None of the former teammates of Lions tackle Lomas Brown and Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell have spoken publicly regarding Brown’s admission that he whiffed on a block in order to get Mitchell knocked out of a game (it worked) and Mitchell’s passionate response, from Wednesday’s edition of The Dan Patrick Show.
But at least three current Lions have chimed in.
“I’m just glad he’s not blocking for me,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said, via the Detroit News. “I’d have to be really nice to him if he was.”
Center Dominic Raiola was less inclined to laugh it off. “That’s kind of bush league if you ask me,” Raiola said. “When I saw it, I was like, I don’t think I’d ever do that. . . . That ain’t cool.”
Guard Rob Sims said that he wouldn’t use that approach, for reasons more about his performance than his quarterback’s. “I would never do that,” Sims said. “I just don’t like people getting past me.”
Still, it’s hard not to wonder whether other offensive players have done similar things over the years, either because the quarterback was struggling or because they simply didn’t like him. Still, it’s something that should never happen.
“It’s like a fire department going on a call and the captain saying, ‘Hey, let that guy go in the building and burn because we really don’t like him. He’s not holding the hose enough,’” Mitchell said Wednesday. “People get seriously hurt in this game, and it’s hard enough to play and to stay healthy when all things are equal, but for someone to just lay down like that, it’s just unacceptable.”
Mitchell is right. I’ve asked ESPN (again) to make Brown available for today’s Dan Patrick Show, but the network has yet to accept. Regardless of the platform, Brown needs to elaborate on his remarks, and to address Mitchell’s response.