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Students and staff at Luke Willson's alma mater excited about Lions deal

Students and staff at Luke Willson's high school alma mater are excited the local legend will be playing closer to home.

The free agent signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions Wednesday. The former fifth-round draft pick won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013.

Matt Martin is a Grade 12 student who plays on the St. Thomas of Villanova Wildcats football team.

He said he wasn't a big fan until Willson came to one of the high school's football games.

"I thought he'd be this stuck up NFL player," he said. "But it felt like he was one of the boys. It was awesome."

"We rode the bus with him, he pumped us up in the locker room, went to the game. He hung out with us the whole game and coached us from the sidelines," said Martin. "After that I definitely became a huge fan."

Martin said he started paying attention to the Seahawks because of Willson. Now that Willson has signed with Detroit, however, "I can just follow the one team that I've always liked."

Zach Coste is in Grade 11 at Villanova and is also on the football team. He's been to Seattle to see Willson play, and says he's excited for Willson to play in Detroit.

"It's great for the Lions. They need a new tight end and he's going to be the perfect fit there," said Coste. "They're going to go and win playoffs. No question."

Hope for Lions fans

Tony Piazza is head of student services at Villanova.

He remembers Willson when he started Grade 9 at the high school. Piazza said it wasn't apparent right away that Willson would one day make it to the NFL, but that when he started playing in university they could see he had a shot.

Piazza said he travelled to Cincinnati to watch Willson play.

"Obviously with this new news we don't have to travel as far as Cincinnati," he said.

"As a long time Lion fan ... you don't know all the pain we've had," laughed Piazza. "So, hopefully, Luke is going to bring some of those good luck Super Bowl qualities to the Detroit Lions."

"I think the Detroit Lions are getting a deal of a century with him," said Piazza.