Well, this was predictable. On Tuesday, the NFL denied Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola’s appeal of his one-game suspension for intentionally stomping on an opposing player’s ankle.
So Raiola won’t be playing when his team meets the Green Bay Packers this weekend. And of course, Raiola is sorry.
Not so much for trying to intentionally injure an opponent with a total fucking douche move, but for being a distraction to his shitty team and, presumably, forcing them to start a rookie at center this week.
“We’re not happy; it’s not a happy situation, but he apologized for it — a heartfelt apology to the team. He’s a guy a lot of players respect on this team. He understands what happened, and hopefully the appeal can go through,” injured linebacker Stephen Tulloch said on Detroit Sports 105.1 Radio.
“He doesn’t want to be a distraction to the team.”
So on to that rookie center.
He’s probably not as much of a slouch as you’d hope. He’s Travis Swanson, a third-round pick from Arkansas.
Swanson has started three games for the Lions this year at right guard, so he’s not totally green.
The Lions would certainly prefer to have that turd Raiola for this game though. He has 27 starts in his career against the Packers alone.