There’s a bit of a local flair to the Detroit Lions’ 2026 NFL draft so far, and that’s thrilling for one college team, and potentially very upsetting for another, depending how settled into the rivalry lore fans of said school might be.
The state of Michigan’s NFL team didn’t just draft two former Michigan football players with two of its top three picks, it went even a bit further, adding insult to injury if you’re a diehard Michigan State fan. Naturally, MSU fans aren’t exactly genteel about their in-state rival, so for the Lions’ social media team to celebrate the picks of edge rusher Derrick Moore (second round) and linebacker Jimmy Rolder (fourth round) with this:
. . . it’s likely not terribly good for Spartan morale. However, the maize and blue faithful, of course, are all about it.
Still, such open hostility (jestfully) wasn’t going to go unnoticed by the official Michigan State football social media account, showing just how much openly embracing all things Wolverines upsets those over in East Lansing. Thus, MSU’s retort was to show Lions head coach Dan Campbell shaking hands with Pat Fitzgerald, the new head coach of the Spartans, in the Breslin Center.
It’s all fun and games, at least for the social media administrators. (For the rival fans, it’s probably not as fun.)
There’s even a bit of internal strife within Allen Park with all of the Michigan selections, and the posters united under ‘one pride’ are having a bit of open warfare.
It’s always great to see rivalries expressed all in good fun, not fully encumbered by vitriol and lashing out, as we often see among the Michigan-MSU-Ohio State of it all.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: The Detroit Lions troll Michigan State after picking two Wolverines
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
