by
Lomas Brown ran his last NFL plays a dozen years ago, but the vivid memories keep playing.
He shares highlights from 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions (1985-95) in a new book, "If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Lions."
The 256-page paperback and e-book, part of a series of pro athletes' memoirs, is written with Mike Isenberg of West Bloomfield, a former Fox Sports Detroit producer.
A short foreword is by running back Barry Sanders, the focus of Chapter 1 (excerpted below). "I consider him not just a teammate, not just a friend, but a brother," Sanders writes. "It was an honor to play with Lomas."
Lomas Brown at ESPN. "We were so close to bringing the city of Detroit the winner they so deserve," he writes.
Brown, now a 53-year-old TV sports analyst and business consultant, was an All-Star offensive lineman until ending his 18-year football career at age 42 in 2004.
"My 11 years with the Lions had both triumph and tragedy," he writes in the introduction, adding:
We rose from nothing and were so close to bringing the city of Detroit the winner they so deserve. There may not have been any Super Bowls, but that was the basis of friendships that I still hold dear today. . . .
I was fortunate to play with some great players like Jerry Ball, Kevin Glover, Herman Moore, Chris Spielman and, of course, the incomparable Barry Sanders. I share stories on all of them. . . . You'll also read my take on the modern-day Lions and guys like Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.
The subtitle is "Stories From the Detroit Lions Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box." The 21 chapters include one on "The Inspiration of Mike Utley," paralyzed at age 26 during a game, and one on Spielman, a three-time All-Pro while in Detroit.
Brown also explores "The Scott Mitchell Controversy," which involves whether the author purposefully missed a block that resulted in the quarterback's injury during a game against the Green Bay Packers in 1994 -- Mitchell's first season as a Lions starter.
Here's part of Chapter 1 from a preview selection at Amazon:
'Nothing could stop him'
Barry [Sanders] was special. He went all-out every single play. A lot of running backs would slow down either atr the end of a play or the end of practice. Not him.
He had a way of visualizing how he'd play in the games and he wasn't slowing down there. He'd go another 30 to 40 yards.
Barry Sanders poses in Detroit in 1998.
Once the games started, nothing could stop him. Even when we ran the run-and-shoot, which is not a sound offense for quarterbacks or backs because there was nobody left to block, it worked for us because of Barry.
He was a walking time bomb. You never knew when he was going to go off. It was like watching Barry Bonds. You never wanted to miss an at-bat because you never knew when Bonds was going to go deep.
'A lot of lows'
When Sanders came to Detroit, he was just a country boy who was on his own for really the first time. I was going into my fourth year and had already experienced the highs and -- especially with the Lions at that time -- a lot of lows. It was obvious that he was the future of the franchise, but he needed leadership. My job was no t only to protect him on the field, but off it as well. . . .
I wanted to show Barry that he had support. And it wasn't just Barry; it was his family, too. You need to ingratiate yourself with the family and let the family feel comfortable. That's what we did.
Our teams in the late '80s and '90s had a true family atmosphere. We'd hang out with the guys, we'd socialize. Guys wouldn't just go their separate ways.
Barry could come over to my house any time he wanted to, to Kevin Glover's house, and it was the same way with any other player. I think that's why the '90s we had so much success.
And Barry was part of my family. One of the funniest parts of this was how my daughters looked at him. They were pretty young at the time and were n't really into football. Yet, here they were, hanging out with the best running back in the NFL.
Part of why they got along so well was because Barry was about the same height as they were! And they didn't care about his record-breaking stats. They enjoyed being with the Barry that other people never saw -- the giggling Barry, the Barry that tried to crack jokes,. They just fell in love with him.
For me, getting to know what type of person he is made me want to block even harder for him.
'This boy can eat!'
I always get people asking, "What is something nobody knows about Barry?" Well, let me say, this boy can eat! My ex-wife was a great cook, and she loved doing it. Barry made sure that none if it went to waste either. I have no idea where he put it all, but this shy, little guy from Kansas as over to our house every night! . . .
Barry carried so much of the load for us, and we appreciated it.
But what really struck me was the class he always displayed. He never pointed out anyone missing a block or making a bad play. We'd run through a wall for that guy.
As spectacular as Barry was on the field, off of it he was just Barry. Just as my outspoken personality complemented Glove, it was the same way with Barry.
Especially during the first few years in the league, Barry would come by my house and hang out with the family. He was single at the time, so I think it made him feel closer to home. He'd come over to my house every holiday and he was always dropping by to play with the kids,
But Barry never really hung out with us players. He didn't drink., so clubs weren't really an option. But he was cool. We'd talk about social matters, about his crush on Olympic star Gail Devers. It was just friends talking together.
© 2016, Triumph Books
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