Dominic Raiola

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Dominic Raiola
refer to caption
Raiola with the Lions in 2011
No. 51
Position:Center
Personal information
Born: (1978-12-30) December 30, 1978 (age 45)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:295 lb (134 kg)
Career information
High school:Saint Louis
(Honolulu, Hawaii)
College:Nebraska (1997–2000)
NFL draft:2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 50
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
  • Detroit Lions (2016–2017)
    Assistant strength and conditioning coach
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:219
Games started:203
Fumble recoveries:5
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Dominic Raiola (/ˈdɒmɪnɪk raɪˈoʊlə/; born December 30, 1978) is an American former football center who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, where he won the inaugural Rimington Trophy and earned All-American honors in 2000. He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft, and played his entire 14-year career for the Lions.

In June 2016, Raiola was hired by the Lions as a strength and conditioning assistant coach.[1]

Early years

Raiola was born in

Prep Bowl.[3]
That same year, St. Louis High was nationally ranked as the 15th-best team in the United States.

College career

Raiola attended the

offensive lineman to start a game for the Cornhuskers since 1991. In 1999, he became the first sophomore center for the team since Dave Rimington to participate in postseason play, and set a school record for knockdowns, which he bettered in 2000. Following his junior season in 2000, he won the Rimington Trophy as the best center in college football, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.[4]

Professional career

2001 NFL Draft

Raiola was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the

1996
.

Detroit Lions

Raiola started to get game time as a replacement center in the latter half of the season in a game against the San Francisco 49ers in November; it was his first game in that position. He was selected as a member of Pro Football Weekly's All-Rookie squad during that season.

In

James Stewart
.

In

special teams, and became the long snapper when Bradford Banta broke his clavicle against the San Diego Chargers
.

In

Washington Redskins
in the middle of November. His reliability and strong performance led to the Lions offering him a five-year contract extension in March 2005.

Raiola started 12 games in 2008 for the 0–16 Lions, dubbed by NFL Network "the Worst Team of All Time," eclipsing the 0–14 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 12 straight losses of the 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On June 26, 2009, the Lions signed Raiola to a four-year, $20 million extension through 2013. The deal included $9 million in guarantees.

Following the 2009 season, Raiola was named the recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association/Pro Football Writers Association's Media-Friendly "Good Guy" Award. The Good Guy Award is given yearly to the Detroit Lions player who shows consideration to, and cooperation with the media at all times during the course of the season.

In the 2014 Thanksgiving Day game, Raiola became the first player in Detroit Lions history to start 200 games.[6]

Controversies

On December 9, 2008, he was fined $7,500 by the Lions organization after he made an obscene gesture towards heckling Lions fans after Detroit fell to 0–13 with a 20–16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field.[7]

On November 1, 2009, Raiola had another run-in with fans who were heckling rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford.[8]

After on-the-field warm-ups at the October 6, 2013, game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, several members of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band accused Raiola of making verbal assaults including homophobic slurs and comments about the band members' weight. The Detroit Lions subsequently issued an apology to the band and reported the behavior was against team policy, but added Raiola would not be disciplined by the team. Raiola stated to the media that he has more important things to worry about, like wins and losses.[9]

Following a game against the New England Patriots on November 23, 2014, the Detroit Free Press reported that Raiola admitted to taking a cheap shot at Patriots defensive tackle Zach Moore on last play of the game. The Patriots ran for a late touchdown when they could have taken three kneel-downs and ended the game with a 27–9 win over the Lions, and that decision rankled Raiola. Raiola said after the game that he tried to cut-block Moore on the Lions' final offensive snap as retaliation for the score, which resulted in an even more lopsided 34–9 loss for Detroit. "I cut him," Raiola said. "We took a knee, so I cut the nose (tackle). They went for six. They went for a touchdown at two minutes. They could have took three knees and the game could have been over. It's football. He wants to keep playing football, let's play football. Not a big deal. It's football." Patriots coach Bill Belichick responded during a press conference the following day, saying, "Sure there was a lot of frustration there with Raiola. He's never beaten us. Tough day for him."[10]

NFL spokesman Michael Signora said the following Wednesday that Raiola was fined $10,000 for unnecessary roughness, but not for his cut block on Zach Moore on the game's final play. Instead, it was for a play against Moore earlier in the drive, when Moore beat him, and Raiola appeared to try to club him from behind.[11]

In December 2014, Raiola stepped on the ankle of the Chicago Bears' Ego Ferguson. The NFL suspended Raiola for one game without pay and said that it was Raiola's sixth "safety-related rules violation since 2010".[12]

Personal life

Raiola was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Tony and Wendy Raiola. He has a younger sister, Nicole, and a younger brother,

Washington Redskins in 2011. His father, a native of Hawaii, was a defensive lineman for the University of Miami in the mid-1970s, but saw his career cut short due to a shoulder injury in 1977.[13]

Raiola fathered an out-of-wedlock son with Andrea Yee in 2007. In December 2012, Yee sued Raiola after he allegedly ceased paying her $195,000 in annual support and care payments.[14]

Raiola has a son, Dylan, who is one of the highest-rated high school quarterback recruits in the class of 2024. In May 2022, Dylan verbally committed to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes,[15] but later reopened his recruitment committing to the University of Georgia. He would then flip his commitment to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on December 18, 2023.

References

  1. ^ "Dominic Raiola back with Detroit Lions as strength coach". Detroit Free Press. June 2, 2016.
  2. ^ Abramo, Nick (December 18, 2002). "Front and center in the NFC North: Chicago's Kreutz and Detroit's Raiola are best friends despite playing on rival NFL teams". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Shimokawa, Duane (November 17, 2014). "Hawaii NFL star Dominic Raiola buys Kailua home from Coco Palms developer". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  4. ^ "Award Winners" (PDF). 2011 NCAA Football Records Book. Indianapolis, Indiana: National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2011. p. 11. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  5. ^ "2001 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  6. ^ Trister, Noah (November 27, 2014). "Johnson shines in Detroit's 34-17 win over Chicago". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  7. ^ "Lions fined Dominic Raiola for Gesture to Fans", Sports Illustrated, December 9, 2008, archived from the original on December 10, 2008
  8. ^ "Dominic Raiola Wants Detroit Fans to Lay Off Matthew Stafford", NFL Fanhouse, November 2, 2009
  9. ^ Chiari, Mike. "Dominic Raiola Accused of Verbally Assaulting Wisconsin Band at Lions Game". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  10. ^ "Belichick on Dominic Raiola: 'He's never beaten us; tough day for him'". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  11. ^ "NFL hits Raiola with $10,000 fine for punch". ESPN.go.com. November 26, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  12. ^ Rothstein, Michael (December 22, 2014). "Dominic Raiola suspended 1 game". ESPN.go.com. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  13. ^ "The Raiola family stays close despite one member playing in the NFL and another in the Big Ten". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. October 10, 2004.
  14. ^ "Macomb Township woman sues Dominic Raiola for child support money". Macomb Daily. December 17, 2012. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013.
  15. ^ "5-Star Class of 2024 QB Dylan Raiola Commits to Ohio State over Alabama, USC, More". Bleacher Report.

External links

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