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Reflections Inside the
Lions' Den
By John Herbst
It was hot at the end of July. Hot enough to kill. And though the Detroit
Lions were training at Saginaw Valley State University, all thoughts were
with the arch-rival Minnesota Vikings following the heatstroke death of
27-year-old all-pro offensive lineman Korey Stringer, who collapsed during
that team's July 31 practice at Mankato, Minnesota and died 15 hours later.
Much has been said recently about how carefully football players are
monitored for heat-related problems during the camps. And it s true that
Stringer was the first death in the National Football League directly
attributable to working out in these blast furnace conditions (the Saginaw
camp recorded high temperatures over 95 degrees for more than a week), but
it still makes you wonder.
It is worth noting that 18 deaths at the high school and college level have
been attributed to heat stroke since 1995, according to the University of
North Carolina s National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.
That's three per year, and we're not done with this year's camps.
Stringer s death came just six days after University of Florida freshman
Eraste Autin collapsed and died under similar conditions. It's always hot
in Florida in July.
The temperature at Mankato at the
time Stringer collapsed was 88 degrees
with a heat index of 103. At Saginaw, it was even hotter.
Two days after Stringer, Northwestern University safety Rashidi Wheeler
died of a severe bronchial asthma attack during a workout at Evanston,
Illinois. The temperature was only in the low 80s at the time and heat
exhaustion is not considered a factor. Wheeler had already run ten
100-yard dashes, eight 80-yard dashes and six 60-yarders when he dropped.
Northwestern coach Randy Walker said players receive a certain amount of
recovery time, but maybe not enough for an asthmatic.
Perhaps more disturbingly, Northwestern counts approximately ten asthmatics
on its roster.
Former MSU running back
Sedric Irvin (with ball) runs around a block (read: illegal hold)
by Eric Beverly during
practice at SVSU Tuesday afternoon
So why do football players do this to themselves? It's machismo, partly --
but it s also hammered into them. Be tough. Sweat it out. And no
football player is going to excuse himself from practice just because of
the weather conditions. These guys can and do play with torn muscles and
broken fingers. "Show me a football player who takes himself out of
practice, and I'll show you a player who is probably not going to stay long
in the league," said Mike Golic, a former Notre Dame and NFL star who now
works for ESPN Radio.
Football is a tough, brutal game. How many concussions did Dallas Cowboys
quarterback Troy Aikman suffer in his career -- six? Joe Namath's knees
were so fragile that the New York Jets playbook didn't include any running
plays for the quarterback, because Joe couldn't run. He passed, he handed
the ball off or he fell down.
Career-ending injuries happen all the time. Knees blow. Achilles tendons
rupture. Bones shatter and brains get sloshed against the insides of
skulls.
Athletes' don t usually die from any of it. Any NFL player can hit you
hard enough to finish your career. But it takes Mother Nature to kill you.
Stringer's core body temperature was 108 degrees by the time anyone
noticed. A spokesman for the Vikings seemed to contradict any talk of
close monitoring, admitting after Stringer's death that the lineman had
vomited several times during practice for two consecutive days. By the
time he was taken to an air-conditioned shelter during the Tuesday morning
practice, it was too late. Stringer developed weakness and rapid breathing.
What to do? Well, some teams -- the Lions not among them -- have already
begun to hold more practices in the comparative cool of the evening. The
Carolina Panthers had already scheduled seven evening practices at their
training camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Playing football in the heat of July and August is stupid and can be deadly
but, like so many other things in life, it is explained by following the
money.
Team owners schedule four exhibition games each year. In Detroit's case,
two home games attended by (conservatively) 60,000 fans at a minimum of $40
per ticket, works out to $5 million of extra income, not including
concessions or parking or souvenirs.
You think the Fords are going to turn down that kind of money? Would you?
So the month of August, hot and humid and more suited to the pastoral
pleasures of baseball, instead finds young men wearing plastic helmets and
shoulder pads and nylon jerseys running full-tilt in 90-plus degree
temperatures.
