OT: Lions player accused verbally harassing UW Band

Submitted by SamirCM on

Didn't see this on here, but Lions Center Raiola has been accused of verbally harassing members of the UW marching band prior to the beginning of the game. I don't know much about him and I didn't see the game, did anyone hear anything about this? 

 

The Lions are investigating this. 

phil

October 7th, 2013 at 5:18 PM ^

pretty much par for the course for the Lions as an organization.  A bunch of wannabe thugs that have never won anything and never will.  It starts from the top down with Schwartz and filters on through to guys like Suh and Raiola 

dinkmctip

October 7th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^

Thanks for the input, but he is right. Schwartz coaches undisciplined and he has had plenty of time to correct it. That will never will a championship over the fundamental teams in the NFL. Their penalties alone have lost quite a few games.

TheLastHarbaugh

October 7th, 2013 at 7:09 PM ^

The Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens had more personal fouls last year than any other team in the NFL and it wasn't even close.

I'm not saying that the Lions are going to win the Super Bowl, but the whole penalty thing is overblown.

Do you know who has been the least penalized team in the NFL this year?

The Jacksonville Jaguars.

Last year the Lions were ranked 11th fewest in penalty yards. They were one of the least penalized teams in the league.

The amazingly disciplined and just all around great from the top down Packers had the second most penalty yards. The Colts had the most. Both of them were playoff teams.

Peyton Manning's Broncos and Tom Brady's Patriots, with their amazing coaches, their tremendous discipline, and their unrivaled leadership, also had far more penalty yards than the Lions did last year.

Penalties are not a problem for this team.

Only in the ESPN universe are these tropes about the Lions true.

Mr. Peteyall

October 8th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^

Wait, so we're not allowed to talk badly about a generally shit organization who hasn't won shit in decades, employs shit players, and plays shitty football?  This is just another example of the scum that is allowed to pervade the Lions' organization.  Suh is lauded like a savior when he's a run of the mill thug.  How many DUIs / arrests did the Lions players manage in a three-day period this offseason? 

TheLastHarbaugh

October 7th, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^

The poster I responded to most certainly was. 

He stated, and I quote, "pretty much par for the course for the Lions as an organization.  A bunch of wannabe thugs that have never won anything and never will.  It starts from the top down with Schwartz and filters on through to guys like Suh and Raiola."

ijohnb

October 7th, 2013 at 7:41 PM ^

Is not a wannabe thug. He is just not a very good head football coach who has trouble motivating his players. He does not convey a buck stops here attitude and consequently his pkayers don't take accoubtability for their conduct on or off the field. He is at best a "meh" coach. He needs a big year or he is history. He may be a guy who lands back at a solid to elite coordinator position. Call it a clique but he just does not have that "it."

MGomaha

October 7th, 2013 at 9:53 PM ^

3-2, tied for the lead in the division and just lost a game against one of the best organizations in football with the most valuable player in the league out and came up just short in a game at Arizona. Let's not forget they have three relatively easy wins over playoff teams from last year. But man, he's a terrible coach. He led the team to their first playoff birth this millenium. What a scrub!

Seriously, everyone is a bunch of ungrateful assholes and it makes me not want to come around the Board posts that often.

bronxblue

October 7th, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^

So he got mad at Harbaugh for being a little rough with the handshake.  Harbaugh has shown himself to be rather insufferable even if a great coach.

He made a bad call on Thanksgiving.  It wasn't like the Lions were going to the playoffs anyway, and it was a weird situation all around.

As for lack of control, is that because Suh gets fined for hitting people too hard, or because a couple of Lions got in trouble in the offseason, which happens to virtually every team in the NFL.  

I think Schwartz is a mediocre coach, but I don't think that he has displayed particularly poor character while doing it. 

phil

October 7th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^

You don't seriously believe Suh just gets fined for hard hits, do you?  Just this week on the first series he stuck his leg out and tripped Aaron Rodgers after Rodgers ran around him.  

Do you really need me to bring up the countless dirty / late hits or when he stamps on o-linemen's legs when they are down?

It's time to face the fact that Suh is a dirty player and you can't win with that kind of guy on your team, especially in today's NFL.

Maybe you'd also like to defend Tom Gholston for his plays against Lewan and Denard 2 years ago as well.   

 

Mr. Peteyall

October 8th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^

His hits were hard, sometimes "high" (whatever the NFL determines that to be this week), and occasionally late.  He never stomped on players, tripped quarterbacks, or got into fights after the play.

