Sam Farmer of the LA Times wrote an excellent article this weekend--well, several, really--but one of them focused on Larry Foote's arrival in Detroit. While the article won't be completely unfamiliar to the Lions-obsessed, there are a couple of notes on his character in there that will definitely make any fan proud to have Foote on the roster.
During the runup to the draft, I made an impassioned plea to the Lions' brass to draft Aaron Curry. One of the primary reasons was that the Lions' roster, during the Fontes "glory years", was stocked with high-character players; men with deep ties to the city. Guys like Herman Moore and Robert Porcher were not only Pro Bowl-caliber players on the field, they became pillars of the community. Given the state of Detroit's (and Michigan's) economy, is there an NFL city that more desperately needs its team to be not only a source of civic pride, but an actual agent of growth and change? I felt that even if Matt Stafford panned out as a quarterback, Aaron Curry--a kid who came from nothing, whose single mom worked like a dog to support her three boys--would be a much better avatar of the franchise than a kid from one of Dallas' most privileged suburbs.
Yet, in the post-draft free agent market, the Lions have added two players--Foote, and Jon Jansen--born and raised in the Detroit area, schooled at U of M, and absolutely thrilled to be back home. Moreover, they'll help bolster two of the Lions' weakest positions from last year: linebacker and offensive line. As the Lions rebuild their team with fresh young talent from around the nation, it's great to know that they'll be taking their cues from high-character leaders who love the city as much as the city loves them.
Discuss it here, in The Den!
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