(Photo: NFLGridironGab.com)

The Detroit Lions just made Calvin Johnson the richest wide receiver in the NFL, signing him to an new eight-year contract worth up to $132 million, including $60 million guaranteed.  It’s one of the biggest deals in league history, surpassing the contract Arizona gave Larry Fitzgerald last year (8-year, $120 million), and ensures fans in Detroit will have the Johnson-Stafford connection to look forward to for the foreseeable future.

In case you were wondering why the Lions were willing to break the bank for Johnson (and were curious why we chose the headline we did for this post), this Megatron highlight video should give you an idea:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Calvin Johnson = Beast

(Photo: FoxSports.com)

It seems we had another James Harrison moment at Lambeau Field during the Packers-Lions game on Sunday.

A 15-year-old fan ran onto the field and managed to run free for 90+ yards before turning toward the Green Bay defense, where linebacker Brad Jones finally stepped in and did security’s job for them.

Watch the fan video below, via Shutdown Corner:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Apparently the standard protocol for Lambeau Field security is to just let fans run around until they get winded, trip, or eventually get tackled by a player. Unfortunately for these particular security guards, since he was just a kid and therefore likely wasn’t hammered drunk, he had far more speed and stamina than they’re used to from your average beer-and-brat-filled Packer fan.

Thank goodness Jones was there to take the punk down and end the madness.

(AP Photo via MLive.com)

This season, the Detroit Lions have been working hard to change their image from perennial NFC North doormat to the new bad boys of the league. And along the way, part of this new image has included getting busted for dirty play and – as exemplified by Ndamukong Suh – committing all sorts of foolish personal fouls that ultimately hurt the team.

Well, following their week 13 loss at the hands of the Saints, in which Detroit committed 11 penalties for 107 yards, including several critical unsportsmanlike conduct calls, Lions’ veteran center Dominic Raiola had finally seen enough.  Check out this profanity-laced, post-game diatribe from the Lions’ captain, in which he delivers a fairly singular message to his fellow teammates: “Grow the f@#k up!”.

Audio below (Curses are bleeped out, so its relatively SFW):

With Jim Schwartz (“a madman who can barely stay on the sidelines”) and Ndamukong Suh (“wanted for murder in 11 states”) leading the charge, the Lions and their fans have discovered a brand new swagger … one that just may transcend winning and losing:

To be honest, I’m not sure that highlighting murders in Detroit is going to have the desired effect of boosting tourism in the state … ya know, since they’ve had a bit of a problem with that, and all.

(Photo: SportsGrid.com)

During the national anthem prior to yesterday’s Lions-Packers game, the camera landed on Lions DL Kyle Vanden Bosch, and an entire nation shivered in terror at the sight of his blood red eyes.  

Apparently, Vanden Bosch has been sporting these red contact lenses for a little while now in an effort to psych out his opponents … but the colored Nike MAXSIGHT contact lenses are also said to help reduce glare and contrast. Vanden Boasch’s use of the lenses dates back as far as 2006, when he first donned the amber-tinted versions, and he has recently said that they “help to block the sunlight” better than the more traditional visors. They usually come in either amber or green-tinted colors, so it seems that Nike created these blood red versions specially for Vanden Bosch.

We can’t really speak to whether the lenses work or not, but there’s no doubt that with his demon-like gaze and six sacks so far this season, the veteran lineman is helping to increase Detroit’s bad boy image on the defensive side of the ball … and giving nightmares to opposing offensive linemen on a weekly basis.

(Photo: TheBostonJam.com)

(Image via ShutdownCorner)

The NFL’s newest bad boy, DT Ndamukong Suh, was clearly missing out on the Thanksgiving spirit today, getting ejected during the 3rd quarter of the Lions’ ugly 27-15 loss to the Packers for kicking OL Evan Dietrich-Smith while he was down after a play. Not exactly a good look for the Lions, who were hoping to reverse their bad fortunes in turkey day games, but ended up losing their 8th straight nationally televised holiday affair in brutal fashion.

Green Bay was leading 7-0 at the half, and had failed on a 3rd and goal attempt when frustration overcame Suh and he took it out on Dietrich-Smith in plain view of the refs. The Packers lineman had driven Suh to the ground on the play, and Suh responded by driving his helmet into the turf before standing up, and stomping on his right arm as he walked away:

VIDEO AND MORE AFTER THE JUMP

It ended up being the game-turing play, as the resulting unsportsmanlike conduct penalty allowed the Packers to score a touchdown and go ahead 14-0. From there, it was all downhill for Detroit, who fell behind 24-0 before rallying for two meaningless late touchdowns.  Matt Stafford threw three interceptions, and the Packers improved their perfect season to 11-0.

But the Suh ejection will be the story of the week, already drawing comparisons to the 2006 Albert Haynesworth head-stomping incident, where Haynesworth dropped a boot on a helmet-less Andre Gurode.  Clearly, Suh’s offense isn’t nearly as bad as Haynesworth’s, but it still should cement his quickly-growing reputation for being a dirty player. And perhaps the worst part was that Suh somehow seemed incredulous after the fact that he had been kicked out.

