After watching his former Alabama teammates Eli Ricks, Tyler Steen, and Byron Young win Super Bowl rings in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, Detroit cornerback Terrion Arnold sent a message to Lions fans.
“We are going to get ours, Detroit,” Arnold posted on social media, with a ring emoji accompanying the message.
For most of the 2024 NFL season, it seemed like the Lions might get theirs that year.
After reaching the NFC Championship Game in the 2023 season, Detroit finished with the best record in the conference at 15-2 during the 2024 regular season. However, after earning the first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, the Lions were defeated 45-31 by the Washington Commanders in their postseason opener.
Arnold was drafted by Detroit on April 25 as the 24th overall pick.
Although he missed one game, Arnold was among the five rookies who played over 900 defensive snaps during the 2024 regular season and played all 75 snaps in the Lions’ playoff loss on Jan. 18.
“We knew it wouldn’t be too much for him mentally,” Detroit general manager Brad Holmes said about Arnold at his season-ending press conference. “He’s a highly confident kid. He had some ups and downs early in the season, but showed aggressiveness, which is a good thing. He never showed any timidity. All those snaps he played will help him moving forward.
“You could tell he struggled a bit early, but then he started to settle in as the season progressed. We have very high expectations for him moving forward. We all know how he’s wired. He’s long, athletic, has great instincts, is tough, and tackles well. Those reps are only going to boost his confidence even more.”
In the first four games of the season, Arnold was penalized for defensive pass interference five times, defensive holding twice, and a face mask once. In the remaining 14 games, he was penalized just three times, and due to an injury to former Auburn star Carlton Davis, he ended up playing the most snaps at cornerback for the Lions this season.