Today I saw a video clip from this weekend's game between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears showing the Detroit center, Dominic Raiola stomping on an opposing player's ankle after the play is over. To be fair, Mr. Raiola has since denied that he did this on purpose, in fact he states he did not even see the opposing player's leg there before he unintentionally stepped on it.

Before I rant about why this guy needs to not be playing in the NFL anymore, I'll let you take a look at the video and let you decide for yourself if this was or was not intentional.

Now as bad as that is, okay hey that in itself may have been a moment of passion and there may be real remorse, hey everyone deserves a second chance, right?

This however is the same player who at the end of a game against the New England Patriots dove at the opposing players knees during a kneel down! He was fined $10,000 for that.

Now add to that that this is the same guy who screamed obscenities at the University of Wisconsin's BAND before they took the field for a half time show last year when the Lions took on the Packers. This "event" forcing the team's management to publicly apologize and stress that this sort of behavior is inconsistent with their expectations of their players.

This is also the same Dominic Raiola who four years ago was caught on tape telling Miami Dolphin fans after a game that they should suck his (not a lollipop).

I'm sorry but that stomp WAS intentional please don't insult everyone's intelligence by saying it is not. Clearly there are at the very least some serious sportsmanship issues here if not deep emotional issues.To be honest I only blame these players for a portion of this rising tide of violence and crime, if we are being completely fair they are encouraged to be this way on the field , it is in fact many time demanded of them by their teams and teammates.

These sort of actions are what players in the locker room laugh about for 5 seconds while the rest of us have to spend an hour explaining to our 12 year old boys that , that is in fact NOT how you play a sport. Verbally abusing or intentionally trying to injure someone is NOT acceptable son. "Yeah but Dad, my favorite player...."

When does the NFL take real action? When do they take steps to help this guy with some clear anger issues? AFTER they have used him for years and destroyed his body leaving him unable to do any other physical labor in his post NFL career? AFTER he does something violent or embarrassing to the NFL in the real world? This is the problem with the NFL, there are no real standards of professionalism required. Just keep it out of the public's eye and keep playing like an all pro and everything is fine. Really?

Some would argue that these are the best players in the world and the NFL's quality would suffer with more stringent guidelines on professionalism and sportsmanship. Okay i see your point but I for one am tired of my hard earned money going to guy's like this in bank trucks. I'm sure if anything comes of this latest stunt he may get fined the equivalent of us mere normal folk getting a $100 fine. That should send a message!

 

 

 

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