Surprise! Key To Lions' Offense May Be The Tight End

There’s a snake lying in the grass on the Lions, as far as opposing teams should be concerned. That is, if snakes were over six feet tall and weighed over 200 pounds.

Roy Williams. Charlie Rogers. Mike Williams. The Kevins Jones and Johnson. All these, plus pal Joey Harrington, will get all the ink and airwaves in the next few weeks as Lions fans and the media goof around trying to figure out where the team will finish this season, or how they will begin.

But wait a minute -- what about Marcus Pollard?

Pollard, a tight end signed away from the Colts, is the aforementioned snake. While defensive secondaries scramble all over themselves trying to cover the Lions’ talented receiving corps, Harrington should be able to earn a lot of his dough finding Pollard for six, seven, eight yard gains as if he was playing a game of catch.

Pollard got lost in the shuffle in Indianapolis, too, mainly because of some quarterback named Peyton something, and the fact that all those TD passes the QB tossed went to receivers and running backs. But Pollard is a veteran, more than capable receiver, and he gives the Lions something they haven’t had since perhaps Charlie Sanders -- a veteran, more than capable receiver at the tight end position.

Pollard should be able to help the Lions point the way this season

With the Lions, tight end has seemed to either be a place for an untested rookie or an over-the-hill guy. It’s either been a Casey FitzSimmons or Rodney Holman type, to give you a couple of examples. David Sloan looked to be on the verge of goodness, but he got hurt and was never the same. But Pollard can catch, block some, and has been a part of explosive offenses before, something that folks are whispering could be used to describe the Lions this season.

Besides the suspect abilities of the men who’ve played the position, the Lions have also treated the tight end like a leper. In the run-and-shoot days, tight ends weren’t even on the roster. Then, when they did accumulate them, the Lions refused to use them. Or, they had a guy who could block but not catch, or who could catch but not block. They made up a good tight end -- combined.

In this West Coast Offense, supposedly, the tight end gets some touches, to use a basketball term. And you could do a lot worse to touch the football than Marcus Pollard. So if the Lions are serious about this West Coast thing, I suggest they look Pollard’s way when it comes to a crucial 3rd-and-5 kind of play. Seriously, I can’t imagine how you can cover everyone with this offense. Or Pollard could help lead the blocking on a screen pass to Kevin Jones. See how easy it is to be an offensive coordinator sitting in front of your computer monitor?

All levity aside, watch for Marcus Pollard this season. The dude can play a little bit of football, and he plays it at a position that will be often ignored by opposing defensive coaches. That’s how you get bitten by snakes, you know.

Five More Years Of Millen? GOOD!

So I see where Matt Millen just signed up for five more years. And you know what? I’m glad.

Relax, all you Millen-bashers; don’t go looking for a pigskin on which to gnaw. The Lions need this, really. You can’t be changing directions every few years. And, I hate to break this to you, but Matt is actually doing a pretty good job. It just took him a few years to feel his way in this football executive thing.

The man has drafted well, and although I’m not going to throw a bunch of factoids at you to support that claim, suffice it to say that there are quite a few starters and contributors on this club that are Millen draft picks. Free agency has seen some busts, but mostly the players Millen has brought in have been serviceable, even Pro Bowl caliber in some instances. Look at the roster right now -- it’s full of youth and speed and skill, on both sides of the ball. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Matt Millen’s roster appears to be more suited to face the rigors of this NFL season than Ken Holland’s most recent Red Wings roster was to be successful in the most recent NHL playoffs. How about them apples?

Millen’s biggest mistake -- and he made many, I know, at first -- was hiring an inexperienced man as his first head coach. Millen himself has admitted that he, basically, was clueless at first, stepping from the broadcast booth into an NFL front office. So it didn’t help matters that he hired Marty Mornhinweg, who had never been a head coach in the league. The blind-leading-the-blind approach was disastrous and set the Millen agenda back a few years. His second biggest faux pas, in my eyes, was waiting three seasons before he provided Joey Harrington with a legitimate NFL quarterback to push him and help him.

But both of those errors have been corrected, and all there is to do now is tweak things and allow Steve Mariucci to prove his value. That’s exactly the position in which a good football executive should place himself. And with Millen’s new extension, it sends the message to Mariucci and the players that the boss ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. That means stability, and that is what every successful NFL franchise has had.

Did I just insinuate that the Lions are on their way to being a successful NFL franchise? Well, all I’ll tell you is that yesterday’s news of Millen’s re-signing didn’t do a thing to harm those chances. No joke.

All Those Who Should Be In The Hall Of Fame Take A Step Forward -- Not So Fast, Raffy

Well, well -- I’d say the voters who decide such matters as which players are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame will have quite a little dilemma on their hands in five, six or seven years -- depending on when Rafael Palmeiro retires.

