Lions' Dominic Raiola accused of verbal abuse
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola is being accused of verbally abusing members of the Wisconsin marching band who were at Lambeau Field Sunday in Green Bay to perform the national anthem.
One band member says that Raiola made unprovoked sexual and homophobic comments to them.
The Lions released the following statement:
“We are aware of the reports involving Dominic Raiola and the University of Wisconsin Marching Band.
“Those reports are extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players and from every member of our organization.
“We currently are gathering more information and will respond further when appropriate.”
The incident was picked up by the media after Zach York, a band member, called out Raiola in a message posted on Facebook following the Lions' 22-9 loss to the Packers.
“Dominic Raiola is literally the worst person I have ever had the fortune to encounter,” York wrote. “After marching down the field awaiting the national anthem, he went on a verbal tirade, among other things, questioning my sexuality (as a band member) and then continued on to bring my sister and my recently deceased mother into the conversation.
“After I refused to give him the satisfaction of turning to look at him, he switched targets to a trombone ranting at him calling him overweight and saying he can’t play a real sport.
"After our halftime show, the same fine gentleman (Raiola) called a female member of the band the “c” word.”
Coach Jim Schwartz addressed the issue during his weekly news conference.
“We need to stay above stuff like that,” Schwartz said. “I didn’t hear that personally on the field. No other coaches did. I’d be very disappointed if that was the case. That’s not the character we want to display.”
If true, this wouldn’t be the first time that Raiola has had a run-in with non-players during a game. He gave a Lions fan the finger a few years ago and also shouted obscenities to the crowd at Ford Field another time when quarterback Matthew Stafford was getting taunted by fans.
He was fined for both of incidents.
Asked if Raiola would be disciplined if the accusations from Sunday prove to be accurate, Schwartz said, “We’ll certainly address it for sure.”
Raiola, 34, was not available for comment. He is in his 13th season and has played in 193 games during his Lions' career.
MEGATRON UPDATE
Schwartz gave no indication whether he expects receiver Calvin Johnson to return to practice this week after missing Sunday’s game because of a knee injury.
The players were off Monday and the team doesn't practice again until Wednesday.
“We’ll see where he gets this week,” Schwartz said. “He’s improving every day. If we can get him back that will be a big bonus for us.
“We’ll just take it and see how it comes. We’ve been through that before with him. He set a NFL record (for receiving yards) last year and he had very limited practice time for a significant portion of that. If he can get out on the practice field, that’s great. If he can’t then we’ll wait until the next day.”
Johnson was hampered by a knee injury back in training camp, but Schwartz said the latest problem occurred a week ago in the game against Chicago.
OTHER INJURIES
--- Offensive tackle Jason Fox, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with a groin injury, suffered another setback when he injured a knee in the third quarter.
“Too early to determine if he’ll miss any practice time,” Schwartz said.
Fox's career has been slowed by injury after injury since he was selected by the Lions in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft.
--- Running back Theo Riddick must be cleared by doctors before he can return after suffering a concussion against the Packers.