Some Piping Hot Detroit Lions Cornbread
May 17, 2007
Every Detroit Lions fan knows this is the best time of the year. Promising new free agents are signed that apparently have few to no flaws. Fresh-faced coaches are added to the staff, ready to turn their group of lovable losers into baby-eating monsters of the gridiron. All of the April draft picks project to be starters by midseason that will eventually blossom into Pro Bowlers and eventually Hall of Famers.
Of course, the one thing that makes a Lions offseason so enjoyable is that its fans don’t actually have to watch them play a real game against a real NFL team. Once that happens, all the fun is sucked out. It starts with that inevitable yellow flag that flies in the air early in the first quarter, with the words “Holding, offense, 10 yard penalty, still 3rd and forever” echoing throughout Ford Field. The ensuing “false start, offense, 5 yard penalty” then gets Lions fans working their patented Shoulder Slump in midseason form, and that’s it. Fire Millen! When’s the draft? Who’s the highest-rated wide receiver prospect?
With the start of mandatory mini-camps underway, ETB celebrates the excitement of another Lions offseason by serving up a big plate of Lions cornbread, today courtesy of Hondo over at Spartan Nation. He’s posting some fantastic insider updates from the Lions’ practices, and boy howdy, the way he tells it, this team is finally going places. The bar has been raised, they’re reaching high, high into the sky, with their sights set on the stratospheric heights of .500!
In all seriousness, the way Hondo frames these updates makes it impossible for any Lions fan to resist at least one big bit of the cornbread. Bon appétit!
On 1st-Round Pick, WR Calvin Johnson:
Calvin Johnson shined last week at rookie mini-camp so I expected when the vets joined him today that he would look good. He didn’t. He looked great. His speed was still clearly head and shoulders above everyone else and he clearly will be a star. He made a one handed grab that made the entire team and anyone who was watching just shake their head in disbelief. It was the most incredible catch I have ever seen after a lifetime of following football. That man has mad skills.
On Last Year’s 1st-Round Pick, LB Ernie Sims:
One of you emailed me and called Ernie Sims Simzilla. I love that and so did his teammates when I told them about it. Let me just say this about Simzilla: he is a bona fide stud. He flew around today and just looked so sharp. He was in the heads of the offense and let them know on several drills that they shouldn’t get real comfortable coming across the middle when they were in pads. I asked one of the receivers after practice and he told me “don’t worry, I won’t!”
On RT George Foster, Acquired From Denver:
He is very nimble for a 340# man and he has such great extension and footwork. There will always be someone whose negative slant is “if he was that good why did the Broncos trade him” and that is really simple. They had a younger guy behind him and they liked him as much. With Foster coming into a contract year they certainly tried to get something of value. He is a value. I have to wait and see him with pads, but I really like his handwork also. When he gets a hold of a D lineman they struggle to get around him. He may stink in pads, and I recognize that but for what he can do now I like it.
Still hungry? Get more generous helpings of Lions cornbread here and here.
Posted by Brian Spencer on May. 17, 2007 at 12:25 pm in NFL