Palmeiro was proven to have used steroids, which not only is a violation of the game’s rules, but a violation of his own words, when he waggled his finger at Congress in March and said, "I don’t use steroids, and never have. Period."

Instead of "period," maybe he should have used some other form of punctuation, like "semi-colon," or "ellipses" or "comma," followed by a qualifier of some sort.

Raffy, with his own brand of denial (love the index finger)

Now Palmeiro says he didn’t "knowingly" ingest these steroids, and frankly, that’s where I stop following that part of the story. I guess anybody can deny anything if you use logic like that.

But the part that I won’t stop following, because it’s far too big to ignore and it makes for great debate, is whether or not Raffy should be allowed into the Hall of Fame. My knee-jerk reaction was yes, because I also believe Pete Rose should be in the Hall.

But then I stopped myself and thought, "Wait a minute -- Petey should go in because I don’t think what he allegedly did had anything to do with what he accomplished as a player on the field." Ahh, there’s the rub -- because if Palmeiro indeed used steroids, and used them for any considerable length of time, then that definitely impacted his performance between the white lines.

Gentlemen, start scratching your heads and rubbing your chins. And, altogether now, "Hmmmm....interesting...."

This is a real problem, because Palmeiro, statistically, should be a shoe-in for the Hall, despite what guys like ESPN’s Skip Bayless argued, prior to this latest news. Bayless said Palmeiro shouldn’t be in the Hall because he wasn’t a "difference maker" or an "impact player" like his fellow 500 homerun, 3,000 hit colleagues. That’s a bunch of hogwash, and I told Bayless so (well, I emailed him and I’m sure he read it.....yeah, right). Anyhow, Raffy’s numbers scream induction, but his actions whisper doubt. And that whisper will grow into a low rumble soon, maybe by the time you’re reading this.

I have to admit, I am still on the fence on this one, because I need to know, if possible to find out, how long Palmeiro has been using such performance enhancers. I’ll bet, however, that this didn’t just start happening last week, last month, or last year. Palmeiro didn’t, after 15+ years in the majors, wake up recently and said, "I think I’ll try this steroid thing and see if it’s for me."

So accepting the fact that he has used these substances for several years, potentially, I must admit I am still on said fence because it is difficult to quantify how much those steroids helped him as a performer. Who knows -- maybe in some crazy, mixed up way, it hindered him. You never know.

My gut tells me he should be in, but I must say, there’s enough bothering me about it that I’m not sure if that’s what I ultimately will think. This situation has no precedent, really, although I’m sure the subject will come up when Mark McGwire becomes eligible in a few years. Raffy has blazed an unfortunate trail here, because he is the first of the Hall-worthy denyers to have been proven false. How proud he must be.

What also bothers me is that the news of Palmeiro’s testing positive, while disappointing, wasn’t all that surprising to me. What does that say? Am I so desensitized to this kind of news that the shock value has worn off, or do I think, deep down, that most of ‘em are guilty as sin? In either instance, it’s not a good thing and it speaks volumes about the state of the game.

How cruelly ironic that this revelation should come just weeks after Palmeiro joined the 3,000 hit, 500 homer club. Instead of celebrating that, we are mentally and verbally placing the scarlett letter on his jersey.

Got any drugs for that, Raffy?
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Hey, Lions fans -- check out my colleague at MCS Magazine, Kevin Antcliff, at his blog, http://kevinantcliff.blogspot.com. He is giving you some behind-the-scenes looks at training camp, including quotes and other good stuff. Visit him and gobble it up!

Jelly Has Lost Its Peanut Butter: Darren McCarty, Ex-Red Wing

They are two of the most everlasting images in Detroit sports history, post-Baby Boom Era: Kirk Gibson raising his arms triumphantly after his homerun off Goose Gossage in the 1984 World Series, and Darren McCarty artistically scoring the clinching goal in June 1997 to win the Red Wings first Stanley Cup since 1955. Ask any Motor City sports fan, and I guarantee you these two will be on the top of about 90% of the lists.

Well, McCarty is gone now, an ex-Wing thanks to the pitfalls of the new CBA between NHL players and owners. The club bought out his contract, because there was so much money to be cut and too few options around to spread those cuts. And although it happened in the thick of summer vacation, there was nonetheless a collective sigh heard around Detroit when McCarty got the axe.

Darren McCarty is a classic example of what plays well in Detroit -- hard-nosed, blue-collar, no-nonsense types. McCarty was about as Detroit as it gets when it comes to professional athletes, and he fit this shot-and-beer town like, well, a hockey glove.

