| 11 September 2009
The Detroit Lions named their three team captains (offense, defense, special teams) today, and who won the player vote wasn't exactly a surprise.
Per Carlos Monarrez at the Freep:
The vote is in, and kicker Jason Hanson, center Dominic Raiola and linebacker Larry Foote have been named captains for the Detroit Lions this season.
Coach Jim Schwartz announced the captains — who were voted on by players — after practice. Schwartz said the players didn’t win by landslides, and several others received votes.
As most fans would remember (as much as we might try to forget the epic fail of '08), Raiola and Hanson were also captains last season. Foote being a Detroit native, and a good player to boot, gets the defensive nod.
This isn't really all that big a deal, as other than calling the coin toss and picking an end zone to defend, being a football captain is pretty much a ceremonial role on the field. As for a captain's locker room leadership, we'll see. Leadership on or off the field didn't exactly help the Lions win a game last season, did it?
The only thing Raiola has done to stand out in a leadership role was flipping off loudmouths in the Ford Field stands after last December's Vikings loss, and telling fans "Don't come to the game" if they aren't happy during a radio interview after the confrontation.
We often hear teams are looking for "character" players to "lead." Personally, I'd much prefer the Lions had players with "talent" instead.
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