The Lions have had a long-standing relationship with Think Detroit PAL, which is a private non-profit with a unique partnership with police officers that runs leadership camps, community centers, and tutorials plus a variety of seasonal programs in 11 different sports.

Nearly 13,000 kids and 1,500 volunteers take part in the organization, which was recently part of a merger of two organizations with great legacies that will help in connecting 1 in 10 Detroit kids with a positive role model.

Players Terrence Holt, Jon McGraw, Marcus Pollard, Barry Stokes and Roy Williams participated along with Lions’ alumnus Lomas Brown and Lions’ color announcer Jim Brandstatter.

Many of the players were happy to get the free lesson – especially since many of the kids seemed to have a leg up on them.

“This guy here is swinging the club better than me and he’s 13 years old,” said Williams about a young man he was paired with. “I’m 24 and he’s hitting the ball better than me.”

Williams has just recently begun to take up the sport of golf. Since he picked up a club, his outlook on the difficulty of the game quickly changed.

“Golf is a tough sport,” said Williams. “I’ve always said it was the easiest sport on Earth until I picked up a club and came out here. Now I’m intrigued to try and be on the PGA one day, hopefully. I’ve got a long way to go, I’m shooting 100.”

The PGA Free Lesson Month is a program running throughout the entire month of May across the country and will provide 10-minute lessons from PGA Professionals. The program’s objective is to reach the millions of American golfers who have expressed a desire to play golf by providing a non-intimidating environment to learn the game of golf.

Of course, for the Lions who participated, they may have been intimidated by the talented youngsters who stood alongside them in the tee box. PGA Professional Dave Kendall from the Kendall Academy of Golf had to admit that the kids seemed to be doing better, though the Lions did show talent.

“Marcus [Pollard] here has a really good golf swing,” said Kendall. “He’s a good ball-hitter, very nice golf swing, natural movements, very easy for him. He’s quite effective.”

Kendall spent most of the event talking to Pollard about his various techniques, obviously passionate about the teaching he was doing. It was clear why these professionals chose to participate in the program and offer free lessons to kids and adults.

“It’s sure a treat to be here,” said Kendall. “See, I’m the guy who teaches. I teach golf. I spend all my days teaching golf. You like seeing the light bulb go off where the kids look and smile and look up at you. I think we’ll see a little of that from the Lions, too.”

Pollard certainly learned a lot from Kendall, working on the aspects of his golf game he felt he needed to focus on.

“[Dave Kendall] is intense and he’s using some high-tech stuff and I’m having to decipher all of it,” said Pollard. “I’m just looking for anything for anything that will make me a consistent player and I think everybody’s looking for that.”

Ultimately, the day was about the Lions spending quality time with kids from the community. In addition to brushing up on their swings, the players were able to talk and learn about golf with the kids who participated.

“The day was a big success for all concerned,” said Lions’ senior director of community affairs Tim Pendell. “The Think Detroit PAL kids and the Lions had a great time and were able to get excellent golf instruction from some of the top teaching pros in Michigan.

“Our thanks go to the PGA Michigan Section and TPC Michigan for making it a special day. It was win-win all the way around.”

Play Golf America’s PGA Free Lesson Month is designed to reach new golfers and help existing golfers improve their game with a free, 10-minute golf lesson conducted by PGA Professionals nationwide. To participate, go to www.playgolfamerica.com for more information.

While some of the Detroit Lions were able to spend quality time with the kids from Think Detroit PAL and receive a free golf lesson, their minds were still on football and preparing to get back into the team’s practice facility for OTAs, which resume on Thursday.

Though the team was forced to forfeit two days of offseason conditioning because of a grievance filed by the NFL and NFLPA, many of the players have expressed that they are still finding ways to work out and are anxious to get back into the building.

“It’s a bump in the road,” said Roy Williams. “We’re going to continue to do what we’ve been doing. We’ve got the best staff in the League, [and we’re] trying to make the best team in the League. That’s what we’re trying to get to and we’ll be there before long.”

“We’re getting coached and we’re getting coached to the level that we need to be playing at,” said Marcus Pollard. “We’re not going to make any more of a deal out of it then what it is. It’s a lost couple of days of working out; lifting weights and conditioning. We have a lot of guys working and a lot of guys in terms of getting better and getting this organization and team where it needs to go.”