Cut the exhibition season to two games (one home, one away), start and end
the regular season two weeks later and the pros play a schedule not unlike
that of high school players, albeit longer. They get paid very well, so
they can deal with it through the winter months.
But the summer heat is a killer.
Korey Stringer's death, I hope, was a wake-up call for the pros
specifically and for football generally. However, I fear that much of the
chatter we hear just now about any future re-examination of training camps
serves only to cover the NFL's ass. The sports writers smell blood coming
from this multi-billion dollar cash cow, and they re swarming as only
sharks and media weasels can.
College football, with its exploitation of youngsters who often have no
legitimate reason to be on a college campus; with its generation of
millions upon millions of dollars while the athletes are given not a dime;
with its abysmal graduation rates and its academic hypocrisy, represents
much of what is wrong with sports today. Huge athletic programs at huge
schools exploit kids every day and the NCAA sees nothing wrong with that.
Cue up the fight song and keep the cash flowing. But that s another topic
for another time. Pro players know it s a business, and if they want to
push themselves beyond any reasonable human limits for a (healthy) paycheck
-- well, that's up to them.
There will probably be more indoor sessions and more evening practices as
well. Nobody in their right mind would spend the money to build a new
indoor facility such as the Lions are putting up in Allen Park, just south
of Detroit, and not utilize it to the maximum.
Team management isn't talking (always a bad sign), but I suspect we have
seen the final training camp at SVSU.
The camp moved here because Bobby Ross wanted to get away from the Detroit
area during the early practices. With his departure, I believe, will come
the departure of the camp as well.
Matt Millen, the Lions' new president and CEO, commented to Geoff Mott of
the Saginaw News that there would be "changes for next year if we come
back. Everything could change. We just have to re-examine the whole
picture."
Specifically, he doesn't much care for the carnival atmosphere outside the
playing fields. While marketing may want to attach bells and whistles to
the training camp in order to draw fans, Millen is a football man first and
foremost. He took the job to build a winning team and nobody can criticize
him for that.
Though the team initially drew 150,000 fans to Saginaw Valley State in
1997, the attendance has gradually dropped to around 50,000 this session.
The bloom is off the rose and I suspect Millen would just as soon get out.
It costs the Lions around $500,000 per camp to come to Saginaw. That s $10
per fan -- some very expensive marketing. If the Lions win with Millen and
new head coach Marty Mornhinweg, nobody will much care about the camp --
which is good, because the Allen Park facility will be off-limits to the
general public.
Saginaw Valley State's sports facilities, especially the turf at Wickes
Stadium and the adjacent practice field, have been upgraded at the Lions'
expense. But I can't see any real reason for the continuation of the
partnership. The school has made some nice money and gotten a boatload of
free publicity from the camp, but if the Lions don't return SVSU can't say
much except thanks for the memories.
The Lions have been the epitome of mediocrity for more than 40 years. Now,
all at once, Detroit has a new team president and a new coach. William
Clay Ford Jr. is taking over more and more of the responsibilities from his
father. Next year, the team will both practice and play in spanking new
facilities.
The Silverdome will be gone, to no one's regret. In short, everything is
changing and I suspect changing for the better.
A move to Allen Park will preclude the fans from attending the camp, cost
Saginaw Valley some money and put me out of an assignment come July. But I
-- we -- will gladly take all of that iif the team finally gets to the Super Bowl.
So, how are the Lions going to do this year? I think they re going to do
okay. The NFC Central is always one of the toughest divisions in the
league, and this year four out of its five teams could win the title.
Chicago looks like a certain bottom dweller, but the Lions will be stronger
than last year's 9-7 squad.
Both the offensive and defensive lines have been upgraded. Detroit used
its first-round draft pick on offensive tackle Jeff Backus (6'5", 308,
Michigan) and their second pick on center Dominic Raiola (6'1", 303,
Nebraska). That's three years in a row that the Lions used a first round
pick on their offensive line.
