Raiola does some Blocking off the Field.

At this point I'm looking for anything to talk about other than the depressing Lions loss to what WAS arguably the worst team in football. So instead of writing about that debacle I'm going to focus an interesting story that came out of this game.

At one point some fans were heckling new Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and this apparently got under the skin of his starting center Dominic Raiola. Raiola, who has been one of the few vocal leaders of the Lions in the last few years, told fans that they needed to lay off Stafford. "Back him up," Raiola said. "It's his first year here. You want to run him out of town already? You know what I'm saying? That just hit home with me because I've been through it with Joey. They sent him packing. Quick. And they're not going to do it to this guy. I'm going to be right here next to him."

I don't know what the reaction of most Lions fans is going to be on this subject, but I know that I enjoy seeing my players show some unity. Even though the Lions still have problems this situation makes me think tha there is a chemistry in this locker room that hasn't been there in a long time. I believe that in the past Lions teams were content with losing, but with a new coach and a new style its starting to look like these guys finally have some fire in their belly.

Now I know there are gonna be some of you out there that think Raiola is just getting into another arguement with fans (fined $7,500 for shooting some hecklers the bird last season), but I don't think thats the case. Raiola is tired of losing and I think he thinks Stafford is the right guy for the job and if thats the case I would be upset if he wasn't defending his quarterback in the press.

Well thats my take on the topic, but I want to know what your thinking. If you've got something to say leave me a comment or two and I'll do my best to defend my position.

Also if you would like to read more about the Raiola situation you can read articles from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News respectively at the following links.

http://www.freep.com/article/20091102/SPORTS01/911020338/1049/sports/Raiola-Show-Stafford-more-patience-than-Joey

http://www.detnews.com/article/20091102/SPORTS0101/911020351/1265/SPORTS08/Dominic-Raiola-confronts-fans--defends-Stafford