Linebacker Larry Foote signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions on Wednesday, turning down several other teams offering multiple years. Foote was a starting linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers the last five years, and was a critical player on defenses of teams that won Super Bowl XL in Detroit and Super Bowl XLIII this past season. Foote had yet another strong season in 2008, recording 35 solo tackles, 28 assisted tackles, and 3 passes defended. He had 431 tackles, 14.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles in 6 seasons with the Steelers. The 28 year old joins 24 year old Ernie Sims and newcomer Julian Peterson to form a potentially formidable linebacking unit in 2009. Peterson, 30, made the Pro Bowl the last 3 years with Seattle, and has made 5 Pro Bowls in his career (2 with the 49ers.)
Regardless of the year Foote ends up having in 2009 or whether or not the Lions are willing to re-sign him, this was a tremendous move. Foote is a winner. Period. When he played at the University of Michigan, the Wolverines were 4-0 in bowl games, winning an Orange Bowl and 3 Citrus Bowls. He won 2 Super Bowls in 5 years as a starter with the Steelers. The guy recently admitted that his home has holes in the walls where he punches them after losing video games. I love that tenacity and that aversion to losing. I have a similar, strong hatred for losing, but unfortunately approximately 0.0005% of Foote’s athleticism. However, I have refused to allow this lack of natural ability to prevent me from being the most hated guy on the playground as a youth, in Sega NHL hockey circles as a teenager, in “friendly” card games as an adult, and in nursing home bingo tournaments when I visit elderly relatives. But I digress, my point here is not that Foote is a sore loser like I am, but that he wants to win just as much as he dreads losing.
There is an intangible here as well. Foote is originally from Detroit. He went to Pershing High in the Detroit Public School League. He recently bought a home in the city. “This is my home”, Foote said after signing. “When I am done playing, I’m going to be back here.” Foote has given back to the city and its people in the past. In March 2008, Larry paid for the funeral for Mark Brown-Williams, a 10 year old boy from Detroit who had drowned in a tributary of the Rouge River while playing on ice. Foote didn’t know the boy or his family, but had played on the same ice as a child himself, and was moved when he heard the story.
We need people like Larry back in our city. He hopes to be a part of its resurgence: “Detroit is on the up-and-up,” Foote assured. “We’re starting fresh with the football team. We’ve got a new mayor (recently elected Dave Bing, a Detroit Piston legend)… but people have got to be willing to roll up their sleeves and get to the root of it and turn things around… I’m excited.” So am I, Larry.
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