Allen Park — A different kind of football news made its way stateside Wednesday, and it has a handful of Detroit Lions players excited.
Global soccer superstar Lionel Messi, fresh off his World Cup victory with Argentina this past winter, has reportedly made the decision to sign for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF at season’s end.
“I mean, he’s arguably the best player of all time,” said Lions kicker Riley Patterson, who himself has a bit of experience in the game of soccer. “Messi’s been a stud forever. I remember having a Barcelona ball when I was growing up, and he was always the guy that you’d watch, because he was always the guy.
“For him to come over here to the states, it’s gonna be cool for a lot of people to see. I’m definitely gonna try and see him.”
Patterson won the National Premier Leagues (NPL) Champions Cup in 2013 with St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC, a program that has produced several U.S. Men’s National Team players, including Fulham defender Tim Ream, Norwich City forward Josh Sargent and Austin FC goalkeeper Will Bruin.
He said Messi’s move is “good for the MLS, good for the states to get some legitimacy to the United States soccer stuff.”
Messi signed for FC Barcelona as a youth player and stayed with the club through 2021. At one point, Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. was a Barcelona fan because of his relationship with Antoine Griezmann, who had a brief stint in Barcelona before returning to Atlético Madrid (which is now Jones’ favorite team).
“I still like Messi and all that he does,” Jones said. “(Soccer is) definitely my favorite sport. I don’t like watching any other sport. … Even football. I don’t really like watching football. I just like playing it. So, soccer is the only sport where I could go to a soccer match and really watch it, just to see the athleticism when the soccer ball’s in the air, the chants of the crowd; they’re into it the whole game.
“It’s an unbelievable experience and I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be to a lot of (Miami) matches. I know a lot of people in that organization, so it’ll be good.”
Lions linebacker Julian Okwara, a Miami resident who started watching soccer as a young boy in Nigeria, is “openly saying I’m a bandwagon fan now, so I’m going to be an Inter Miami fan,” he said upon learning the news after practice.
Though the NFL is growing in popularity worldwide, Okwara said he can’t even wrap his head around soccer fame, compared to American football.
“I’ll probably say Messi (is my No. 1 player of all time). When it comes to like, if I’m gonna play FIFA, I’m gonna look up who Messi’s team is, and I’m gonna pick that team, obviously,” Okwara said. “I mean, he’s different. I saw a crazy stat yesterday. He left (his former team, Paris Saint-Germain) yesterday and their Instagram followers went down like (a) million followers, it’s just super crazy.
“Never seen anything like that happen in (NFL) football.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi