On Monday, the Detroit Lions released second-year wide receiver Titus Young. That sound you heard shortly after was the entire Lions fan-base breathing a sigh of relief.

For the majority of his tenure in the Motor City, Young offered little in the way of positivity. He was a cancer in the locker room, he was largely unproductive on the field, and he showed little effort to rein in his bad behavior and piss poor attitude.

Really, it was only a matter of time before the Lions’ front office did what they had likely been threatening for quite some time — and that was let him go.

Even in his rookie season, Young’s behavior foreshadowed his eventual demise. He was a nuisance on the field — showing a lack of discipline so infuriating even the Oakland Raiders would blush. And then last summer, Young was sent home after punching safety Louis Delmas during voluntary workouts.

As his production on the field dropped, it seems his desire to be a loyal teammate did, too.

Young was sent home a second time after he purposefully lined up incorrectly in the Nov. 18 game against the Green Bay Packers. And his fight with wide receiver coach Shawn Jefferson was just icing on an already bitter cake. » Continue reading “The Curious Case of Titus Young”

In case you missed it yesterday, Calvin Johnson didn’t practice and he had his left index finger taped. Subsequently, everyone lost their damn minds. But fear not, Megatron missed Monday’s practice due merely to what Jim Schwartz called a scheduled day off.

“He wasn’t shut down because of his finger,” Schwartz said. “Just general camp kind of legs and soreness. He needed a day here, too. Calvin doesn’t have a regulator, either.”

When asked about his finger, Johnson said it was injured but that he would be fine. Johnson was also asked about the Madden Curse, to which he replied: “I’m a God fearing man. Curses don’t bother me.”

Well that’s good.

With Schwartz, you never quite know if he’s being honest about injuries, but in this case, I don’t think we have much to worry about (::knocks on wood::). Johnson was at practice today, though his finger was still taped up.

Other notes from training camp: » Continue reading “Calvin Johnson’s Finger and More Notes from Training Camp”

Yes, it’s true. The Detroit Lions have, in fact, had an offseason. I know that notion might be confusing to all three of my readers who — and I say this with 100 percent confidence — have no doubt checked my page feverishly over the past two months.

Oh, you didn’t? You didn’t even know I was gone? *shows myself to the door*

Regardless of whether you’ve missed me or not, I’m back. And I promise to not ever leave you hanging like that again. So, without further ado, I’m going to try to catch all of you (but mostly myself) up on the big things that have happened in the past two months. Ready? Break!

1. Someone got arrested
2. Someone else got arrested.
3. I think there was an arrest.
4. Yep, there was definitely an arrest.

Oh, I kid. Kind of, but not really. Let’s get caught for real this time, shall we? » Continue reading “The Detroit Lions Have Had an Offseason (Despite My Lack of Telling You About it)”

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco recently published a list of the top 100 players in football and three Detroit Lions made the cut. The list, voted on solely by Prisco, was based on “eyes (mine), ears (listening to scouts) and hours of watching tape.”

The Lions finished as follows:

• No. 4 – WR Calvin Johnson

• No. 50 – QB Matthew Stafford

» Continue reading “Three Detroit Lions Make Top 100 Players List”

The Detroit Lions start organized team activities (OTAs) Monday, which can only mean one thing … organized team activities start Monday. There’s been a steady stream of news this off season, but I would expect it to pick up a bit next week.

In the meantime, let’s talk about some things I missed recently.

• The Lions placed RB Jerome Harrison on the reserved/non-football illness list. The move means Harrison will be out for the 2012 season, but it also means the Lions have space for two signings they made official this week. Harrison’s trade to the Eagles was halted last season after doctors discovered a brain tumor in his physical.

• After rookie mini-camp last week, the Lions signed safety Sam Proctor and wide receiver Wallace Miles. Proctor played college at the University of Oklahoma — making him the fourth Sooner rookie to be signed by the Lions. Miles played his college ball at North Carolina A&T.

• Matthew Stafford recently visited the Pentagon and White House and WXYZ has video of the event.

• After being named Madden 13 cover boy, Calvin Johnson made numerous media stops immediately following the reveal in Times Square. Luckily for Lions fans, the good people at EA Sports caught all this on tape and released a behind-the-scenes video of his whirlwind media blitz. Check out the video after the jump: » Continue reading “Lions’ Droppings: News, Notes and Nonsense”

I really do my best to not go all fangirl on this blog. And with the exception of one or two rare occasions, I think I’ve done a pretty good job. But, I’m sorry, today is not the day for sublety. Screw pride. Screw other people taking me seriously. I don’t care.

Why? Because Calvin Johnson went yard at Comerica Park and like the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes yesterday.

Look, I love football. But when you take my favorite football player and put a baseball bat in his hand, he instantly becomes more awesome.

And then when said football player, with said baseball bat hits a home run that seemingly looks effortless, I actually die a little inside.

Johnson — who was invited to throw out the first pitch at last night’s Tigers game — took batting practice with the team. And like everything he does in life, he made it look easy.

On his fifth pitch from third-base coach Gene Lamont, Johnson launched a shot that cleared the left-field fence with considerable ease.

Check out the video of him taking batting practice after the jump: » Continue reading “Calvin Johnson Proves Once Again that He’s Better Than You”

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is certainly getting around these days.

In addition to being named the Madden 13 cover boy and recently appearing on David Letterman, Johnson will be featured in NBC’s Sunday Night Football opener with Faith Hill. Also known as “the most annoying two minutes in television.”

Unless you’re a dude, of course.

“It’ll be cool — we’ll do the thing they did last year where they have the players walking around while she’s singing –- something simple,” he said.

The Sunday night intro typically features top NFL stars along with video highlights and a leather-clad Hill singing annoyingly. Don’t believe me? You can watch last year’s after the jump. » Continue reading “Calvin Johnson to be part of ‘Sunday Night Football’ opener”

If you thought you knew what the Madden 13 cover with Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was going to look like, you were probably wrong.

That’s because the mock-ups we saw when Johnson was named the cover winner in Times Square a couple weeks ago weren’t the real deal. » Continue reading “EA Sports Reveals Madden 13 Cover with Calvin Johnson”

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson continued his media take over by being a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman Friday night. Johnson was asked to present Letterman’s “Top Ten” list titled “Top Ten Pieces Of Advice For Young Athletes.”

As I’m sure you can imagine, it was awesome. As I’m sure you can also imagine, this won’t be the last time Megatron is in the media. As a result of winning the Madden 13 cover vote, Johnson will likely be making many more stops to promote the game and subsequently himself and the Detroit Lions.

Here’s the video of Johnson on Letterman:

You can find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MelissaHeyboer and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barrysandersmemorialblog.

With his recent victory in the fan vote for the cover of Madden 13, Calvin Johnson had the honor of joining NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell on stage last night to announce the Detroit Lions 23rd pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Here’s the video of his announcement of OT Riley Reiff as the Lions newest member:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=157EQoXIJmY&feature

» Continue reading “Video: Calvin Johnson Announces Lions 23rd Pick”