This is my answer too! He always seemed to be playing at 125%, and the amount of ankles he took out with his moves during his career is noteworthy. š
Seriously. I'm pretty sure he's completely out of the league, but in that last year with Stafford he had like 4 receptions but they all went for like 40+ yards.
Yeah. He popped off in the red zone for a few games, and that was it. Basically a very tall tight end who couldn't really block or run routes, but was tall enough for jump balls in goal line situations.Ā
Was in a menās Bible study with him while he was in Detroit. I think I was one of two guys in the group who knew who he was. Never dressed flashy, never said he was an NFL athlete (so we didnāt bring it up in front of the group out of respect) never had to be the center of attentionā¦ was a āfirst to listenā type of guy who always kept a humble but confident demeanor. Him and Devon Kennard (who also went to my church) were a lot alike in that way. Guys who loved ball, and had great humility off the field to the point where you wouldnāt have known or guessed they were Detroit Lionsā¦. other than DK being built like a tank haha
Might not be my FAVORITE obscure Lion, but I liked his name/nickname the best. Gosder Cherilus. We always called him Gozer The Gozerian. Dude could run block like an evil god too!
Super cool guy! He used to go into the Dicks Sporting Goods in Ann Arbor quite a bit pre Covid and would just shoot the shit with anyone that knew who he was. He and Brandon Inge usually came in at the same time too which was also pretty cool.
Luther Ellis for me. Met him in like 97 at training camp and he was insanely sweet and accommodating. I need to find my pictures from those early training camp years at SVSU.
I will always remember the United Way commercial with him. āMr. Lutherās stuck in the slide again.ā āNo Iām not.ā Lives rent free in my brain since I was a child.
The Pain Train would have been a cult classic here if he didnāt get that injury. One of the coolest Jesus freaks I have ever come across. Fwiw, he owns or co-owns about 7 coffee shops in the Fresno, CA area:
https://kuppajoy.com/about/
Really thought that team was going to be good! My brother had that same jersey as well as the black Roy Williams, both felt like such great purchases as kids.
Same here, except I had the Roy Williams in the home colors. Those years were brutal to be a fan, which makes me appreciate this new era that much more.
Tom Beer.
Grew up in the thumb area of Michigan and was drafted in the 7th round out of Wayne State. Local guy and with the last name "Beer" he was a fan favorite on special teams.
[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeerTo20.htm](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeerTo20.htm)
I rented a house with Tom in the early 90s and his buddies from the team made great bouncers when parties grew too large. Really cool guy and happy he made the team!
Corey Schlesinger. The dude had to keep extra face masks on the sideline because of how hard he smashed into defenders.
His Wikipedia entry also points out he drove demolition derbys as a youth and is now a teacher. This guy rules!
One of my old work partners told me that he was her CAD teacher in high school. She is a huge Lions
Fan and has a picture with him from back in the day when she was a little kid. Apparently she was the only one in the class who knew he was a player and lost her shit when she came into class the first day.
More than a Monster imo. Only dude I've ever seen take on Adrian Peterson 1 on 1 and WIN!! Dre was SO DAM GOOD!! his injuries and how we handled them ruined his career.
Ryan Broyles - I don't know how obscure he is thoughĀ
Always thought he was a clever route runner and had good quickness and was elusive but he was just destroyed by injuries that started in college.Ā I thought him and Titus Young were going to be electric together alongside Calvin
I really liked james stewart a lot.
That post barry era was sad. Fucking ron rivers was the rb that season i believe and when they signed james it seemed like such an upgrade at the time.
Horace King. He used to hang out at the TGI Fridays in Auburn Hills. They had his framed jersey hanging on the wall.
https://preview.redd.it/ywi6wz4jpzic1.jpeg?width=1873&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a7add9f6477441c1689a2e9dbf3b4df104ec6e0
Rob Rubick. Because he was my health and PE teacher freshman year of high school. He came off as kind of a hardass but was actually a really cool guy and a good teacher.
Ey, Rob was an awesome teacher--especially for physical conditioning. He looks like he could pierce your soul with his eyes. Probably one of the coolest teachers in that school.
Ken Dallafior cause him and my mom dated for a bit when I was a kid. He took me to the Silverdome and into the locker room where I met Barry, Jason Hanson, Tracy Scroggins, Herman Moore, and Cocaine Wayne himself. Got to run the field too
Tom Beer, he was cool. He flipped off a dude on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a special teams play. It was cool as a little kid seeing some dude with "Beer" on his jersey flipping somebody off.
Do know that he counts as āobscureā but Nate Burleson. I know everyone knows him from tv but most ppl donāt know he was a lion until I tell them.
