Some might call it a jinx, but with each passing week the Lions advance in the National Football League playoffs, Chepeska’s premonition isn’t looking so crazy.
“I was pretty, pretty worried after week one (after getting the tattoo).
Like, is everyone going to blame me for jinxing this? But we’ve won two pretty big games, so I’m over that,” Chepeska said.
“Now when we win, I assume I’ll have a statue right next to the Barry Sanders one out there.”
About halfway through last season, I just really fell in love with Dan Campbell and the coaching and the team that Sheila (Ford Hamp) had put together,” Chepeska said. “As soon as they didn’t make the playoffs last year, basically, I was on board for this year and decided to get it.”
Steven Rodger Lemirand, the artist at B’z Ink Tattoo and Piercing Shop in Troy who gave Chepeska his ink, said it was the first time he had seen anything like it.
“It’s definitely … going down in the books as one of the more unusual (tattoos),” said Lemirand, who has been doing tattoos since 2000. “It’s the only thing I’ve done like that in the whole time I’ve been doing this.”
Lemirand liked that Chepeska’s tattoo was predicting something positive.
“He was wholeheartedly believing that they were gonna win way back in August,” Lemirand said.
“At the end of the day, we’re not really questioning what they’re getting, unless it’s something really bad or something like that, but he seemed really happy about it.”
Chepeska got the tattoo in August, and at this point, he isn’t concerned about jinxing the team.
He said he believes his complete and utter faith in the Lions may even be helping them in the postseason.
“It felt like the right thing to do, and every week I’m more proven right,” Chepeska said.
“The team has proven itself over and over. It’s the perfect team, it’s the perfect team for this city. … I really connect with the way these coaches act and the players are all responding.”
When the Lions win, Chepeska joked that he should open a psychic business.
“I might have to put a 2025 under it after they win … or get the Pistons going,” Chepeska said.
Getting a team’s basic logo is a more common way to show support, Lemirand said.
He’s already seen more interest in Lions-themed tattoos this season and the shop, for the first time, is considering developing more team designs for customers to consider.
“We’re probably gonna drop a whole bunch of Lions flash,” Lemirand said, referring to tattoo designs to show potential customers.
“We’ll have a lot more options and then we kind of view what’s out there and try and do stuff that, potentially not everybody else is doing, something a little more customized and original.”
After a 66-year drought, the Lions are set to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the NFC championship game.
The winner will advance to the Super Bowl, a title game that didn’t exist the last time the Lions competed for a national championship in 1957.
Chepeska’s dedication has never wavered, and the tattoo was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Alex Chepeska, front-center, shows off his Detroit Lions Super Bowl champs tattoo with friends.
“As soon as they didn’t make the playoffs last year, basically I was on board for this year and decided to get it,” he said.
