After former Detroit Lions tackle Taylor Decker shared his frustrations with how his divorce from the team played out, Lions coach Dan Campbell offered his perspective on the situation.
Decker bemoaned a communication breakdown between him and the team. In short, he believes the Lions failed to properly communicate that his return to the team was dependent on his willingness to take a pay cut. So, when Decker announced his intentions of returning to the team for an 11th season instead of retirement, he was surprised, and disappointed, to hear that the team would only allow him back if it was on a reduced salary. Decker refused, and the team released him earlier this month.
Campbell was obviously disheartened to hear about Decker’s frustration.
“You never want a player to feel like something has happened to them that they don’t feel good about. You don’t want that,” Campbell said.
Adding to Decker’s frustration was the fact that the team offered no contact after the release. No thank you’s or appreciation of his time in Detroit. Campbell indicated he’ll eventually reach out to Decker, but noted that sometimes the business is just callous like that.
“These guys, you’re around all the time, it’s like coaches, (then) they’re just gone, and it’s crazy,” Campbell said. “But that’s the nature of the business. That’s the way that it was when I was a player. Some of these coaches are like—I had a coach that it was like we talked every day, man. He would send me messages, he would talk. And then the minute I go to another team, I never heard from him again. It wasn’t being vindictive, but it’s also a little bit like—well, you’re not part of the team anymore and all my focus is on this. That’s kind of the world we live in, unfortunately, and it’s hard. But that’s the way it goes.”
And while Decker may not get a direct message from Campbell and company for a little while, the Lions head coach made sure to tell the media on hand at the owners meetings how much he appreciated Decker’s time with the team.
“Deck’s a stud, man. He gave a lot for a long time through three regimes, and we’ll be forever grateful, man,” Campbell said. “He’ll always be a Lion, and it’ll always be his home at some point. So, he’ll be missed.”
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