lions make the Super Bowl, I hope for the players' sake that one of them doesn't have an injury ... say a high ankle sprain, for instance.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been asked approximately 2,372 ankle questions over the last six days. I'm sure
The week has been an experience, certainly, and if the Lions continue on the same path they've been on, then maybe sometime soon I'll be covering it from a little different perspective.
That would certainly be an experience.