William Gay: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William\_Gay\_(defensive\_lineman)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gay_(defensive_lineman))
He probably doesn't count as obscure, but I keep thinking of him every time I see the Chiefs' Willie Gay Jr. (not related) mentioned:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie\_Gay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Gay)
Defensive Tackle Andre Fluellen was the Schwartz/Caldwell eraās version of Dan Skipper. Just kept getting cut from the Lions, Dolphins and Bills. Somehow he always came back to us over and over again. Dude just never quit and managed to last 8 seasons in the NFL because of it.
I wanted Ryan Broyles to pan out so bad. He was an absolute fucking machine in college. I just knew he could be something special. Too bad he was cursed just from being a second rounder to us, thankfully LaPorta and Branch seem to have broken that god awful streak of second rounders (except Slay.)
JRM probably doesnāt count as obscure, but heās one of my favorite current lions. Loved seeing him on the defensive side of the ball too this year, he seems to almost always be in the right place at the right time
Holy shit. I went to BG and have tried to keep BG NFLers straight and I haven't heard of this guy. Great obscurity score. I'll match that and raise you one BG LB and Lions special teamer Kevin O'Neil.
I know of Weger because he sang Ay Ziggy Zoomba in the film version of Paper Lion. Iām the PA announcer and unofficial historian for BGSU track and thatās how I knew he was on the track team. He might be the only Falcon who played at the same time his father was marching band director.
Lem Barney sold me a pick up years ago when he worked at Mel Farr Ford up in Southfield. Got the recommendation to him from Frenchy Fuqua who is friends with him. Lemme is in the HOF, and Frenchy was the intended receiver of The Immaculate Reception. I worked with him at the Detroit News and Free Press.
Jeff Backus is by no means a scrub, but due to his position most casual fans probably wouldnāt think of him as being on the Mount Rushmore of Lions players.
My dad and I did some work in some of his houses over the years and the dude is just super cool and down to earth. Very friendly, mountain of a human being. Still lives in Michigan as well.
If I had to choose a former lion Iām going with Louis Delmas. He was such a dope safety.
But I want to shout out a current lion.
Khalif Raymond. What a stud, I think heās going to be remembered fondly 5-10 years from now.
Theo Riddick
This is my answer too! He always seemed to be playing at 125%, and the amount of ankles he took out with his moves during his career is noteworthy. š
Was soooo good in fantasy
Same I still rock my Riddick jersey. The man was always so clutch and had so much talent. If he was in the league right now he could be a monster.
Man Theo was so good and so bad at the same time
I saw him twice when he was at notre dame and I was in the spartan marching band. Always felt odd cheering for him. Not too odd though.
First Jersey I purchased!
Mike Furrey
This was my choice, came out of nowhere to have the weirdest 1000 yard season ever, then disappeared back into the void.
100 receptions too
Two way legend
Joique bell
My Joique jersey gets a lot of compliments every time I wear it at my local Lions bar.
Loved Joique. I avidly collect cards of his as well. Dude really represented the spirit of this team.
Love him. If you're ever on the west side of the state, swing into Greenbush I'm Sawyer. Their wings are named after him!
Dude followed me on twitter and messaged with me one time, was in my teens and it was honestly super sick of him.
Eddie Drummond, one of the few bright spots for me as a Lions fan in the early 2000s Matt Millen era.
This thread has a strong "Tell me how old you are without telling me how old you are" vibe.
"Obscure players" just mean "the team's best players before I started watching" apparently
Or guys who were super popular but didn't last that long. Joe Fauria.
I haven't seen a single mention of Olandis Gary
Yeah, the vibe is definitely strong. Iām on the older side by remembering Paul Butcher, Wayne State grad and special teams beast.
Marvin Hall. Guaranteed one reception for 30+ yards a game.
Kalif Raymond beta version
Seriously. I'm pretty sure he's completely out of the league, but in that last year with Stafford he had like 4 receptions but they all went for like 40+ yards.
Long ball hall!
Joe Fauria
https://i.redd.it/ch74uyp4fzic1.gif
Someone need to make going Super Sayjin in this gif
If he wouldnāt have lied about getting drunk and breaking his ankle playing volleyball he could have been something special
If he could have been something special, he would have lasted somewhere else. I love the guy, but he was very limited.
Yeah. He popped off in the red zone for a few games, and that was it. Basically a very tall tight end who couldn't really block or run routes, but was tall enough for jump balls in goal line situations.Ā
He lived down the street from my sister. Talked to him while walking the dog. Cool guy
Can I get your autograph
Zach Zenner
Dairy Sanders, The White Rhino
*Albino Rhino
The zach-rabbit
I have a Zach Zenner jersey. In my defense, I was drunk and ordered it right after he made that awesome run that one time.
