Dominic Raiola Wants Detroit Fans to Lay Off Matthew Stafford

Dominic Raiola has played all nine of his NFL seasons in Detroit, never finishing with better than a 7-9 record -- and that streak isn't ending this season. So he's allowed to have some pent-up frustration.

He let some of it out Sunday during the Lions' 17-10 home loss to the previously winless Rams, firing off some choice words at a group of Detroit fans who were heckling rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford. Detroit's final possession of the game consisted of four Stafford incompletions (plus two more pass attempts wiped out by penalties).

After the final misfire landed well wide of its intended target, a few rowdy patrons let Stafford have it -- yelling "Hey Matt, throw it to me, I'm open, I'm open," according to Raiola, who quickly came to his QB's defense.

The veteran center let fly with a few obscenities, according to MLive's Tom Kowalski, then spent a postgame interview defending his actions.

"You want to pick on [Stafford]? I'm going to say something," Raiola said. "I understand the frustrations, I do. I've been here for 8 1/2 years. I love these fans, I love these people and I love it here. I'm just saying that I'm sorry if I was offensive to anybody, but I'm just being loyal to my teammate, one of my guys.

"It did strike a chord. You've got three or four guys yelling at him ... did they see what happened on the last drive? I don't think so. If you're going to call a guy out, know what you're talking about. He just got here. You want to run him out of town already? You know what I'm saying? That just hit home with me. Because I've been through it with Joey [Harrington]. I've been through it. They sent him packing and they're not going to do it to this guy.

"I'm going to be right here next to him.''

To some extent, you have to commend Raiola for sticking up for Stafford, though cussing out a handful of the measly 38,000 or so fans that made it to Ford Field on Sunday might not have been the best strategy.

This isn't Raiola's first rodeo, either. Last year, when some fans booed the Lions as they fell to 0-13 -- en route to an 0-16 record -- Raiola flicked them off, then said that he'd fight those fans if he were allowed.
But despite his sometimes-rocky relationship with the Motor City faithful, Raiola remains committed to the Lions. He signed a four-year contract extension in the offseason that could keep him in Detroit through the 2013 season.

Detroit has every intention of still having Stafford as its starting QB at that time; part of the reason Stafford is playing in the first place this season is so he can learn on the go, in hopes that he'll progress faster. Of course, that was also the plan with Harrington, who, as Raiola vividly remembers, earned the Lions' starting job just three games into his rookie season in 2002, then was sent packing by the Detroit organization after 2005.

If Raiola's ever going to play on a winner in Detroit, he needs Stafford's career path to hit a much more upward progression than Harrington's did.

And if he has to drop a few obscenities to make that happen, then so be it.