It is time for someone to do what is simply right. It is time for the Detroit Lions to draw a ling in the sand. Aaron Berry was arrested for the second time in about a month’s time this weekend. That makes seven off season arrests for the Lions, and three members of this roster that have been twice arrested. When we add the recently revealed 2011 arrest of Corey Williams, and the 2010 DUI of Lions President Tom Lewand we start to see a picture of an organization out of control ( if this was College football that is the exactly term we would be using). On the Lions’ own team websitewriters are calling for Berry to be cut. The fans are sick of this bad behavior, as they didn’t think becoming successful here in Detroit meant turning the roster into a less behaved version of the Cincinnati Bengals or the early1990’s Dallas Cowboys. We expect more than just winning, we expect our team’s to win, win the right way, and to behave in a professional manner.
In the town where Steve Yzerman, Nick Lidstrom Alan Trammell, Lou Whittaker, Barry Sanders, and many, many others not only won, but conducted themselves like the professionals they were. This of course is also the town where Isiah Thomas led the Detroit Bad Boy Pistons, we don’t mind a little nasty, but the Lions players have used up all of this fan bases’ good will.
Someone needs to be made an example of, and twice over the past month or so Aaron Berry has put himself into the spot of most likely to be made an example of. Sure he is in line to win one of the starting corner spots on this team, and merely cutting him leaves the team minus an asset, but trading him would not, and either way he has got to go. He simply is not good enough for the fans of the Lions to dismiss his bad behavior Miguel Cabrera style. Winning buys a player a lot of good will from the fans, but this team has yet to accomplish anything.
We have also got to call into question the effectiveness of Head Coach Jim Schwartz. It seems fairly obvious at this point that he has installed a sense of entitlement in his players that this town will not respect. We all want to see the Lions win, but in Detroit (one of the greatest true sports town) we expect our teams to win the right way first and foremost. We do not sell our souls for rings and glory, and we need only look at the sports heroes this city has embraced over the years to truly understand that.
Aaron Berry needs to go, he needs to go now, and the Lions need to send a message to their locker room, their fans, and everyone else that this level of misbehavior simply is not acceptable.
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