A 6-foot-5 gridiron goliath. A living breathing tackling machine. All linebacker Jack Campbell cares about is football, football and more football. And it’s only right that after having a chip on his shoulder his entire life, he ended up in a place where someone believed in him more than anybody else.

“I’m always going to have a chip on my shoulder,” Campbell told me at Iowa’s pro day. “It’s just how I was raised. Nothing’s going to change.”

“If I go with the first overall pick or if I’m Mr. Irrelevant or if I’m undrafted, I’m going to take the same approach. I’m going to step in the building and be ready to go.”

Jack’s attitude obviously won over Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell among other head brass. Jack was a projected second round pick in nearly every mock draft. But when you draft Jack Campbell, you’re not adding another piece to the puzzle — you’re buying the engine to the car.

You’re adding a player who literally outscored his own offense against an FCS team — and stood in front of the podium after the game and said, “The offense played great.” You’re drafting a guy who chooses to play in a 10-degree game without sleeves and insists he wasn’t cold. You’re bringing in a guy who broughtKirk Ferentz to tears on multiple occasions.

I don’t want to talk about measurables with Jack, but he killed the combine, for the record. I don’t care how fast his 40 time is, I want to talk about how he chose to befriend a classmate in high school who was fighting a decade-long battle with cancer, and has carried his story on his wrist ever since.

The Jack Campbell who had two Power 5 offers. The B-team center on his youth football team. The player that wants to be coached and wants every rep to be one better than the last, and has left a lasting impact on everyone who’s known him.

“Joe the clown could coach him. Everything he sees is opportunity,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He’s extremely humble and appreciative. You coach a guy like that — with all due respect to our defensive staff — if you coach a guy like that it ain’t hard.”

We know Jack Campbell as the pride of Cedar Falls, Iowa. A homegrown superstar who did things the right way and left Iowa the best linebacker in the school’s history.

And it didn’t matter to Detroit that Campbell doesn’t play a position of scarcity — like edge rusher, left tackle or quarterback. The Lions haven’t won the NFC North in 30 years — and have made the playoffs just three times since 2000.

They’re the ugly stepchild of the NFL. Detroit’s been to one conference championship since 1984 — despite having generational players like Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson along the way. But slowly, change is happening. And it’s coming on the back of a coach who wants to bite kneecaps off and do Oklahoma drills at four in the morning.

Dan Campbell’s creating a culture shock in Detroit — that team is embracing its “chip on your shoulder” attitude. Run the ball down your throat, punch you in the face — tough, smart and physical football. Sound familiar?

This was a match made in heaven. For the Lions, they get the ultimate chip-on-your-shoulder player, and the University of Iowa gets to showcase the consummate Hawkeye in the National Football League.

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