By Damon Knight, Tribune Correspondent
A Former Lions player recently appeared on the podcast show called Green Light and had some shocking comments about his time in Detroit. Defensive tackle Damon Harrison, 31, says he didn’t want to play in Detroit and that he was “hell-bent” on getting out of the Motor City. The Lions traded for Harrison on October 25th, 2018. The trade also sent a 5th-round draft pick to the New York Giants. However, “Snacks” wasn’t a happy camper.
“I was a bit angry,” Harrison said of the trade during an appearance on the Green Light podcast, hosted by former NFL player Chris Long. Harrison continued to say, “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,” Harrison said. “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.”
Ironically, Harrison got released in February by the Lions after posting a career-low in tackles with 49 in 2019. He also recorded 2 sacks in 15 games. However, Harrison was dealing with multiple injuries throughout the year and was contemplating getting surgery when the season was over. He also was considering retirement.
“Mentally I was just out of it, man,” Harrison said. “I couldn’t focus on football. I was too busy trying to get caught back up with everything. It was a rough training camp for me, the roughest training camp of my career, and I just spent a lot of time just pondering my future.”
“It’s nothing against the people of Detroit, the city or anything like that,” Harrison said. “I’ll forever love the city of Detroit, but I just had to go try to put myself into a situation where I saw myself there for two or three years to end my career, and I just didn’t see myself in Detroit for that long.”
Harrison still has a 1-year, $11 million remaining on his contract extension he signed with the Lions. Also, Harrison has still yet to announce his retirement or sign with a team.
