Dominic Raiola hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt, but the Detroit Lions center needs it more than ever right now.
Raiola is a notoriously dirty player, and he did nothing to help his reputation when he stomped on Chicago Bears defensive lineman Ego Ferguson during the Lions’ eventual win at Soldier Field.
Raiola insisted after the game that the stomp was not done on purpose.
“It was totally unintentional,” Raiola said, according to ESPN.com. “I remember I was stumbling out. I didn’t see the end of it. I apologized at the end of the game, told him it was unintentional and we shook hands and that was it.”
That apology apparently didn’t do much to make Ferguson think it was unintentional.
“None of that matters,” Ferguson said via ESPN.com. “We all saw the play. You can’t take back what happened with that play. That’s the end of that.”
This certainly isn’t Raiola’s first incident. He was fined $10,000 by the NFL earlier this season after a pair of cheap shots late in a game against the New England Patriots. He also came under fire last season for heckling University of Wisconsin band members in a game against the Green Bay Packers and also had a run-in with fans in 2009 while defending quarterback Matt Stafford.
Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was suspended for a similar play in 2011 after stomping on a Packers offensive lineman during a Thanksgiving matchup.
Thumbnail photo via Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports Images
