Can the Detroit Lions fall any further? When not performing on the field they are now making obscene gestures and insinuating they want to fight unhappy fans off of it.
I was just thinking the other day that nobody in the locker room has stepped up publicly as a team leader to challenge/rally his teammates to “dig deep” and “fight hard” in a positive way.
Instead, we have Dominic Raiola unhappy with hecklers and lashing out with profane hand signals and fantasies of settling fan differences with his fists. Unreal. This from a veteran professional?
A friend of mine who attended last Sundays’ game at Ford Field and witnessed some of the fan/player discourse said the dialogue was even more disturbing with someone in attendance asking Raiola how he could sleep at night and Raiola responding that that would be no problem when he went home that night to his “mansion.”
Frustration is entirely understandable—on both sides of the equation. I also am not a fan of heckling players. Yet, decorum and professionalism, by all members of the team, is vital right now. The Lions are at a crossroads with fans saying ‘no’ to purchasing tickets and TV audiences obliterated by blackouts.
Raiola and his teammates need allies willing to pluck down hard earned cash for a competitive product. Bite the hand that feeds you too many times and it may opt to stay away permanently. If so, that mansion might suddenly not be so easy to pay for.