Detroit, MI
Donte’ Stallworth has accepted an invitation to workout for the Detroit Lions.The last time we heard Stallworth’s name, it was in connection with DWI and vehicular manslaughter charges.
For this incident, he was given 30 days in jail (of which he served 24), an extended probation period, and a permanent revocation of his driver’s license. More notably to football fans, he was suspended for the entirety of the 2009-10 season.
With the season now behind us, the Browns have released Stallworth, leaving the well-traveled receiver once again looking for a new team.
Stallworth is an oft-shunned receiver looking for a team, and the Lions are a rebuilding team in need of receivers. The marriage makes sense, if it goes through.
But fans and Lions management alike should be careful of expecting too much from the former Tennessee Volunteer.
Stallworth was expendable enough to the New Orleans Saints in 2005 to trade him for linebacker Mark Simoneau and a conditional fourth-round pick after a season in which he pulled in 70 catches for 945 yards and seven touchdowns.
And since 2005, he has been with a different team each year.
In 2006, he played for the Philadelphia Eagles, who opted not to re-sign Stallworth despite making it to the second round of the playoffs.
In 2007, the New England Patriots signed Stallworth to a $30 million, six-year deal. He slowly faded off the depth chart that season, and was released after the first year of the deal.
In 2008, the Cleveland Browns signed Stallworth to a seven-year deal worth up to $35 million. He rewarded the Browns by reeling in an average of one reception per game, and then killing a man with his car.
Most daunting to Stallworth’s career now is not the slow decline of his production or his legal trouble, but the fact that he has been out of the game for a year.
Stallworth was struggling to make an impact even before his suspension, and it’s almost impossible for a player to return from a season-long suspension and still turn a failing career around (what is Pacman Jones up to these days, anyway?).
Worse still is the fact that Stallworth, a first-round pick in 2002, will turn 30-years-old this season. The days of teams considering him a “young project” are long over.
Despite all this, I’m comfortable with the idea of seeing him in Honolulu Blue.
Why? Because underneath it all, he still has talent.
Stallworth is a tragic case of potential not realized, and he’s at the point in his career where every chance could be his last chance. And let’s face it, if Stallworth is no more useful than the likes of Bryant Johnson and Dennis Northcutt, it might be time to take his act to the UFL.
Which brings me to my next point. To be a good signing for the Lions, Stallworth only has to be minimally effective. Most of the receivers on the Lions’ roster would be looking at the practice squad anywhere else, so the bar is set awfully low.
Just as it should be.
Given Stallworth’s past, there is reason to believe he can be an effective player. There is also reason to believe he will flop once again.
But hey, most of the players on the Lions’ roster flopped last year. The team is primarily made up of castoffs from other teams who are no longer wanted anywhere else.
Stallworth currently fits that bill, but unlike the majority of last year’s signings, he might actually have something left in the tank.
A two-year contract says it’s worth finding out.
DWI Criminal Defense Attorney – St. Louis, MO
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