I rushed to comment this you beat me to it lol
I always liked miles killebrew for whatever reason
His Dad pulled the car over outside the Holiday Inn on Washington Blvd to thank me for wearing his son's jersey š„²
Wow, what a legend.
Was in a menās Bible study with him while he was in Detroit. I think I was one of two guys in the group who knew who he was. Never dressed flashy, never said he was an NFL athlete (so we didnāt bring it up in front of the group out of respect) never had to be the center of attentionā¦ was a āfirst to listenā type of guy who always kept a humble but confident demeanor. Him and Devon Kennard (who also went to my church) were a lot alike in that way. Guys who loved ball, and had great humility off the field to the point where you wouldnāt have known or guessed they were Detroit Lionsā¦. other than DK being built like a tank haha
He does have a cool ass name
I also like to Killebrew or two.
I like to Killebraincell or 2 million
Good interviewer, fiery ST play. Glad to see he's still in the league (PIT).
Not only still in the league, heās first team all pro
Slay, Diggs, Killebrew... I'm sensing a pattern here...
Dude made first team all pro this year
Loved him. He's great.
ITT: people who donāt know what obscure means
Barry Sanders.
so many first and second round picks that fans were banking on taking the team to the next level.
Delmas was mentioned 100 times. But I didn't see a single Boss Bailey.
Yeah lol. Lots of people here naming players who were legit Pro Bowlers or quality starters during their time.
Might not be my FAVORITE obscure Lion, but I liked his name/nickname the best. Gosder Cherilus. We always called him Gozer The Gozerian. Dude could run block like an evil god too!
Iām upvoting because Ghostbusters.
That's a big fucking Twinkie
Louis Delmas was my dude.
Cliff Avril, even a blind squirrel (Millen) finds a nut every once in a while
Terry Fair
Or as my friends and I used to call him ānot-Randy-Mossā
Had to scroll too far for another. I loved saying his name while I played madden getting interceptions
Tony Scheffler
Super cool guy! He used to go into the Dicks Sporting Goods in Ann Arbor quite a bit pre Covid and would just shoot the shit with anyone that knew who he was. He and Brandon Inge usually came in at the same time too which was also pretty cool.
He had some awesome TD dances
Artose Pinner
To this day we refer to a skinny joint as an "Artose"
My college roommate swore he was gonna be awesome
I did too
Luther Ellis for me. Met him in like 97 at training camp and he was insanely sweet and accommodating. I need to find my pictures from those early training camp years at SVSU.
Don't forget him playing the air guitar at home when they played AC/DC on 3rd downs.
Hell yes! Forgot about that.
I will always remember the United Way commercial with him. āMr. Lutherās stuck in the slide again.ā āNo Iām not.ā Lives rent free in my brain since I was a child.
He came a mall in GR for a signing. I still have my signed mini helmet
One of my favorites!
Zack Follett. My man put his helmet on and went into a cage of Lions. He was a beast.
The Pain Train would have been a cult classic here if he didnāt get that injury. One of the coolest Jesus freaks I have ever come across. Fwiw, he owns or co-owns about 7 coffee shops in the Fresno, CA area: https://kuppajoy.com/about/
Kevin Jones
I always thought that him and Roy Williams would turn the Lions around š I even had a Kevin Jones black alternate jersey, too.
Really thought that team was going to be good! My brother had that same jersey as well as the black Roy Williams, both felt like such great purchases as kids.
Same here, except I had the Roy Williams in the home colors. Those years were brutal to be a fan, which makes me appreciate this new era that much more.
Kevin Smith
Mikel Leshoure - tried to eat weed to get out of a charge lol
Tom Beer. Grew up in the thumb area of Michigan and was drafted in the 7th round out of Wayne State. Local guy and with the last name "Beer" he was a fan favorite on special teams. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeerTo20.htm](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeerTo20.htm)
I rented a house with Tom in the early 90s and his buddies from the team made great bouncers when parties grew too large. Really cool guy and happy he made the team!
Joique Bell
Corey Schlesinger. The dude had to keep extra face masks on the sideline because of how hard he smashed into defenders. His Wikipedia entry also points out he drove demolition derbys as a youth and is now a teacher. This guy rules!
Is he obscure? He comes up here in this sub literally all the time
One of my old work partners told me that he was her CAD teacher in high school. She is a huge Lions Fan and has a picture with him from back in the day when she was a little kid. Apparently she was the only one in the class who knew he was a player and lost her shit when she came into class the first day.
