Yet another off season arrest for the Detroit Lions

Six, count them six times this offseason a member of the Detroit Lions has found himself on the wrong side of the law. The only bright side to that number is it only actually involves four players. Aaron Berry entered the Lions off season moron club over the weekend when he was arrested in Pennsylvania for allegedly being drunk behind the wheel, and generally acting like an over privileged kid who needs a spanking….desperately. Mikel Leshoure has already been suspended for two games, Nick Fairley will be suspended, and we will have to wait for Roger Goodell to find out ifBerry’s actions will earn him a suspension.

All of that missed playing time hurts the team; however did you know NFL Rules actually punish the team as well. Thanks to our friends at mlive.com we have a breakdown on what happens to NFL teams that have multiple player suspensions in a NFL season.

"Under the current collective bargaining agreement, when a second player within a single season is suspended, fines for individual teams begin.After a second player is suspended, the team must pay 25 percent of his lost base salary, up to $200,000.For example, if Fairley is suspended for three games, he’d lose $145,500 of his $824,500 base salary and the Lions would be fined $36,375.If a third player is suspended, the team can be fined 33 percent of lost base salary up to $350,000 and for a fourth suspension, it’s 50 percent of lost base salary up to $500,000."

Sure, in the world of NFL franchises being able to pretty much print their own money none of these fines break the bank. However, it is yet another punishment form a team that lacks discipline. That may not mean anything in June, but an undisciplined team takes bad penalties that kill off drives (or extend them) and makes a team lose games. That is it plain and simple, the Lions are undisciplined and the fault for that rests solely with the Coaching Staff. Something needs to be done, and Mr.Berryjust moved himself to the front of the line of players who need to be made examples of.

At some point these players need to be made accountable for their actions. They are risking turning off the entire fan base before the damn season even begins. There is a lot of negativity out there coming from Lions fans and that may not mean much in June, but come August it surely will. Let’s face it the courts are not going to punish these guys to the level these deserve, and the League will try but ultimately that punishment will be pretty meaningless. The Lions themselves are going to have to draw a line in the sand and say this kind of behavior is no longer tolerated.