Now Hiring: Lions Team Babysitter

Good News!  There may be a new job created in the Metro Detroit Area: Detroit Lions Team Babysitter.  The bad news is that it is because Lions CB Aaron Berry was arrested on Saturday for suspicion of DUI bringing the grand total of offseason arrests to 6.  Berry joins teammates Mikel Leshoure (2x), Nick Fairley (2x), and Johnny Culbreath on the list of Lions who have been put in handcuffs this offseason.  Add in Titus Young playing Tyson with Louis Delmas and you have a situation where the inmates are running the asylum.  For a team that is just starting to trend in the right direction and taste success but could easily slip back to mediocrity if a few breaks don't go their way, this garbage has to stop.  There has to be level of accountability that obviously is not present at this time.  Nannys, start updating your resumes.  There may be an open position for you.

Let me start by saying I am not under the illusion that NFL players are choir boys.  The league is full of bad dudes who are about as sharp as bowling balls.  I get that.  So I am not sitting here telling you the Lions need to build a team of players who will be joining Green Peace in the offseason.  We tried that already.  Remember Joey "Blue Skies" Harrington and John Kitna?  How'd that turn out?  But there is a difference between being bad boys and a little unhinged on the field and being complete imbeciles off of it.  Since the players can't keep themselves in check, the organization needs to set a level of accountability that will get through to the players that will deter them from damaging the team.  Do they need to bring in babysitters?  Perhaps nannys?  Schwartz, Mayhew, and company obviously can't handle them by themselves.  It's getting to the point where they should be passing out apology templates to the players with their playbooks.  When does it stop?  When does the organization get a handle on this team?

Winning cures all.  All of us, myself included, will forget all of this if the Lions win 12-14 games this fall and make the playoffs.  All we really care about is if they win games.  However, winning could prove to be more difficult if players in which the team will be counting on miss games due to suspensions.  Mikel Leshoure is going to be relied upon to help give the team an adequate running attack.  Something they sorely missed last season.  Well that is going to have to wait until week 5 as he has been suspended for the first 4 weeks of the season by the league.  Nick Fairley is thought to be a key component to making the Lions defensive line one of the best in the league by playing alongside Suh.  He too will be facing an early suspension (yet to be determined) due to his DUI and marijuana arrests.  Berry is part of the extremely thin secondary that desperately needs to improve this season to take the next step.  Will he now be suspended?  This team simply does not have the depth, especially at defensive back, to absorb suspension after suspension, particularly to players who are pegged to be starters.  I really could care less about tarnishing the image of the team.  If this team wins the Super Bowl but the media calls them criminals I will laugh while I am on Woodward sipping hot chocolate at the parade.  But when it adversely affects the team by spiraling out of control to the point where muliple players are not available to play, something needs to be done.

It's obvious the Lions brass do not care about bringing in players with character issues.  Leshoure, Fairley, and Young all had issues coming out of college which is probably why they were available to the Lions in the draft.  If they are going to continue draft these types of players, then they also have to let it be known that there will be consequences, beyond words, for behavior that is a detriment to the team.  We don't know what is being said behind closed doors but whatever it is, it is not working. 

We as fans have suffered nothing but failure from this team for years.  Now that it appears things may be turning around, it would be a shame if off-the-field stupidity is the new reason the Lions never become serious contenders or, dare I say, champions.  Since Schwartz and Mayhew can't handle their players themselves, maybe they should start accepting resumes for babysitters.  Yes, this is a joke, but then again, so is the level of discipline and accountability on this team.