Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

First, it was just the offensive linemen. Then the quarterbacks dropped by. Then the running backs.

By the time Travis Swanson and Larry Warford were done with their "report," half of the Detroit Lions' offense was watching in amazement as Swanson and Warford played guitar and put on a short skit to lighten the mood of the locker room two days before Sunday's NFC showdown against the New Orleans Saints (1 p.m., Fox).

"It was off the chains," practice-squad lineman Rodney Austin said. "It was amazing. It was quite special. Travis Swanson showed us exactly how funny he is, which is just hilarious. They're both really good guitar players. And just the whole presentation, it was just -- can't really call it anything short of amazing."

For years, the Lions' offensive linemen and line coaches have had rookies put together almost-weekly presentations as a getaway from the everyday grind of football.

They're mostly lighthearted skits in which they poke fun at a random topic or each other -- last year, Warford told the room a made-up a story of how one of the offensive assistants met his wife -- and this week's topic was the make-believe band comprised of Swanson and Warford, two avid guitar players.

On Tuesday, Swanson and Warford posed for a fake album cover, where they leaned against a big oak tree while wearing long wigs and 1970s clothing.

This morning, when it came time to deliver the presentation, they played an 8- or 10-minute PowerPoint slideshow, complete with fake No. 1 hits and album titles, while strumming their guitars and singing made-up songs.

The Lucky Ringos, as they called themselves, sang "Blitzer," to the tune of "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind, "Hey, Calvin Johnson," to the tune of "Hey There, Delilah," by the Plain White T's, and "My Name is Moses" off of their pretend Christian rock album.

"Two weeks ago, (offensive line coach Jeremiah Washburn) was just like, 'Hey, I want a report on you guys' band,' and then we're like, 'OK.' So we just decided to make it like a VH1 'Behind The Music' type deal," Warford said. "So we made like a PowerPoint and then we played songs of our fake No. 1 hits and all that and came just dressed up. It was pretty sweet."

Warford, who played bass guitar part-time with a friend's band in college and taught himself the electric guitar before training camp last year, handled vocals today, but he said that Swanson is the superior guitar player.

"By far," Warford said. "He's been playing since, like, fifth grade."

Austin said the skit surpassed one he did as a rookie as the best the room ever has seen.

"It was, oh, my God, dying laughing the whole time," Austin said. "And then like you'd get quiet while they're playing because it just sounds so good and it was just -- I don't know. You ever seen Jamie Foxx do stand-up comedy when he cuts off and then goes to the piano for a little bit? It was kind of like that but with guitars.

"They were doing the jokes, then play the guitar a little bit, then they'd do, like, a little sidebar and talk about this made-up history they put together. All the slides they put into the presentation, it was a complete performance. I got to take my hat off to them. It was the best report we've had."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.