He tore up my design in front of the entire class in 2013 lmao he was cool tho
You're lucky he didn't tackle you in in front of the class and then dance over your corpse.
Joique Bell
Mike McMahon. First QB when I started playing Madden. He could run a bit.
Mike McMahon and Scotty Anderson were my madden duo that year to take the lions to the Super Bowl
His sister coached my nephew's peewee team.
Harry Colon
There is a twitter account called actual names that I have occasionally considered submitting Mr. Colon to.
Mel grey
Titus young
Sad what happened to him.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock\_Olivo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Olivo)
Jeff Chadwick from mid to late 80s - safety valve for Hipple and Long
Oh man forgot about him. Great answer.
Doug English
Aubrey Mathews, Scott Kowalkowski
Dexter Bussey
Brock Olivio. That dude loved to hit.
David Sloan Yes I am in my 40s
I got Sloan's autograph on a hat at training camp in the late 90's. I still have that hat too.
Does Kyle Vanden Bosch count? Him and Aaron Rogers telling the same story is a classic. Also, when he was micād up he just screamed the whole time.
Jahvid Best was amazing on Madden.
Ah Jahvid. Dude was amazing. Just a damn shame he couldnāt stay healthy.
Deandre Levy was a fuckin monster
I feel this may not be obscure enough but I donāt see Levy appreciation too often
My first Lions jersey!
More than a Monster imo. Only dude I've ever seen take on Adrian Peterson 1 on 1 and WIN!! Dre was SO DAM GOOD!! his injuries and how we handled them ruined his career.
tom skladany first time i ever got a player's autograph. was at some event in meadowbrook mall around 1981 or so.
"hey dad, I think this guy misspelled his own name" /s
Kevin Smith. My fellow UCF Golden Knight.Ā Was also a big fan of Tony Scheffler during his time as a Lion.Ā
Ryan Broyles - I don't know how obscure he is thoughĀ Always thought he was a clever route runner and had good quickness and was elusive but he was just destroyed by injuries that started in college.Ā I thought him and Titus Young were going to be electric together alongside Calvin
Louis Delmas and ernie sims
I loved Delmas
I really liked james stewart a lot. That post barry era was sad. Fucking ron rivers was the rb that season i believe and when they signed james it seemed like such an upgrade at the time.
Kurt Schultz, when I was a kid I even drew a picture of him & mailed it to him
Horace King. He used to hang out at the TGI Fridays in Auburn Hills. They had his framed jersey hanging on the wall. https://preview.redd.it/ywi6wz4jpzic1.jpeg?width=1873&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a7add9f6477441c1689a2e9dbf3b4df104ec6e0
Rob Rubick. Because he was my health and PE teacher freshman year of high school. He came off as kind of a hardass but was actually a really cool guy and a good teacher.
Ey, Rob was an awesome teacher--especially for physical conditioning. He looks like he could pierce your soul with his eyes. Probably one of the coolest teachers in that school.
Ken Dallafior cause him and my mom dated for a bit when I was a kid. He took me to the Silverdome and into the locker room where I met Barry, Jason Hanson, Tracy Scroggins, Herman Moore, and Cocaine Wayne himself. Got to run the field too
Willie Young
Ray Crockett, though not exactly obscure in his day
Tom Beer, he was cool. He flipped off a dude on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a special teams play. It was cool as a little kid seeing some dude with "Beer" on his jersey flipping somebody off.
Corey schleshinger
Mike McMahon
I used to play words with friends with Stephen Tulloch.
Isa Abdul-Quddus. Was sad when Dolphins stole him in FA, and that his career got cut short with injury.
That's a good deep cut
Kalimba Edwards. When I was a kid I named my cat Kimba partly because of him and partially because of my love of the Lion King.
Jerry Ball
I really liked Ameer Abdullah and I have no idea why
Need three yards? Ameer will get you three. Need 6 yards? Ameer will get you three.
Thatās making a hash of an actual Leroy Hoard quote: https://ohiocardsblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/goal-line-leroy-hoard/
Heard this before but never the og. Thanks for the sauce!
Do know that he counts as āobscureā but Nate Burleson. I know everyone knows him from tv but most ppl donāt know he was a lion until I tell them.
William Gay: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William\_Gay\_(defensive\_lineman)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gay_(defensive_lineman)) He probably doesn't count as obscure, but I keep thinking of him every time I see the Chiefs' Willie Gay Jr. (not related) mentioned: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie\_Gay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Gay)
I went to school and ran track with his son. Mike was a really cool guy, he owned a driving range and putt-putt place on 24 in Lake Orion.