At this point, it’s apparent that Suh has some real anger issues, and is going to need to find a way to work them out off the field, where he can’t continually hurt his team.

BONUS EXTRA-STOMPY GIF

(Image via SBNation)

The Lions look to feast on the undefeated Packers today in Detroit (Photo: SFGate.com)

Thanksgiving annually means 3 things: 1) awkward family gatherings 2) overeating/drinking and 3) football. Guess what we’ll be doing today?

We’ve got three games on tap for the holiday ahead – and 2 of them are actually exciting!! The surprise Lions will be looking to take down their rival Packers, who have been perfect so far, as the early highlight (even though Nickelback will still be playing at halftime), followed by Dallas-Miami coming just in time for your post-meal nap, and the 49ers-Ravens capping things off in a nighttime showdown of Harbaugh brothers.

All of us here at ReadAndReact are extremely grateful for all of our readers, and hope you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving with friends and loved ones … enjoy the games!

(Image via Sportsgrid.com)

During the 3rd quarter of their impressive comeback win against the Panthers, after scoring the game-tying touchdown, Lions TE Tony Scheffler turned in the most intricate endzone celebration of the weekend – if not the season – with this tribute to ubiquitous the AT&T Flash Mob commercial.  

Apparently, thanks to his shoddy cell phone service, Tony didn’t get the text that the flash mob had been moved to next weekend … oops:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Johnathan Tisch, Steve Tisch and John Mara (L-R) (Photo: NYPost.com)

This week, the folks over at Forbes magazine put together their list of the best and worst owners in professional football. The rankings are  based on each franchise’s change in total value and win percentage over the last five years, with each accounting for half of the overall ranking, plus a bump for post-season success. And while the results probably won’t shock anyone, it’s nonetheless interesting to keep track of which owners consistently keep their clubs at the top of the game.

The top spot goes to New York Giants co-owners, the Mara and Tisch families, who have seen a 33% growth in the team’s value since 2006 (the highest in the league). Close behind in second place is Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, who have increased their value 17% by posting the highest winning percentage of any team in the last five years. Rounding out the top five are Jim Irsay of the Indianapolis Colts, the public stockholders of the Green Bay Packers and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.

(Photo: DetroitLionsBlog.com)

At the bottom of the barrel we find William Clay Ford Sr. and the Detroit Lions. Although the team is enjoying a resurgence this season, Ford’s team has epitomized futility in professional football for the past ten years. Reaching brand new lows in 2008 with their 0-16 2008, Detroit was the only team to actually lose money last year. While the average NFL team has seen growth of 8% over the last five years, the Lions have seen their overall team value drop by 3% in that same time period.

The late Al Davis claims the second-worst spot for his mis-management of the Oakland Raiders, with Ralph Wilson Jr (Bills), Mike Brown (Bengals), Randy Lerner (Browns), joining him in the bottom five.

VIEW THE 10 BEST AND WORST OWNERS AFTER THE JUMP

THE NFL’S BEST OWNERS

1. Mara & Tisch Families – New York Giants
2. Robert Kraft – New England Patriots
3. James Irsay – Indianapolis Colts
4. Public Stockholders – Green Bay Packers
5. Jerry Jones – Dallas Cowboys
6. Woody Johnson – New York Jets
   
7. Alex Spanos – San Diego Chargers
   
8. Tom Benson – New Orleans Saints
   
9. Dan Rooney – Pittsburgh Steelers
   
10. Steve Bisciotti – Baltimore Ravens
    

(Photo: cheezburger.com)

With the early success of the 6-2 Detroit Lions this season, their traditional Thanksgiving Day game (this year coming against their NFC North foe Green Bay Packers) should actually be worth watching for the first time in ages. As such, this year’s Turducken Bowl has taken on added meaning for the franchise and city of Detroit.

Detroit prides itself on being a city known for it’s rich musical history. From Motown to the MC5, Bob Seger to Kid Rock, and Madonna to the White Stripes, the Motor City has spawned some of the most important acts in modern music, earning yet another well-deserved nickname, “Rock City”. So it should come as no surprise that its citizens were none too pleased when they learned which musical performers the Lions had booked to perform at halftime of this year’s Thanksgiving Day game. Of all of the thousands of talented bands out there, including those who hail from Michigan, someone in the Lions’ front office thought it would be a good idea to book Canadian rock band Nickelback to perform.

Needless to say, this isn’t sitting well with many Lions fans, who have taken to the internet and started this petition to replace Nickelback as the halftime entertainment:

This game is nationally televised, do we really want the rest of the US to associate Detroit with Nickelback? Detroit is home to so many great musicians and they chose Nickelback?!?!?! Does anyone even like Nickelback? Is this some sort of ploy to get people to leave their seats during halftime to spend money on alcoholic beverages and concessions? This is completely unfair to those of us who purchased tickets to the game. At least the people watching at home can mute their TVs. The Lions ought to think about their fans before choosing such an awful band to play at halftime.

This is just classic. Nickelback is terrible, and the people of the mitten simply aren’t going to stand idly by while their ears are raped by this particularly crappy brand of corporate rock. We support this petition wholeheartedly.