Ex-Lions DT Damon Harrison Says He Was 'Hell-Bent on Getting Out' of Detroit

Free-agent defensive tackle Damon Harrison was relieved when the Detroit Lions decided to release him in late February.

In fact, Harrison disclosed Monday that he had been trying to get out of Detroit as far as back as training camp before last season. He had spent the first three weeks of 2019 training camp on the non-football injury list. Now we know why.

"That was a time where, to be honest with you, we were trying to facilitate a trade," Harrison told former NFL defensive end Chris Long on his Green Light podcast (h/t Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). "I was hell-bent on getting out of there."

The 31-year-old All-Pro continued:

"To be completely honest with you, I didn't want to go to Detroit because of some things that I heard from some guys in the past and some guys who were there. So when I got the call that that's where I was traded, I didn't answer the phone for a couple hours. [Lions general manager] Bob Quinn was calling me and I didn't pick up the phone because I was trying to figure out a way to get out of it."

The New York Giants traded Harrison to the Lions in October 2018.

Harrison originally signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2012. The William Penn product only saw the field five times as a rookie but then started all 16 regular-season games for Gang Green from 2013 to '15. He signed with the crosstown Giants in 2016.

With the Giants, Harrison's durability persisted. He recorded 4.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and 162 tackles (106 solo) across 39 games (38 starts) from 2016 until his trade to Detroit.

Harrison also told Long that he doesn't do a lot of interviews because he "has a hard time lying."

"That's the toughest part of it all," he added. "Some of my best years have been on non-playoff football teams. I don't regret a thing. I wish we'd have won some more games, but like you said, it's been three really, really great fanbases. So it was all worthwhile."

Harrison stood by his comments about Detroit on Twitter:

"

It’s nothing wrong bro I just didn’t want to go there. Don’t we all have places we don’t like to go? Well imagine waking up at 6am to prep for work and finding out you were traded to one of those places. I was in shock that’s why I didn’t answer the phone. https://t.co/H7BTOMgUpH

— Damon Harrison Sr. (@snacks) April 13, 2020"

Despite being unhappy, Harrison still produced in Detroit. He notched a career-high 3.5 sacks across 10 games with the Lions in 2018 and then added another two sacks across 15 starts last season.

Not to mention his league-leading efforts in run defense:

Harrison has only been part of a playoff team once—in 2016 with the Giants. He was linked to the Dallas Cowboys in late March but remains a free agent.