Fewer Off-Field Incidents Allow Lions To Focus On Football
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - For the Detroit Lions, the usual coach-speak about minimizing distractions hits more of a chord than it might for other teams.
In the 2012 off-season, the Lions saw a player arrested in seven straight months - January, February, March, April, May, June and July, according to the San Diego Union-Times NFL arrests database.
Police arrested offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath for marijuana possession Jan. 23. Running back Mikel Leshoure was arrested twice in the span of a month for the marijuana possession, the second time earning him a two-game suspension from the NFL. After Leshoure's incidents, less than a month passed before police arrested defensive tackle Nick Fairley for marijuana possession April 3. Fairley found trouble again in late May, when he was arrested for a DUI and attempting to elude police. Cornerback Aaron Berry was eventually cut from the team in July after being arrested on suspicion of DUI June 23 and for assault July 21.
"Distractions hurt us as a team last year," Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said Thursday. "I never really commented much on that, but obviously it was on our daily agenda, so to speak."
It is not as if the Lions have been wholly angelic this off-season. Safety Amari Spievey was arrested for third degree assault, risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct during a child support dispute March 26, and Ronnell Lewis was arrested following an altercation at a bar April 20.
Two incidents this off-season, compared to seven last off-season, is a major improvement for the Lions. If nothing happens in the coming week, the team will have gone three months without an off-season incident.
Schwartz seemed confident that would remain the case.
"I think we're in a much better place right now," he said.
