Let bygones be bygones, right?
Not when it comes to the Lions and their former players. Even if they only played for the team for a few months.
Retired offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, who signed with Detroit in 2016 before getting cut in training camp, took to Twitter Monday evening to air some grievances about his brief time in Allen Park.
Schwartz said he reported to camp one pound overweight and was fined and placed in a 'weight loss program' that required him to ride a stationary bike for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes after meetings at night. This was Bob Quinn's first year as general manager.
"This 'punishment' was so stupid," Schwartz said.
I was looking for a photo on my phone and came across this video. My final season in the NFL, I was 1 lb overweight in Detroit for camp. I was 341 instead of 340. I lost 13 lbs and 3% Bf between end of OTAs and camp. They fined me anyways. And put me in a "weight loss program" pic.twitter.com/U1bF0w0ENv
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 18, 2020According to Schwartz, he'd never been fined by other teams for reporting to camp overweight.
"If let's say, Tom Coughlin and Andy Reid wouldn't fine you for this exact situation, but the Lions would ... who is doing it wrong?" said Schwartz, who played in the NFL from 2008-2016 and now writes about the league for SB Nation.
In defense of the Lions, a couple former players said the team did nothing wrong.
T.J. Lang told Schwartz, "Take some accountability dude," then doubled down in response.
If I can't trust you to lose 1lb how am I supposed to trust you to make that reach block.
— TJ Lang (@TJLang70) August 18, 2020And former center Travis Swanson, who spent two seasons in Detroit during the Bob Quinn era, had this to say:
My favorite thing about the Bob Quinn regime is that you know exactly what is asked of you. It's not the number they were mad about, it's the idea that you did not deliver on what was expected of you. https://t.co/kgndeqzAxl
— Travis Swanson (@Tswan64) August 18, 2020The Lions have taken tons of flak over the years, especially in regard to the current regime. A lot of it feels deserved.
But this complaint feels a little hollow.
