CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand recently said his team's ultimate goal is to win multiple Super Bowls. Nate Burleson believes it's possible.
"We definitely got enough to do that," the Lions wide receiver said Thursday during a visit to NFL.com and NFL Network. "You don't go around piecing together a team, paying guys to just do OK. The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl, and if he (Lewand) can keep the same core group of guys together, then we can make a run at the Super Bowl year after year. It's been done before."
The Lions clinched a playoff berth last season for the first time since 1999, but Burleson says the team is explosive enough to be in the Super Bowl contender discussion.
The Lions, just three seasons removed from an 0-16 record, have since added pieces to their offense, including Burleson and running back Jahvid Best, "who is one of the fastest players in the NFL," the receiver said.
Detroit also recently rewarded Pro Bowl wide receiver Calvin Johnson with an eight-year contract worth close to $130 million.
"It just shows that the Lions are for real," Burleson said of Johnson's new contract. "Selfishly speaking, it helps me because (when) Calvin's on the field, it makes my job easier, and my job is to go out there and try and make his job easier."
But talking about making the Super Bowl and actually doing it are two very different things.
"I think that the easiest way to stay focused is to stay hungry," Burleson said. "If we feel like we're full and we had enough to eat, then we're not going to be as successful as we were this year.
"We have to approach the season with the same mindset -- that we're the underdogs, nobody cares about us, everybody is disrespecting us and not giving us a chance. I think it's up to the veterans to remind the young guys that we haven't arrived. We haven't done anything yet. A wild-card game in Detroit is great, you know what I mean, especially given the fact that there has been such a dark cloud over the city for so long. But we have to continue to reach for what everybody else wants, and that's a Super Bowl."
