Dan Campbell complains about cutting Don Muhlbach on his 40th birthday: Im an (expletive)

The cut of ALLEN PARK-Don Muhlbach, who has played the second most games in Detroit Lions history, was a surprise. Cutting Don Muhlbach on his 40th birthday, just moments after he was given rocking chairs during locker room parties with his teammates, was especially important.

Head coach Dan Campbell said timing was inevitable, but he still regrets that he gave the legendary long button hook this way.

There is no way to coat the sugar.-I am (empty), Campbell said in a dull moment of introspection before Thursday’s exercises. That’s the best way to express it. It is (business), but there is no way around it. I mean, yes, you can say it’s (business), but in the end it belongs to me. That’s my fault, and Dons is the dick of hell, and that’s shit. That’s what it is.

Muhlbach joined Lions as a replacement for injuries in 2004, but was so good that he left his job for nearly two decades. He played 260 games in Lions, following only Jason Hanson in club history and ranked 37th on the all-time games list. He ranks second in games played by the long snapper and eighth among players who have not been drafted.

He played the most anonymous positions in the games, but he became a kind of cultural phenomenon in Detroit because of his relentless consistency year after year. He became a double Pro Bowler, a three-time captain, and has still not missed a match since December 20, 2009.

But Muhlbach began to show his age in recent years, and not just in gray, which now highlights his beard. His clicks remained consistent, but he had more trouble getting down the field. Lions chose to move from him on Friday night after the opening of the anti-Buffalo pre-season, after which they were forced to move on Tuesday when Nick Williams decided to leave the COVID list. A pending addition by David Blough and outside lineup player Rashod Berry.

So Campbell made the difficult choice to call Muhlbach upstairs and let him know the news, even though it crashed just moments after the locker room party in honor of his 40th birthday.

There were several moves, like Nick coming down the wire, to get him back from the COVID reserve and as a line builder and then as a quarterback because we were there, said Campbell, who has played three seasons with Muhlbach since 2006-08. was supposed to be his birthday and it stinks.