TheLastHarbaugh

October 7th, 2013 at 7:14 PM ^

I have to reply again, because I get so sick of the media spin that plays a huge role in tagging the Lions with this BS.

Let's look at everyone's model franchse, the New England Patriots...

Rodney Harrison was considered far and away the dirtiest player in the league for a long time and was practically celebrated for his hard nosed play.

They drafted Brandon Merriweather, who started a fight and stomped on an opposing player during a game. He was also involved in a shooting incident where he was shot at and returned fire on the shooters.

Aquib Talib got into a fist fight with a teammate, beat up a taxi cab driver, pulled a gun on his sister's boyfriend and shot at him.

Alphonso Dennard beat up a police officer and was arrested for a DUI while on probation for beating up said police officer.

Dante Stallworth killed a guy while driving drunk, and the Pats brought him in.

Corey Dillon was a serial wife beater and the Pats had no problem with bringing him in.

Albert Haynesworth, he also of the stomping, was brought in by the Pats. Haynesworth also paralyzed a guy in a car accident when he was driving over 100mph on the freeway. He also impregnated a stripper and failed to pay any child support, and punched another guy in a road rage incident.

Chad Ochocinco (need I say more?) was brought in.

How about Willie Andrews, with gun charges, assaulting his girlfriend, and pulling a gun on her.

Oh, and I haven't even brought up Aaron Hernandez yet.

I could go on and on because the Pats are one of the worst offenders when it comes to employing shitty people, but no one ever brings it up.

Winning gives you a pass, but the facts are still the facts. The Pats are a far dirtier organization than the Lions. Hell, it wasn't the Lions who were involved in one of the largest sports cheating scandals of the past decade (Spygate).

NorthSideBlueFan

October 7th, 2013 at 9:31 PM ^

Their NFL Championships in '52, '53 and '57 say hello.

That just shows you are trolling with no facts and saying inflammatory shit cause you don't like the Lions. Congrats, we get it.
Also, saying Patriots and model franchise in 2013 is about the funniest GD thing I've heard In a long time. You do realize one of their top players is locked up without bail and about to go on trial for 3 murders, right? Way to stay current with your meme's.

1blockradius

October 7th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^

For the last Nebraska vs Michigan game in the big house I saw him yelling at a group of Michigan fans from the sidelines for the better part of the game. He seemed like a real asshole, but then again I'm sure he was probably yelling back at assholes.



goblue20111

October 7th, 2013 at 5:18 PM ^

He's been fined for alteractions with fans before. Doesn't surprise me sadly. Before any comments about Schwartz and the lack of discipline, some his incidents were pre-Schwartz but it's not like he's does much to reign his players in.

TheLastHarbaugh

October 7th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

FWIW, Louis Delmas reportedly went up to the band members and apologized, thanked them for their performance and informed them that the Lions were dealing with the incident.

TheLastHarbaugh

October 7th, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^

I'm willing to give Raiola a pass for the most part.

He has been on the Lions for over a decade and is one of the few players over that stretch of time who has been proud to suit up in the Honolulu Blue. He's been undersized and an underdog throughout his career and that massive chip on his shoulder has manifested itself in many ways over the years. One of those ways is his complete disdain for douche bag "fans" and their shitty "LOLIONS!" comments.

This is going to come down to a they said-he said sort of deal, and obviously as the professional athlete in this scenario he's going to lose almost every time, particularly when the other side are a bunch of college kids.

He shouldn't have been mean to them, even assuming they were heckling the Lions. 

However, that doesn't mean the guy is a classes thug, a douche bag, or a terrible human being.

Young John Beilein

October 7th, 2013 at 5:56 PM ^

The flipside is that just because he is a tough competitor and plays hard for his team, it doesn't mean that he's not a douche bag and a terrible human being.  I would certainly think that if he is getting into a yelling match with college kids at his age and saying the things he (allegedly) said, he is a bit immature, at least.

He's almost the reciprocal of Suh, who plays like a complete moron at times, but then seems to be a good guy off the field.

TheLastHarbaugh

October 7th, 2013 at 6:27 PM ^

I don't know what was said, and you don't either.

We only have allegations.

If he did make those comments, then obviously I'm not going to give him a pass for it.

From what I've seen, you are definitely the type of person who would try to twist someone's argument around to make it seem like they're defending something they're not though.