Hi, I'm Nate Burleson. And I'm awesome.

Nate Burleson stopped by the NFL Network earlier this week to address — among other things — the off-season arrests that have brought attention to a few of the Detroit Lions second-year players.

When asked if he would talk to Mikel Leshoure, Johnny Culbreath, and Nick Fairley about their recent charges of marijuana possessions, Burleson gave the affirmative. And it makes sense, considering Burleson is certainly a leader in the locker room and a widely respected athlete on and off the field.

“I’m just going to say tighten up,” Burleson said during an appearance on “Total Access” Thursday on NFL Network. “We’ve done too much to get to where we’re at. There’s been a black cloud hanging over Detroit for so long, so for us to go from 6-10 to 10-6 and feel like we’re heading in the right direction and just a few mistakes happen, we’ve got to tell the young guys to get it together.

“But here’s the thing, I really believe that, in the analogy of football, you’ve got to fumble in order to have great ball security. So in life, these guys got to stumble a little bit. And you know as a young guy in the league, you’re going to make those mistakes and hopefully this is just one thing that happens and doesn’t happen again for a lot of these guys.” » Continue reading “Nate Burleson Addresses the State of the Detroit Lions”

In a radio interview Monday, Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand said that Johnny Culbreath, Nick Fairley, and Mikel Leshoure would all get a second chance after being busted for marijuana possession this off-season.

He also said he expects them to participate in the Lions voluntary workouts scheduled to start next Monday.

“We expressed disappointment last week, and I continue to express disappointment that guys put themselves in the position where they have to have an unpleasant interaction with law enforcement,” Lewand said. “That is something that should be avoided. But as we all know from life’s experiences, it happens, people make mistakes, and you want to give guys opportunities to correct those mistakes, learn from them and move forward.”

Lewand expressed disappointment in the three Lions players, but said it’s ultimately up to them to earn back the trust of the organization.

“In the case of all of our guys, they are good guys, and we still have to remember at times — and this is not to excuse anyone’s behavior — but guys are young,” Lewand said. “I think when all of us were in our early 20s, the feeling of invincibility was a lot higher than maybe it is today. » Continue reading “Lions: Culbreath, Fairley, Leshoure Will Get ‘Second Chance’”

Derp.

Yep. You read that right. Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley was arrested today in Mobile, Ala. on a second-degree marijuana possession charge — a misdemeanor offense in Alabama.

Words fail me.

Fairley was pulled over after Police received complaints of a speeding car through a residential neighborhood. It was then that police found marijuana in both his and the passenger’s possession. Fairley was arrested but later released on $1,000 bail.

This is the second Detroit Lions’ player to be busted for possession of marijuana in as many days, and the third this off-season.

Mikel Leshoure was charged yesterday — the second time in a month — and Johnny Culbreath was charged back in January. Ironically enough, all three of them are from the same 2011 draft class. Did you guys make a pact or something?

The Lions released the following statement about the incident: » Continue reading “Nick Fairley Charged with Marijuana Possession, Second Lions Player in 2 Days”

Detroit Lions running back Mikel Leshoure was arraigned today for possession of Marijuana stemming from a March 12 traffic stop. It’s his second offense in less than a month.

Details were released today about a routine traffic stop in Berrien County after a rented 2012 Mitsubishi Endeavor SUV was pulled over, according to a Baroda-Lake Township Police case report. Leshoure, the passenger in the car, apparently tried to “eat the weed” after being pulled over to hide it.

The Lions released the following statement: “We are aware of the reports. We are gathering more information and have no further comment at this time.”

This is the second time Leshoure is facing a possession of marijuana charge. On February 18 he was stopped in Benton Township. He plead guilty on March 1 to a reduced charge and paid a $485 fine.

Question? Why if you get caught for something once would you turn around and do it again less than a month later? I don’t know either. But Leshoure did, and so here we are.

Despite trying to eat the weed, Leshoure did cooperate when police asked him to spit it out and confessed to having smoked earlier. » Continue reading “Lions RB Mikel Leshoure Busted For Marijuana Possession … Again”

Things can only stay quiet in the offseason for so long. And then you start getting stories like this. Sigh.

The Lions backup offensive tackle, Johnny Culbreath, was arrested Monday in Orangeburg County, S.C.  for possession of an illegal substance — in this case, Marijuana.

According to the report, Culbreath was staying at the Country Inn and Suites, where a hotel clerk called the police to report that a guest was using marijuana. Surveillance videos had shown Culbreath putting something in a hallway drawer, and when the police asked him what he put in there, he answered, “two blunts.” Police then found what they described as “a small plastic bag with plant material” in the table.

He has since paid the $412 fine to end the case. » Continue reading “Lions Offensive Tackle Arrested for Marijuana Possession”

It would seem that the Lions draft class is finding any which way to miss the 2011 season.Though I doubt it’s on purpose, I’m starting to have my suspicions.

Nick Fairley went down in the first week of training camp with an injured foot. Mikel LeShoure suffered a season-ending Achilles injury shortly after. Titus Young missed most of the preseason with a hamstring injury. And now, seventh-round draft pick Johnny Culbreath will miss the entire season with an undisclosed medical condition.

Culbreath left practice last Monday due to an illness and wasn’t able to participate in the last game of the preseason against the Bills. Yesterday it was announced that Culbreath would be out indefinitely and shortly after was placed on injured reserved, confirming his season was over.

If you’re counting, that’s four of the Lions five draft picks who were injured in preseason. Three of which are still injured and two of which will definitely miss the entire season. Ouch. Doug Hogue, that means you’re the last rookie standing. We’re counting on you.

All joking aside, I wish Culbreath the best and a speed recovering.

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

By Marianne O'Leary via Wikimedia Commons

On the final day of the 2011 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions had just two picks remaining. Two picks they could have used to address their glaring needs in the secondary. Instead, they picked a linebacker — whose role will be more with special teams — and an offensive tackle.

With the 157th overall pick in the draft, the Lions selected Douglas Hogue, LB out of Syracuse. Hogue transitioned to linebacker from running back, where he played his first to years SU.

“Inexperience at the position, but he’s got a lot of potential,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “He’s shown a lot of things when he’s played linebacker at Syracuse. A little bit of a work in progress, but we think a guy that we can work with that fits exactly what we’re looking for in a linebacker and has a chance to really develop for us. Gonna be a special-teams player and has a possibility to develop into a linebacker role also.”

Maybe they see enough athleticism in this guy that his inexperience isn’t an issue. But it’s awfully scary to draft a guy at this kind of position who still needs to learn the ins and outs of it — especially at the professional level.

In the final round of the draft, with the 209th overall pick, the Lions selected offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath out of South Carolina St. Culbreath, who can play both sides of the ball, started all four years at SCSU, and was set to attend Florida State, but poor grades set him back.

The Lions selected South Carolina State offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath with the 209th overall pick in the final round of the NFL Draft on Saturday. The 6-foot-5, 322-pound left tackle is expected to add depth behind starters Gosder Cherilus and Jeff Backus

Jim Schwartz obviously sees a lot of potential in this guy. He’s 6’5, 233 pounds and a former wrestler, which I can only imagine adds some unique athletic talents to his arsenal.

“We like his size, we like his athletic ability,” said Head Coach Jim Schwartz. “He’s a little bit of a developmental project, but he has the tools. He’s a guy that our coaches are very anxious to work with.”

So Lions fans, that wraps the 2011 NFL Draft. How do you think Detroit fared? Stay tuned in the coming days for more analysis from me and the Lions camp on how they did this year.

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