This city has always embraced guys that the folks feel they can relate to -- much more so than the fancy-shmancy athlete who would just as soon leave town the moment the season is done, never to return until the curtain opens on the next one. McCarty led a rock band, was active in the McCarty Cancer Foundation, and served on the ice as protector and enforcer for the team's skilled players, of which he would admit he certainly was not one. But he did have the skill, if you want to call it that, to beat the stuffing out of Claude Lemieux when Lemieux was ripe for it, and now that I think about it, the image of McCarty pounding the turtled-up Lemieux may be #3 on that list of everlasting memories, or not much behind.

McCarty, enforcing the rules with Mr. Lemieux

Forget where certain guys are born and reared -- players like Darren McCarty were adopted Detroiters, both ways. The feeling is always mutual between a guy like McCarty and the city's sports fans. If you stay here and work your tail off and don't complain and be visible around town and do some charitable things, Detroit fans will welcome you into their hearts like a new puppy. And McCarty was about as much of the fabric of Detroit sports -- Detroit, period -- as anyone who's played here in the last 25, 30 years, maybe longer.

How many other athletes have written open letters to the fans upon news of their dismissal? McCarty did, and the emails and return letters from the enthusiasts were overflowing. I'm convinced some even shed real tears. Is that corny? Maybe. But isn't it refreshing, in this day and age of the Unapproachable Athlete, to see such genuine affection between player and fan?

The funny thing is, I'm not really sure who the Red Wings plan on replacing McCarty with on the ice -- he may not have been terribly skilled but he was certainly valuable. The team says it was all about money and their hands were tied and I believe some of that propaganda. But I'm not sure how hard management worked to get creative and try to fit McCarty into the scheme of things; wouldn't he have played for less money in a restructured contract? I don't know all the ins and outs, but it would have been awfully nice to see both parties do some fancy footwork that would have enabled Darren McCarty to wear the Winged Wheel this season, and beyond.

The toughest thing may be seeing McCarty playing hockey in another city, wearing another sweater. It is highly possible, you know -- he's not all THAT old. But even if that happens, we all know he is a Detroiter in his heart. And that runs deeper around here than the Detroit River.

Tigers Go For The Flag -- A White Flag -- With Farnsworth Deal

Rondell White is still a Tiger. So is Dmitri Young. And Mike Maroth. And Omar Infante. All these were rumored to having been on the block as yesterday’s non-waiver trading deadline approached. That the Tigers didn’t trade any of them should mean that the team wasn’t surrendering this season’s playoff hopes, no matter how remote.

But the Tigers did a rather curious thing, in my eyes. They dealt Kyle Farnsworth, who has the potential to be a real beast of a closer, to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Roman Colon and minor league right-hander Zach Miner. GM Dave Dombrowski is pretty good at getting 2-for-1’s and 3-for-2’s, and maybe this deal will pan out in the long run, but something about it bothers me. And I think it has to do with running another white flag up another hopeless pole.

Like I said in the first paragraph, and posted here a couple of days ago, the Tigers’ playoff hopes are pretty much as solid as the candy glass the movie people use in those fake bottles they break over each other’s heads. And Farnsworth was scheduled to test the free agent market after this season. AND....he supposedly wasn’t as hot to stay here as another potential free agent, Placido Polanco, who has done nothing but rave about the organization and the city since coming here from Philadelphia in June.

I guess what nags at me is the Tigers simply gave up hope of signing Farnsworth to a long-term deal. So why is that? It can’t be the ballpark. Farnsworth isn’t a hitter; Comerica Park is supposed to be a pitcher’s place, is it not? It certainly can’t be the direction in which the Tigers are headed, can it? Isn’t the club supposed to be turning the corner?

Ahhh, now we may be on to something.

The two youngsters the Tigers got for Farnsworth don’t knock you out when you read their brief resumes or what the scouts have to say. They aren’t even all that young. It just seems like you could have gotten more for a brute like Farnsworth, especially from the Braves, a team with eyes dead on a pennant, as usual. Anyhow, this deal may be an indictment on the credibility the team has regarding its mission. If it isn’t confident it can convince Farnsworth, who’s been here all season, that the club is moving in the right direction, then what message is that delivering?

Polanco is elated to be here, and that’s great. Frankly, it’s refreshing, especially coming from a hitter. But the Tigers could really use more guys like Farnsworth, who are tough and intimidating and just a weeee bit crazy. Besides, the dude is going to blossom into one hell of a closer, just you wait and see.

But, alas, we’ll have to wait and see from afar. At least the team didn’t trade him within the American League.
So long, Kyle. We hardly knew ye, but we knew enough to want you to stick around for awhile. See ya in the playoffs -- on television.