Shooting the Gaps with Larry Foote

For all the new blood on the Detroit Lions' roster this season, none bring quite the same enigma-like quality of Larry Foote.

Foote is a native of Detroit, graduate of Detroit Pershing High School, former Michigan Wolverine, and most recently, two-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Inexplicably, after the Steelers won it all, he asked for a release and made a beeline to come back and play for his hometown team, which is full-out into rebuilding mode.

To say this sort of thing doesn't happen very often in today's "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" NFL is an understatement. As hard as it is to repeat as Super Bowl Champions, there isn't anybody in football—even in Detroit—that will say the Lions have a better shot at winning the Super Bowl this year than the Steelers.

Yet Foote gave it all up, and for what? Money? A dispute with his coach? Not getting along with his teammates?

No, he signed a one-year contract because he just wanted to come home and play ball.

Or at least that's what it seems. That's what makes him a very intriguing prospect for an interview.

Interviews never go the way you expect, and thus it's pointless to try to stick to some preordained list of questions when it comes down to it. Usually, one or two questions will bring an intriguing answer, and you end up following up on that and leaving the list behind.

Sticking to the list usually means missing a good story. But with that in mind, heading in without any preparation means not getting a story at all.

So here, then, is what can only be described as a tentative list of questions for Larry Foote about his return home to Motown.

Q. Welcome home to Detroit, Mr. Foote (can I call you Larry?). How does it feel coming home after seven years in Pittsburgh?

Q. Before we get into things, I just want to ask: why? Why give up a shot at another Super Bowl to come to Detroit? I know you were born and raised here, but a lot of players would have gone somewhere they could work out a long-term deal for some financial security, and certainly not to a team that hasn't won in a year and a half. Why here, why now?

Q. What is the first thing you did when you arrived in Detroit?  Have you kept in touch with friends and/or family in the area?

Q. In your media session in early May, you said you wanted to be active in the Detroit community. Do you have any plans or ideas on how you might like to get involved?

Q.  Shifting to your work on the field, now, how easy or difficult has the transition from inside linebacker in a 3-4 to middle linebacker in a 4-3 been?

Q. How have you been received by the coaches and players in Detroit? Have you gotten to know your fellow linebackers fairly well?

Q. Coach Schwartz and Coach Cunningham are bringing a defense that's new to pretty much everybody in Detroit. Would you say the team is picking it up fairly well so far? How do you feel about the new defensive philosophy, compared to what you were doing in Pittsburgh?

Q. Speaking of coaches, you've played the better part of your career up to this point under a living legend, Dick LeBeau. What would you say are the major differences between Lebeau's style and that of your new defensive coordinator, Gunther Cunningham?

Q. Playing time was a big factor for your decision to leave the Steelers, and you're quoted in the Oakland Press as saying you want to "spread your wings" in Detroit. What did you mean by that? Was there an element of your game that you weren't able to show in Pittsburgh? Do you think the defensive style and personnel in Detroit will allow you to show that off?

Q. What do you think the Lions, as a team, are capable of this season? What is a realistic team goal?

Q. What about the Wolverines? Any thoughts on your alma mater's upcoming season? I heard you and (former Michigan State standout) Julian Peterson have already started razzing each other about your college allegiances.

Q. Finally, what is your personal goal for this season with the Lions? Are you ultimately looking for a long-term contract in Detroit? What do you, personally, want to accomplish in your time here?

Thanks Larry, for coming to Detroit, and for your hypothetical time in this hypothetical interview.