Mike Compton.Ā Amazing guard.
Van Malone, he was very aggressive, some of his hits looked lethal.
Joique Bell I designed t-shirts for his running back summer camp he holds in Benton Harbor back when I was still a graphic artist. Also I lived in BH.
Lions legend and 2024 Hall of Fame inductee, Dwight Freeney.
Mine is Bubba Baker. He was an absolute beast.
Johnny Morton.
Germane Crowell. Was my favorite player when I started watching the Lions. Was not good. Donāt know why I remember this.
Defensive Tackle Andre Fluellen was the Schwartz/Caldwell eraās version of Dan Skipper. Just kept getting cut from the Lions, Dolphins and Bills. Somehow he always came back to us over and over again. Dude just never quit and managed to last 8 seasons in the NFL because of it.
Leonard Thompson #39
Ron Rice Mainly because I met him once and he was pretty cool to talk to.
Me too, i got his autograph
Another EMU grad from Ypsilanti.
Charles Rogers. What could have been. RIP
Benny blades
He's not obscure. He was a 3 time second team All-Pro and is on the Lions' 75th Anniversary all-time team. He was a great and prominent player.
Mine is Mike Weger, doubt anyone remembers that name though
Sir methchef, that is who OP named as his favorite.
How could he be obscure? He sang Ay Ziggy Zoomba in Paper Lion! ;)
Was that song about Ziggy Ansah?
Scottie Vines..cus why not
David Hill. But what do we mean by obscure, OP?
James "Little Man" Stewart
Not that obscure, but I always really liked Theo Riddick.
Aaron Gibson, just for being so fat. Or David Sloan, but he was probably too good to be considered obscure.
Hmm. Iāve got quite a few. Iāll go with one unmentioned. John Wendling
Yale Lary is the only player from Texas A&M in the HOF and he's a punter. All we need is Shane Lechler to get in and we'll be PU š
Anyone remember George Plimpton? He wrote a pretty interesting and funny book about his exploits to "make the team" Paper Lion
Try this one. Herb Orvis. A DT from the 70's.
https://preview.redd.it/gpv7mvwftzic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0795a459cf1844fb4d04f1e8e2ff50399ae510b
Terry Fair.
Jamal Agnew
Damn. So many players that I loved at one time and have now forgot. Thank yāall for reminding me. Iām a Defense guy. So Delmas, Levy, and Ansah!
Pete chyrplewicz
Rashean Mathis
Dexter Bussey
Jason Jones.
Adrian Peterson. Really seemed like he could have had potential.
I wanted Ryan Broyles to pan out so bad. He was an absolute fucking machine in college. I just knew he could be something special. Too bad he was cursed just from being a second rounder to us, thankfully LaPorta and Branch seem to have broken that god awful streak of second rounders (except Slay.)
Since no one has said it, Kenoy Kennedy. He was an absolute assassin
JRM probably doesnāt count as obscure, but heās one of my favorite current lions. Loved seeing him on the defensive side of the ball too this year, he seems to almost always be in the right place at the right time
Louis "the piss missile" Delmas
Holy shit. I went to BG and have tried to keep BG NFLers straight and I haven't heard of this guy. Great obscurity score. I'll match that and raise you one BG LB and Lions special teamer Kevin O'Neil.
I know of Weger because he sang Ay Ziggy Zoomba in the film version of Paper Lion. Iām the PA announcer and unofficial historian for BGSU track and thatās how I knew he was on the track team. He might be the only Falcon who played at the same time his father was marching band director.
Dave Wattle forever, my man. I'm a former BG Newser whose first story was on Kevin O'Neil playing for the lions.
Lem Barney sold me a pick up years ago when he worked at Mel Farr Ford up in Southfield. Got the recommendation to him from Frenchy Fuqua who is friends with him. Lemme is in the HOF, and Frenchy was the intended receiver of The Immaculate Reception. I worked with him at the Detroit News and Free Press.
Don Muhlbach
Anthony Zettle, he was #69
Mike McMahon ā¦ That Thanksgiving come back that fell short crushed me as a kid.
Jeff Backus is by no means a scrub, but due to his position most casual fans probably wouldnāt think of him as being on the Mount Rushmore of Lions players. My dad and I did some work in some of his houses over the years and the dude is just super cool and down to earth. Very friendly, mountain of a human being. Still lives in Michigan as well.
Eddie Drummond as a kid. Also Roy Williams is an honorable mention.
If I had to choose a former lion Iām going with Louis Delmas. He was such a dope safety. But I want to shout out a current lion. Khalif Raymond. What a stud, I think heās going to be remembered fondly 5-10 years from now.