As Loretta and Todd Benjamin sat in a room full of strangers, watching on a projector screen as the Detroit Lions won their first playoff game since the 1991 season, their minds returned to their corn maze.

The Benjamins were trying to choose their next design for their fall corn maze. The theme had to be chosen by February so the Benjamins could pass along their GPS coordinates to their designer. However, they couldn’t pinpoint what appealed to them.

Loretta and Todd ended up taking a business trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic while the Lions began their 2023 NFL playoff run. The Lions faced the Rams in a wild-card game, where they edged past Los Angeles with a 24-23 victory in January.

“It was like, ‘Yeah, we’re real now. … We need to do a Lions theme for our corn maze,’” Loretta told ESPN.

Benjamin took the proper steps to get his theme approved by contacting the Lions organization. Only one question remained: what design would they use?

Loretta and Todd, owners of Choice Farm Market in Webberville, Michigan, have been die-hard Lions fans for quite some time.

Todd owns a shirt with a lion’s face and a matching hat that says “GRIT.” Detroit adopted the slogan when Dan Campbell became the franchise’s head coach in January 2021 with the intention of rebuilding its culture. Campbell said the word means they will last a little longer, try harder, think deeper and sharper. Campbell’s face is in the middle of the lion’s mane.

The design on Todd’s shirt caught Loretta’s attention, and the striking pattern became etched in her memory as inspiration for the look of the maze. But she had doubts about it until the outline was presented to her.

“At first I thought, ‘Well, that would be too scary,’ and I was afraid that it might be weird in some way. And then we finished the sketch and I was like, ‘Oh no, that’s cool. ‘” Loretta said.

Choosing the corn for the maze is a process. Todd picks a variety of corn that takes a little longer to ripen, so it will last until the end of October without drying out or falling apart. The Benjamins pick seeds that are resistant to certain diseases.

After Todd selects the corn, he plants it in rows that run in both directions to create denser paths. They then fertilize the crop with the right nutrients to ensure it lasts throughout the season.

Loretta estimates the corn maze took about 10 hours to cut.

At the entrance to the maze, Choice Farm Market offers a handful of interactive activities like 40-yard jumps and games that take up the open space inside. The inspiration came from the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, where Loretta and Todd took their grandchildren.

The tour of the labyrinth takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Visitors can scan a QR code upon entering to measure their stay in the maze and find 10 checkpoints within it.

Once the corn maze is completed in late October, the corn will be harvested and Todd will donate it to approximately 100 different clients so they can use it as fuel to heat their homes.

---

South of Michigan, Indiana has its own maze honoring the Fever’s playoff appearance and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.

Dana More, executive director of County Line Orchard in northwest Indiana, watched the WNBA draft with her nieces. After WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Clark as the No. 1 pick, More immediately went online to purchase four Fever jerseys for herself and her nieces before the website ultimately sold out within an hour.

Like the Benjamin family, More was looking for ideas for the theme of their fall corn maze. Until her nieces advocated becoming Clark.

“We were all excited and talking, and my nieces said, ‘This should be your corn maze this year.’ I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is perfect,'” More told ESPN.

More has worked at County Line Orchard for about 15 years and has developed a close relationship with the owners. After her nieces planted the idea of ​​a Clark-style corn maze, More texted the owner that same evening with the idea. He loved it.

“Sometimes you just land on something like, ‘That’s exactly right,’” More said. “This is the right step and it suits us.”

Immediately after design, County Line Orchards began searching the Internet to find the perfect image of Clark to transform into the maze. The picture comes from Fever’s media day.

The Orchard constructed the maze using a technique More calls “reverse engineering.” In June, they hired a third party to cut through the maze before planting the seeds so the corn could take shape.

The labyrinth was finished on August 28th.

More says there are checkpoints to visit inside that are similar to a scavenger hunt, as well as basketball activities for customers, such as mini hoops. She estimates customers can spend about an hour in the maze.

Fever President Allison Barber took notice of the masterpiece and gave More and her twin nieces exclusive tickets to the Fever game against the Las Vegas Aces, when A’ja Wilson broke the WNBA’s single-season scoring record after a 27-point performance earlier this month. Clark and Tamika Catchings signed More’s nieces’ jerseys.

The labyrinth ends on October 31st, after which the corn will be harvested.

There is even more hope that the fever will come to visit to see the labyrinth.

“I think it’s about supporting what’s local, and knowing their leadership and knowing who our owners are, I would say the chances are pretty darn good,” More said.