Backus will likely start alongside second year guard Stockar McDougle,
while Raiola should back up veteran Eric Beverly. The right side of the
line includes free-agent addition Brenden Stai (formerly of Jacksonville)
at guard, huge but oft-injured third-year tackle Aaron Gibson (Wisconsin)
and also oft-injured tight end David Sloan.
Tackle Ray Roberts is about to announce his retirement as I write this, but
other reserves include guards Tony Semple and Kerlin Blaise and tight end
Pete Mitchell (signed as a free agent from the New York Jets).
Adding another tackle will be necessary, but the Lions look okay across the
offensive front.
The defensive line is among the best in the league with Robert Porcher,
James Jones, Luther Elliss and Tracy Scroggins starting, backed by Alonzo
Spellman, Travis Kirschke, Kelvin Pritchett and James Hall (Michigan). The
Lions added defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (Texas) with a second round pick
this year.
Similarly, the special team players: kicker Jason Hanson, punter John Jett
and returners Desmond Howard (Michigan), Terry Fair and Larry Foster are
all among the best. The Lions should have no problems here nor with the
receiving corps -- Johnnie Morton, Germane Crowell, Herman Moore, Foster
and Howard could all start, while rookie Scotty Anderson and second-year
man Henry Douglas should both see some significant playing time as well.
Linebacking is solid. Allen Aldridge, Stephen Boyd and Chris Claiborne
should start, while Scott Kowalkowski, Clint Kriewaldt and Barrett Green
relieve. Taken as a group, the six are steady and all can be very good.
Starting quarterback Charlie Batch (Eastern Michigan) is expected to thrive
in the new West Coast offense but if he stumbles or gets hurt, 16-year
veteran Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) will be ready to step in. Detroit also
drafted Mike McMahon from Rutgers with a fifth-round pick, which leaves
third year signal caller Cory Sauter as the odd man out.
Lions quaterback Charlie
Batch
James Stewart should start at halfback and Cory Schlesinger at fullback.
Brock Olivo, Sedrick Irvin (MSU), Lamont Warren and either Reuben Droughns
or Amp Lee will also make the roster. Stewart did a fine job for the Lions
last season and the tough, stumpy Schlesinger is always a fan favorite.
Detroit should be okay here, too.
That leaves the defensive backfield as the most likely place for a
collapse. I think it s better than it has been in a few years but Flint's
own Todd Lyght, in his eleventh season, is slated to start the season in
place of Bryant Westbrook. Terry Fair, Robert Bailey and either Ray
McElroy or Jimmy Wyrick should also share time at cornerback. Starters at
the safety positions will be Kurt Schulz and Ron Rice (Eastern Michigan),
backed up by Kywin Supernaw and Lamar Campbell.
That's the roster or, at least, the upper part of it. The team looked good
in its opening pre-season loss to Cincinnati (don t worry about the fourth
quarter collapse -- which came while the never-gonna-bes were on the field)
and I think the new offense will work.
Things are where they ought to be in mid-August. The Lions are a good home
team. Figure them for about 6-2 at the Silverdome in 2001. Now, road
games are tougher, but Detroit could take advantage of a light road
schedule this season.
Away games are: Green Bay, Cleveland, Minnesota, San Francisco, Arizona,
Chicago, Tampa Bay and, finally, Pittsburgh. Split these evenly on wins
and losses (I'll say wins at Cleveland, Arizona, Chicago and Pittsburgh)
and the Lions are 10-6 and more than likely in the playoffs.
That's my guess -- if injuries crop up, Detroit might stumble, but 10-6
represents only one more win than last year.
I think thats realistic. I think the Lions are playoff bound. Of course,
I also thought the Tigers would finish at .500 this year. And we see how
that's gone.
I 'll see you at the stadium.
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