Former Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell says he was stunned to learn last week that his former teammate, Lomas Brown, has admitted to intentionally missing a block because he wanted Mitchell to get hurt.
Mitchell told Mike Florio on the Dan Patrick Show that Brown always acted like a friend to his face, and Mitchell was shocked to find out what Brown thought about him.
“It just really hurt,” Mitchell said. “It was extremely disappointing. I’m really shocked by it, to be honest. Here’s a guy I’ve had in my house, I had a big dinner for the offensive linemen every year, he came to my house and ate dinner, I gave my offensive linemen gifts every year. For him to do that is just reprehensible, beyond words. It’s really disappointing, it really is painful. When you mess with my family, mess with my livelihood, mess with my health, it’s unacceptable. It’s B.S. I just wouldn’t do it to a teammate. I wouldn’t do it. If Lomas has a problem with me, come talk to me. To try to get someone hurt, it’s just mind-boggling.”
Mitchell suffered a broken finger on his passing hand when Brown allowed Packers defensive end Sean Jones to get a free shot at him in a 1994 game. That injury ended Mitchell’s season, and Mitchell noted that it could have been a lot worse than a broken finger.
“People get seriously hurt in this game,” Mitchell said. “For someone to just lay down like that, it’s unacceptable.”
Mitchell said former teammates, including ex-Lions star receiver Herman Moore, have reached out and told him that Brown was clearly in the wrong. And obviously, those teammates are right. What Brown did is appalling, and Mitchell has every reason to consider Brown reprehensible.