Is Joseph Fauria Angling For A Second Chance With Lions?
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Once upon a time, Joseph Fauria was a touchdown machine for the Lions.
He's hoping the team's recent red zone struggles might convince management to give him a call.
Fauria, whose seven touchdowns in 2013 are tied for the most by a Lions tight end in a single season in the Super Bowl era, hasn't played since being released by the Patriots in 2015. He's currently a free agent.
After the Lions' loss to the Steelers on Sunday night in which Detroit failed to score a touchdown and gained just 10 yards on 16 plays in the red zone, Fauria made some noise on Twitter.
When Fauria was asked if he's in game shape, he responded, "Yes. Very much so! Best of my life." And he's free for the rest of the season.
Lions fans, who are almost unanimously done with Eric Ebron, seem to be on board with the idea of bringing back Fauria.
NBC's Mike Florio reported on Sunday that Detroit will "almost surely" deal Ebron before Tuesday's trade deadline.
Yeah Lions need somebody with hands! A TE that can dance after TDs too. You know anybody like that?????
— bigveeinthed???? (@bigVeeintheD) October 30, 2017
Fauria signed with the Lions as an undrafted rookie in 2013 and quickly took the league by storm. But his career took a turn for the worse when he suffered a mysterious ankle injury in his own home in the fall of 2014.
He claimed he fell while chasing his puppy, a story that reeked of a cover-up. The Lions cut him before the 2015 season.
At least one fan made note of this on Twitter.
Even Christian Fauria, Joseph's uncle and a former NFL tight end himself, doesn't know the full truth of Joseph's injury — if there's indeed more to be told.
"I actually don't know know, I don't. I wish I knew, because I ask him," Fauria told 97.1 The Ticket. "I figure enough time goes by and we'll be having a couple drinks, throwing some down, I'll tell him a story that I'm uncomfortable with and maybe that'll open up the gate to have some truth serum come out of him – no.
"But I will say this: whenever somebody gets hurt and it involves a dog, a shower, or anything like that, I don't believe it."
Though the Lions struggled in the red zone on Sunday night, they entered play with a touchdown rate of 60 percent, tied for the fifth best mark in the NFL.