Detroit Lions Weblog

Sound the Kircus Death Knell….

David Kircus was a record-breaking, hometown-favorite wide receiver when the Lions selected him in the draft two seasons ago. Not only was his career recently teetering on the brink of oblivion with the offseason additions of Mike Williams and Kevin Johnson and the expected healthy return of Charles “Don’t Call Me Fragile” Rogers, it may have already been postmortem.

Kircus recently proceeded to take matters into his own hands by marking the spot on his abdomen for which the Lions front office can place the dagger.

The worst time of the year for NFL front offices is the hinterland of free time given to players from the end of the Super Bowl until training camp officially begins. This period is when most players have the free time to undertake worthwhile pursuits such as smuggling “Whizzinators” (Onterrio Smith), popping “endos” on crotch rockets(Kellen Winslow II), committing assault with a deadly weapon (Sean Taylor), resisting arrest(Kalimba Edwards), getting arrested for drag-racing (Quentin Williams) and getting a DUI (Kircus). The Lions, until recently, have had relatively few offseason embarassments.

One has to feel sorry for Kircus, he may never again receive an opportunity like the one he has had in Detroit. One strong impact he made on me occurred on the day of the 2005 NFL Draft event at Ford Field. Kircus was sitting at a table with his teammates patiently signing autographs and chatting with an interminably long line of fans. Meanwhile, the Lions front office was in the process of pushing him even lower on the depth chart as they selected WR Mike Williams. I couldn’t help but respect the guy, for giving of himself under such obviously trying circumstances. Hopefully for Kircus, this unfortunate incident was a rare mistake and not a sign of days to come.