It's Officially Time for the Lions to Let Go of Volatile Center Dominic Raiola

The Detroit Lions escaped Soldier Field with a 20-14 win over the Chicago Bears, but the focus of the game was on one atrocious act of unsportsmanlike conduct by Lions center Dominic Raiola. His latest act of selfish stupidity should be his final act in Detroit. 

Raiola has a fairly lengthy history of miscreant behavior, but nothing like this. His latest act is a complete embarrassment to the Lions organization, coach Jim Caldwell and the entire city of Detroit simply for being associated with the hot-headed center. 

Here's the disgusting act from the classless veteran:

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The Raiola stomp: https://t.co/WWh2LwwfjJ

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 21, 2014"

There is no place for this in the NFL. None. Kids, this is not how you play the game.

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Hey NFL. You want people to believe you're all in on player safety? Throw the book at Dominic Raiola. NO room in the game for that crap

— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 21, 2014"

Even worse, he lied about it to his coach, who addressed it briefly in his postgame comments.

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To be clear, Caldwell said Raiola was the one who told him stomp was unintentional

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) December 21, 2014"

It's not Raiola's first rodeo with being a punk. There's the dalliance with the devil from last season, where he got into it with the University of Wisconsin marching band. From Dan Hanzus' report on NFL.com:

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According to eyewitnesses, Raiola spent part of his pregame routine before Sunday's loss to the Packers going after The Wisconsin Band, which was at Lambeau Field for its annual performance at the storied stadium. Raiola allegedly taunted several band members for being overweight, questioned the sexuality of at least one band member, said the band 'sucked' and used a highly derogatory term toward a female member of the group.

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Or how about this one from a few weeks ago, where the 2001 second-round pick admitted he went after the knees of New England defensive tackle Zach Moore? The cherry on top with that ugly incident is Raiola was fined for a different play where he threw a punch at Moore's head earlier in the game. 

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Raiola got 4 cheap shots in at the end of the #Patriots #Lions game a few weeks ago https://t.co/xGU0WrmA57

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 21, 2014"

Go back further and the embarrassing act looks even worse. This is a player who flipped off the fans of his own team back in 2008.

As noted on his Wikipedia page, "On December 9, 2008, he was fined $7,500 by the Lions organization after he made an obscene gesture towards heckling Lions fans after Detroit fell to 0-13 with a 20-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field."

That is not his only run-in with the friendly Ford Field faithful, unfortunately. In short, Dominic Raiola is a selfish bully who continues to give the Lions franchise a bad name.

It's beyond time for this to stop. While former coach Jim Schwartz looked the other way from self-control issues with his players, Caldwell has heavily preached discipline and personal responsibility. Articles abound regarding the new coach's calm personality and stark professionalism compared to his predecessor, including this nice one from Ben Shpigel in The New York Times published Saturday. 

Caldwell has already spoken out about refusing to condone Raiola's tired antics after the New England game. Apparently the bullheaded center and supposed team leader didn't get the message.

It's time to ensure he gets the next message. It's the same necessary fate the Miami Dolphins arrived at with their own thuggish brute last year, Richie Incognito. 

Cut Raiola. 

The rest of the team will understand. No one man is bigger than the team, and when a player like Raiola repeatedly puts his team in bad positions—both on and off the field—he must be dealt with swiftly and harshly. 

The chance to act swiftly is over, but sending Raiola packing isn't harsh. It's deserved for years of being a volatile thug. It's not like he's irreplaceable in the lineup; his minus-10.2 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) is the worst among all offensive starters. 

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Dominic Raiola is a Richie Incognito style "tough guy" without the meager talent that even Richie has

— Redruckus81 (@Redruckus81) December 21, 2014"

Third-round rookie Travis Swanson is his presumed successor. It's time to accelerate the timetable and see what Swanson can do at center after an uneven run at guard earlier in the season. 

Lions fans are tired of having their team seen as a reckless group of dirty players. Look back up to the picture at the top and the patch on the jersey. That stands for William Clay Ford, the late owner and a truly decent man who would not stand to be dishonored in such despicable fashion. 

It's time for Caldwell, as well as general manager Martin Mayhew, to take the necessary action and end Raiola's lengthy tenure with the team. It's the right thing, and the only thing, to do.