Bye bye, Baby; hello, continued futility

By Os Davis  |   Sunday, March 02, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Detroit Lions
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So Shaun Rogers is gone from Detroit because of "character issues"; well, that'll surely break the Lions out their 51-year tailspin (and the eight-year graveyard spiral that has been the Matt Millen era).

In yet another unfortunately unsurprising master stroke by the Detroit front office, gone is one of the few true high-level players from the team's roster. After a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals fell through, Rogers was instead sent to the Cleveland Browns for a third-rounder and Leigh Bodden over the weekend.

(No, the collapse of talks was not in actuality thanks to character issues, for which the Bengals are of course well-known sticklers, but rather "was apparently nixed by the NFL because of language issues in the trade agreement.")

Despite on-camera praise for Rogers, coach Rod Marinelli reportedly often dogged Rogers for the appropriately nicknamed Big Baby's weight issues - over the past two seasons, Rogers has "officially" weighed in at anywhere between 345 and 357 pounds and was suspended for substance abuse in 2006 after testing positive for "a product that Rogers used to help him control his weight."

Taking a look at Rogers' career makes him sound like an all-time Lion; almanac-style, it goes something like this: drafted by Detroit 61st overall in 2001 ... in rookie season, led all linemen with 97 tackles ... in 2003-2004, recorded a combined eight QB sacks and 126 total tackles in playing all 32 regular-season games for the Lions ... was named to Pro Bowl teams in 2005 and 2006 ... in his career with Detroit, Rogers accumulated 29.5 sacks, 447 tackles and 96 starts for the defense ... the big man has also blocked 10 field goals and one extra-point attempt in his career; the 11 blocks represents the high among active NFL players.

In 2007, Rogers was beginning to put together another highlight reel of a year for Detroit culminating in the Week 9 immolation of Denver; Rogers was everywhere in a career game, ultimately taking Jay Cutler out and producing the single greatest clip from the regular season with his interception returned for a TD.

As they say, the rest is history. And so were the 2007 Lions after starting 6-2. The play of Rogers, like that of most of his teammates, inexplicably fell off after the halfway point. Marinelli showed a particular lack of patience with Rogers as the defense began giving away points by the bucketful to the likes of Green Bay, Minnesota, Dallas and San Diego; the DT instantly saw reduced and inconsistent playing time as the Lions plummeted. Once returned to more regular conditions (perhaps to increase his trade value, a futile effort as Millen went out of his way to announce in January he'd be sending Rogers off for cheap), Rogers performed well when it no longer mattered.

Said Marinelli ungratefully, "He was a good player for us for nine games. But it's the endurance all the way through the season, that's what I'm looking for."

Oh, as in 2005, when he was essentially the only member of the Lions to mentally show up for the entire slate of games.

Seeking character in the days when the sports page of the newspaper more and more resembles the "police blotter" section is all well and good, but surely missing the weight limit can't be a distraction to a sane team. And yes, we all know that boot camp-like discipline is required all at times, but what good does removing a well-liked guy from the locker room achieve?

Apparently, fans are all being asked to swallow the b---s--- relativity of these things, after all. On one hand, the Lions publicity machine requested the kid-gloves treatment for assistant coach Joe Cullen in the drunken drive-through incident; Jon Kitna's subsequent Halloween prank was laughed off as though a nation (and certainly one NFL franchise) suddenly reckoned alcoholism - a disease considered so serious that jokes on the subject were taken out of "The Simpsons" rotation for Mantle's sake! - a fit matter for comedy from a squeaky-clean, god-fearing quarterback type.

A two-year coach's obscure "character issues" with a non-disruptive top-five DT, however, is apparently a reason to notably weaken an already gaunt squad in exchange for the first third-round pick offered.

(Incidentally, third-round selections in the Millen era are a bit of a mixed bag: going backward, it's Brian Calhoun, Stanley Wilson, Keith Smith, Corey Redding and Andre' Goodman.)

Anyone in Detroit have a bad feeling about this trade?

What's that? Cleveland will now be able to team Rogers and Corey Williams on the line? How long do you think it will be before Rogers misses Marinelli's complaints and .313 lifetime record? And more importantly, how far might the Browns go come January?

Take heart, Lions backers, for though it seems the Ford family cronies are setting up another bland 6-10 run in 2008, at least you'll have a roster of fine, respectable gentlemen to cheer for.

Not to mention the Pistons and Tigers.

P.S.

Fire Millen. Just do it; it's the only way.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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