(WXYZ) — It's the Detroit fan reaction that's being shared all over the world. At the end of Sunday's Detroit Lions home playoff game, cameras zoomed in on one man in particular who was moved to tears.
That man – Arron Wikaryasz – was overcome with emotion at the end of the game. It was the Lions first playoff victory in over 32 years.
Wikaryasz tells us there's so much more than the game that went into him being moved to tears.
"There are people who say, ‘I can’t believe this guy is crying over a football game,’ and that’s true. It’s funny to cry over a football game, but it was more than that," Wikaryasz said.
The viral moment was a very personal one that was 21 years in the making for Wikaryasz.
Growing up in Grand Rapids, his dad, Joe Wikaryasz, brought him to every Detroit Lions game he could.
"My dad had season tickets in '99," Wikaryasz said. "Two tickets, that’s it, me and him, every home game."
An ironworker, Joe even helped build Ford Field. Joe dreamed of watching the Lions win a home playoff game at Ford Field with his son.
"'This is it. This is the year, Arron, this is the year,'" Wikaryasz said.
Joe repeated that phrase every year until 2004. At age 35, Joe's car slid under a semi-truck, killing him. Arron was only 14 at the time. Now, he's 35 himself.
"We buried him, we buried him in his Detroit Lions letter jacket, that’s how much he loved them," Arron said.
Now, maybe you understand the tears even more. Arron said when Jared Goff completed the final first down, he thought of his dad immediately.
"It was a full circle moment for me. I don’t know my dad as an adult, as a man, so it’s hard to connect in moments as of late, so being there, I can be 14 again," he said.
As Ford Field erupted, Arron knew what his dad would say: "This is the year, Arron, we finally got one."
"Your reaction, people have been saying it encapsulates how all Detroit Lions fans are feeling. When you saw that response in the media, what was that to you?" I asked.
"I know I’m not alone. There are families that grew up watching this team and have people that aren’t here with them anymore, so when they got to see them win, I think that’s special for a lot of people in Detroit," he said.
Arron said he is beyond excited for the upcoming game on Sunday, the NFC Divisional Playoff round where the Lions will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His brother surprised him with tickets to the past game, and they're hoping to find tickets to this weekend's game as well.
