Herman Moore
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Herman Moore has warned the Lions following their drama with Frank Ragnow.
There was a bit of controversy that emerged late last month from the Detroit Lions, who were revealed to have asked retired center Frank Ragnow, a three-time All-Pro selection during his seven year career, to repay the club a portion of his signing bonus because of his early retirement.
As Lions fans are well aware, this is not the first time that the team has done this with a notable player who walked away early, having done the exact same thing with both Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson.
Both players were estranged for years from the organization before mending fences. And now, another former notable Lions player is speaking out.
Former Detroit Lions WR Herman Moore Reacts To The Situation
Former Lions wide receiver Herman Moore, whom they selected in the first round (10th overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft, believes that this could have a harmful future impact on the club.
“The business side is the business side. When money is asked back, that can be talked through and worked out,” wrote Moore. “When that spills into the public space, it creates division, and don’t think other players (or their representatives) don’t see it. They remember it when it’s time for their own negotiation and contract discussions.”
“When it comes to decisions like this, there’s room to make a different call. There are players who go above and beyond, who represent everything an organization says it stands for, who lay it on the line over and over again. And in those moments, a team has a choice,” Moore explained. “It can follow the contract exactly as written or it can decide, based on what that player meant to the organization, that it’s good.”
Thanks to his outstanding career, Moore was named to the Pride of the Lions, as well as the Lions 75th Anniversary Team along with the Lions All-Time Team. But it’s obvious that he feels this decision by the team wasn’t the right one and could have lasting ramifications.
“That decision isn’t just about money, it’s about what the organization wants to stand for, how it wants to be seen, and how it chooses to treat the people who helped build it. Because those decisions don’t stay isolated,” Moore added. “They carry into the locker room, into future negotiations, and into how players view that organization moving forward. Sometimes the best decision isn’t the strict business decision, it’s the one that reflects the standard of an organization.”
Rod Wood Explained The Precedent Dates Back To Barry Sanders
As Wood would explain to The Detroit Free Press, this is the same standard that the organization has had since legendary running back Barry Sanders abruptly retired on the eve of Training Camp in 1999.
“I really don’t spend too much time looking at what other teams do and I don’t imagine they spend too much time looking at what we do,” Wood said during the NFL’s annual meetings on Tuesday. “We have to do what’s right for our organization and if I worried about optics, we wouldn’t do a lot of things. But, I’m very comfortable with where we are and every situation has been handled separately and differently. I don’t have anything else to say on that.”
“Our precedent goes all the way back to Barry Sanders,” Wood told the Free Press. “And if Barry Sanders paid back money. … And I think the reality is, they’re not paying back their money, they’re returning our money. Cause they were paid in advance for services that they hadn’t completed.”
However, the Lions are once again finding out the poor optics of the situation isn’t helping their image.