If Aaron Berry Arrest Doesn't Prompt Action from Lions, Nothing Will

Roughly a month ago, I wrote about general manager Martin Mayhew needing to own the perception of his Detroit Lions team and change it. 

It seems Mayhew and the Lions are content to issue empty statement after empty statement rather than affect any meaningful changes. Each time a Lions player is arrested—the latest being cornerback Aaron Berry...again—the Lions' PR staff is put in motion, releasing more empty rhetoric for public consumption while absolutely nothing happens to the players in question (at least not at the team level).

Seriously, the Lions must be the most "disappointed" franchise in the NFL, as that word pops up in nearly every one of their arrest-related releases.

They have now watched as three players—Nick Fairley, Mikel Leshoure and Berry—have been arrested twice each in one offseason. And every single time they have expressed their "disappointment."

To really up the pressure on Berry, the Lions' latest twist on their exercise in public pointlessness has been to add the word "extremely" in front of "disappointed." Well, that oughta do it—thanks very much, Ray. 

This is beyond absurd. The Lions need to a) cut Berry today, b) announce team-sanctioned suspensions for Fairley and Leshoure, to go along with the two games the league has already suspended Leshoure, and c) let everyone in the locker room know the first day back in training camp that any further arrests will result in immediate action by the team.

Yes, the players union would push back. Yes it's a (slight) overreaction, but at this point things are so far gone the team is in need of a serious over-correction. 

Of course, none of this will happen. Mayhew, Schwartz (newly armed with the security of a contract extension) and the Lions will move forward—maybe they'll take action on Berry since it reportedly involves his brandishing a firearm in the faces of three victims—and they will continue to engender the type of behavior, both on and off the field, that we've grown so accustomed to under this Lions regime.