One way or the other, Dominic Raiola, the starting center for the Detroit Lions, always seems to have something to say. Sometimes it's good -- and sometimes not so good. Perhaps it's just frustration, because for most of his adult life he's been a loser -- at least as far as football goes. Wrong place at the wrong time.
Born in Hawaii, the high school he played for in aloha-land was undefeated during his last 3 seasons there. Very impressive stuff, and Raiola was no doubt riding high. Then he got a scholarship to the Univ of Nebraska, long known as a football powerhouse. What could be better than that, right? Problem was he didn't start playing there until the year after Nebraska shared a national title with Michigan. Raiola won many personal accolades during his time in Cornhusker land, but his team was never a champion. Bad timing. As Maxwell Smart used to say -- missed it by THAT much.
Then in 2001, Raiola got drafted by the Detroit Lions. The following year Raiola won the Lions' Chuck Hughes Award for the most improved player. (Former wide-receiver Chuck Hughes died on the field of Tiger Stadium during a Lions' game with the Chicago Bears in 1971. Not to be insensitive, but only the Lions could figure out a way to name a most improved award after somebody that died while playing the game. That was improvement?).
That was just about the time the Lions were beginning their downward spiral which would culminate with an 0-16 season in 2008. The Lions were the laughingstock of not only the NFL, but the entire sports world, not to mention being a punch line for many a comedian. Raiola was there for all of it. He had gone from being unbeaten for 3 years in high school, to playing pro-ball where his team couldn't win a single game all year. One can only imagine the frustration he felt.
Indeed, late in that winless season, Raiola got fined $7.500 by his own team, for flipping the bird to the Lions' own fans, in the confines of their own home field. The following year, 2009, Dominic went at it again with the fans. They were jeering "his" quarterback, Matthew Stafford, and Raiola directed a few expletives to those doing the heckling.
That's just wrong. High school athletes know better than that. So do college players. Good grief, even when yours truly was playing slo-pitch softball, of all things, we knew better than to respond to, or even acknowledge, the taunts, and I dare say some of those were probably much worse than anything Raiola's ever heard on a football field. That stuff could get downright personal at times. One would think a professional athlete should act like one and be far above such interaction with the fans. Sure, a lot is at stake and emotions run high with the players. In the heat of the moment, it's understandable how a visiting player might go through an on-field celebratory routine to rub it in a bit to the fans of his opponents. But Dominic Raiola is the only guy I ever heard of that will talk trash to his HOMETOWN fans when they dare to say something he doesn't like. Again, that probably goes along with the frustration of being a loser for so long in the NFL, but it's certainly no excuse.
A friend of yours truly was at the Houston/Detroit game today. Somehow she scored excellent seats for herself and a friend. They were roughly at the 50 yard line, and only a few rows back from the field itself. They could hear some of the player chatter going on. She later related to me how another heckler, close to where she was sitting, was getting after the Lions. Enter Dom again. Evidently, during a verbal exchange, Raiola had a few things to say back to the fan, several of which words started with the letter F. Needless to say, we likely won't be seeing that particular replay anytime soon, complete with audio. Regardless, it was low class and totally unprofessional on Raiola's part. To boot, before the game Raiola had called out Houston's explosive defensive lineman J.J. Watt in the press, daring Watt to "bring it". Upon being made aware of Raiola's comments, Watt replied, "Just watch the game". On the Lions' very first offensive play, QB Matthew Stafford was sacked by -- guess who? Watt would go on to get 2 more sacks. For any one D-lineman to get 3 sacks during a single game is a very impressive performance indeed. I guess he "brought it". Sometimes Raiola just doesn't know when to shut up.
Maybe it has something to do with the air in Detroit. Raiola's always got a few quotes for the press. They love this guy. So since when should an offensive lineman be a player spokesman for his team?
I'm thinking Brandon Inge of the Tigers set that precedent. He was a fan favorite and the media loved him as well, because he too would always offer up a few quotes for their articles. Yet like Raiola, he was a long time loser too, and I won't even get into his hitting stats over all those years. Only in Detroit do chronic losers wind up speaking for their team.
But even if Inge couldn't hit a baseball very consistently, he was at least professional enough not to hit on the fans, especially the "home town" variety.
There's a difference.
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