Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton called the Lions a dirty team this week, singling out Lions center Dominic Raiola for criticism. Now Raiola has fired back.
Raiola told the Detroit Free Press that Melton is a nobody.
“Who? Who? Exactly,” Raiola said.
Raiola said he has more respect for other players on the Bears’ defense, like Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Israel Idonije and Julius Peppers. According to Raiola, all of those players play the game the right way, but Melton is more interested in drawing attention to himself.
“You got a defense full of superstars, and you don’t hear from the guys that carry weight in my book. Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, Idonije, older guys. Peppers. The guys that have been there. We’re talking about guys who carry weight. This guy? Not in my book,” Raiola said.
Raiola siad Melton doesn’t deserve to be on the NFC Pro Bowl team and that Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams and Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh would have been better choices.
“I mean, this guy, he made it to the Pro Bowl?” Raiola said. “This guy made the Pro Bowl? [Over] Kevin Williams, who worked through injuries all year? [Over] Suh, who’s a better player than this guy? Come on. It’s tiresome, especially from a guy like this, a guy that didn’t even play the past two weeks. . . . I don’t know what to say anymore. In my book, he’s a clown.”
The “dirty” Raiola and the “clown” Melton will be seeing a lot of each other on Sunday.