Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery

For two years in a row, Detroit Lions players and fans believed the Super Bowl was within reach. Both times, the team failed to answer the call.

Will this year be different? Really?

Lions star running back David Montgomery seems to think so.

“The year of the reckoning,” Montgomery said as the Lions opened training camp Sunday, according to the Detroit News. “We’re tired of being close. It’s cool to be close at first, but you don’t want to get comfortable with being close all the time. You want to finish it. This is the year for us.”

Bob Wojnowski of The News reports:

There are no do-overs in sports. But there are adjustments, and fresh enlightenment. I don’t know if it’s a reckoning after a year of Super Bowl talk, but there’s a tempering of outside expectations and enthusiasm. Not from Dan Campbell, of course.

“The message to the team was really what it’s been all along – it’s about who we are, what we believe in and staying hungry,” Campbell said. “Putting the work in, not being content, and I believe we’ll be just fine. We’ve got the right guys and they’ve been building it for a long time. There are dudes that are going to be ready to go.”