Roy - iAintMadAtcha

The sports world was rocked, ROCKED today to hear that Roy Williams (not the North Carolina men's basketball coach) was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a total of three draft picks. The word rocked is probably not appropriate because no one was even remotely surprised that the Lions were working to unload Mr. Williams. Perhaps a better option would be the world was expecting, EXPECTING to hear that Roy Williams was traded to the Dallas Cowboys. People seem to be pretty happy with this trade and I would also argue that it was the best option for the Lions, but I also want to say a few positive words on behalf of Roy. He wasn't all bad.

For the past four years, Roy Williams has been a proud member of the worst team in the history of athletic competition. He came out of college a massive talent with the prototypical look of a new-age NFL receiver, and he had nothing but great success throughout his career up to the death spiral of the Lions. His rookie year, he made some pretty amazing catches and gave many suffering Lions fans glimpses of an exciting future. He also made some pretty amazing drops, and this malady has plagued him up through and including his last game in a Lions uniform.

Despite all of the hardship, Roy never turned into the standard raging douchebag receiver so common in the NFL. Every time he was asked over the past couple years if he wanted to remain with the Lions, he always responded in the affirmative with no room for negative interpretation. He didn't use those questions as an opportunity to negotiate salary, lobby for a trade, and rarely did he make an outward showing of what had to be great discontent. Finally this year he spoke up declaring that he wanted to be a more central part of the offense, but even that was said diplomatically with minimal hostility toward the team's coaching or ownership.

I don't want to saint the man or claim that he is the greatest wide receiver of all time, but I do think that he often gets a bad wrap and there is far too much emphasis placed on the negative parts of personality that may not even exist. In the end he was another talented human being destroyed by the Lions, but I don't regret his presence. He could have been way, way worse.