Low-mas

When Barry Sanders played with the Lions, he was nothing short of amazing. Sanders had an impact on the city that few athletes had before him, and few will have after him. He retired as the second leading rusher in NFL history, trailing only Walter Payton. And when he retired, most sports fans wondered what he could have done had he played a few more years. Most Detroit fans wondered what he could have done with a decent offensive line. But the one exception to that line (for those who don't know about Kevin Glover, and that seems to be a lot) was Lomas Brown.

Brown was a very good lineman for Detroit. He anchored the Lions' line for eleven years, and created holes for Sanders to run through, which he did, a lot. He was hardly ever injured, missing only one game with Detroit. He made seven straight Pro Bowls at a point in his career. He was everything you want in an offensive lineman, a guy that represented your team and your city well; and then last Friday happened.

Lomas Brown blocking for the Lions photo credit: apse.net

Now Rob Parker set the bar pretty low for people (that associate with Detroit) to mess up on what they say nationally, with his comments on RGIII. But as any good competitor will do, Brown challenged him. When talking about a game against Green Bay in 1994, Lomas admitted to personally allowing quarterback Scott Mitchell to be in a position to get injured, which is exactly what happened. Mitchell broke his hand, Dave Krieg came in, rallied the team from a big deficit, and who would have thought, the Lions still lost. Then, on top of his idiocy to begin with, Lomas decided to say, "I've been out of the game since '02. I don't think that much can happen to me. Yes, America, yes, I did it." I don't feel like looking up my college notes on footnotes, so that's from the world-wide leader.

I like to take a pretty laid-back approach when writing these because I think when you mix humor with good content, your readers enjoy the piece. There is no humor in this article because it just isn't funny. Are you kidding me, Lomas Brown? Now I double checked just to be certain, and Lomas Brown did graduate from college, although you may not know it from this decision. Whether or not something can happen to him from a legal/financial standpoint, I don't know. Somehow my guess is we are going to find out soon. But throw that stuff out for a second, and consider something a lot more important than money. Brown does a lot of work with kids, whether it's through charity or coaching. Wonder what he's going to tell them about this little episode...

It's no secret Scott Mitchell wasn't liked in Detroit. He was overpaid to begin with; he didn't live up to expectations; simply put, he sucked. But as bad as someone is, you don't go out and hope he gets injured! Take Stefan Logan, for example. No person in their right mind wants Logan to get injured. You hope the coach takes him out, God yes. But hoping he gets injured? No. Give Mitchell a lot of credit through this whole situation. Lomas lobbed him a perfect alley-oop and instead of bashing Brown for his comments, perhaps the most disliked quarterback in recent memory has given everyone a reason to like him. Mitchell said to do that shows, "a blatant disrespect for the game," and he is right on the money, even if none of his throws ever were.

Scott Mitchell walking off the field after getting injured against Green Bay in 1994 photo credit: usatoday.com

I'll give credit to Brown for one little thing: he had the courage to speak his mind truthfully. Good for you. The same can be said about Rob Parker. They both were honest and these days that counts for something. But for everyone's benefit, keep it to yourself you idiot. You can think that. You can even say it, but say it to your wife, not to America. It sets an AWFUL example for kids who are growing up, and it sets an even worse example for those idolize YOU. It's not that difficult of a concept; think before you speak. Should I go on national television/radio and say how I actually tried to let someone get hurt? Right up there with should I actually pour my five year old cousin these shots of 151...

Sometime in the next few days, Brown will probably come out and apologize, not apologizing for his comments but for the setting in which he said them. It won't be heartfelt. He made sure of that when he clarified that what he said was absolutely correct. And he also clarified another thing for all of us. He made that question a lot more valid and a lot more mysterious. What would it have been like if Barry Sanders had a decent offensive line?