The recent decisions of former Detroit Lions players Carlton Davis and Kevin Zeitler to skip their new teams’ Organized Team Activities (OTAs) have sparked conversation—not just about their current teams, but about the culture they left behind in Detroit. Both players were active participants in the Lions’ offseason programs last year. Yet now, with Davis in New England and Zeitler in Tennessee, their absence from voluntary OTAs sends a subtle but powerful message about head coach Dan Campbell and the environment he has built in Detroit.
Dan Campbell has spent the past few seasons reshaping the Lions into a team known for toughness, accountability, and unity. Detroit’s rise from a struggling franchise to a playoff contender hasn’t just been about talent acquisition—it’s been about culture. That culture clearly made an impression on players like Davis and Zeitler, who chose to be fully present in Detroit’s offseason work. Their current absence from OTAs elsewhere could indicate a difference in motivation or buy-in with their new teams.
