The Two Faces of Lions Fans

Many Detroit Lions fans will not like this article. I cannot help that but I will not allow it to keep me from writing it. I will write the truth as I see it and not let it be influenced by opinions. So let me start it if by going for the throat. Many of the Detroit Lions fans are two faced.

I have read articles on Stafford since the Lions first preseason game. I have read the posts by the fans after those articles. I have seen the love of those fans for Matthew Stafford. I have seen some striking similarities between Stafford and Harrington and the fans love one and hate the other for those same similarities.

Let me make this clear. I am not a huge Joey Harrington fan. I once was a supporter of his but now he is done in. I do believe Stafford can be a true star, just like I believed Joey could have under the right circumstances. Yet I hear fans saying things they love about Stafford and they are the same with Harrington who they hated.

Fans loved that Stafford took a hit and jumped back up with a smile, showing he is tough. I remember Joey Harrington's first season and he took a huge hit. He jumped up and patted the player who sacked him on the back of the helmet congratulating him on a good hit.

Stafford went 7 for 14 in his first action. That is only 50%. Fans think he did good because he had a few balls dropped to make his stats look worse than how he played. Yet I do not remember a quarterback on the Lions who had his passes dropped as often as Harrington did.

Both quarterbacks are tough players who can take a hit and bounce back up ready to play. Both players were/are looked at as the savior of the Detroit Lions. Neither player was ever considered a very accurate passer. Both quarterbacks have good size and neither is a scrambler.

The Detroit fans, loved Scott Mitchell when he was throwing for 4,000 yards and it was those same fans who ran him out of town saying he was a bum when the talent around him dropped off the table. It was those same Lions fans who loved Harrington when he took the reins and the same who hated Joey when he couldn't produce with the worst o-line, receivers, and scheme in the NFL. It is those same fans who now love and tout Stafford as the next coming.

As I said, I do believe that Stafford can be a star. I also believe he has a better chance than any of the others ever had for the Lions. He has a great receiver in Calvin Johnson. The best Joey ever had was Roy Williams who the Lions were glad to trade away. Stafford has a good tight end which Joey never had. Stafford has a receiver in Northcutt who will actually go across the middle. Something Joey never had.

If the Lions brass can improve the offensive line enough to protect Stafford as he grows into that star, he may be the best quarterback the Lions ever had. If they do not find a way to protect him however, Stafford faces turning into the next Harrington. If he becomes that star, there will be fans saying "I told you so", and if he fails? It will be those same fans who will chase him out of Detroit saying he is a bum.