Lions err in letting Fairley, Young hide
Nick Fairley and Titus Young are old enough to score multimillion-dollar contracts from the Detroit Lions for their football prowess. They are of legal age to vote and, yes, consume alcohol. But facing the music for off-the-field incidents? The Lions blew a chance for a teachable moment Tuesday by shielding Fairley, 24, and Young, 22. After practice they were escorted off the field by security and kept away from the news media. As if they can’t handle those what-were-youthinking queries like stand-up men.
Fairley was charged with driving under the influence Sunday in Mobile, Ala. The promising defensive tackle was arrested in early April and charged with marijuana possession.
Young hasn’t had any legal issues since being drafted in the second round in 2011. He just appears to have a fuse that’s too short. He was barred from organized team activities last week after fighting safety Louis Delmas. This is the same guy who punched New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins during a Mercedes-Benz Superdome meltdown in December.
Yet rather than the principles speaking, veterans, including Nate Burleson and Kyle Vanden Bosch, were left to try to explain what’s going on. Head coach Jim Schwartz was peppered, too. “There’s certainly accountability and a lot of layers to that,” Schwartz said. “What we have here is a case of a few guys tainting the reputation of a lot of others.”
You think? Add Schwartz’s rep to that mix, too, as the up-and-coming Lions — with five player arrests this offseason — continue to fuel their image as a team out of control. Last season it was a series of on-the-field incidents, including Ndamukong Suh’s Thanksgiving walk-off stomp of Green Bay Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith.
If issues persist, Schwartz (who drew attention for angrily chasing San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh after a game last season) and general manager Martin Mayhew will bear more and more blame, just by association.
They have drafted repeat offenders in Fairley and running back Mikel Leshoure, arrested twice this year on marijuana charges.
Said Schwartz, “The issues have been almost all young guys . . . coming off their rookie years.”
Mayhew declined to comment when reached by USA TODAY Sports.
A team spokesman said Tuesday’s news media dodge was an “organizational decision.” Even weaker, the locker room also was off-limits.
Young apologized to teammates in person and to fans through a statement. Fairley might be employing the oft-prescribed crisis strategy of remaining silent until his court date.
Yet what’s wrong with letting them speak for themselves? What a message of accountability that could have been. That’s what Suh did on Thanksgiving, even if he sounded like a man in denial. He got it off his chest and then moved on.
The Lions ended a 12-year playoff drought in 2011. To become elite, they need better crisis management — if not crisis avoidance. Maybe it’s the organizational culture.
Lem Barney, the Lions’ Hall of Fame cornerback, is hardly surprised. Barney told me that when he visited on “veterans day” during training camp, another type of shield existed. “We spend more time talking amongst ourselves as former players than we do in talking with the current players,” said Barney, who played from 1967 to 1977. “In my day, former ballplayers were welcomed.”
He insisted his generation would have faced the music. “It’s like the old song, ‘What you see is what you get,’ ” he said. Give Jarrett Bell your opinion on Twitter @JarrettBell