Tyrell Crosby had an odd-looking situation last year, and now he has gone public to rip the Detroit Lions’ current regime.
Tyrell Crosby started 18 of the 38 games he played for the Detroit Lions from 2018-2020, mostly at right tackle. The drafting of Penei Sewell in the 2021 draft reportedly put him on the trade block. He was never traded, but the story does not end there.
With a new regime in place, Crosby did not show up to the Lions’ voluntary OTAs in May of 2021. It was easy to assume his absence was because he was upset about the trade rumors, but he said he was homesick after a 2020 season that meant quarantining away from everyone.
Crosby, recently apparently, talked to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (subscription required, credit to Pride of Detroit for the quotes from the story). Crosby said the decision to skip voluntary OTAs was held against him.
"At minicamp, Crosby said then-Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn chided him during drills about missing OTAs for being “afraid to compete.” He said Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes called him into the office last spring “pretty much saying how I’m bad for the team because I walk around like I don’t care about my teammates, the city of Detroit, the staff members when that’s everything of those are like the furthest from the truth.”"
Tyrell Crosby has no love lost for the Detroit Lions
Crosby then missed most of training camp practices and the preseason with a hamstring injury. He complained of back pain, which was dismissed by the team, and as the pain continued he was fined $5,000 for missing a weight room session when he says he was getting treatment on his back.
Lions head trainer Dave Granito was suddenly fired around that time, with head coach Dan Campbell offering no real explanation.
Crosby played a little in the preseason finale last year. The Lions waived him with an injury designation days later. He turned down an injury settlement, and after seeking other medical opinions and options it was eventually found he had a degenerating back condition. He had spinal fusion surgery last December, and as he still recovers from that his football playing career could be over.
Crosby was not done ripping the way the Lions handled his situation.
"I would go out of the way for anybody in that building, and then to realize, ‘Oh, they actually just treat you like a genuine piece of meat and they don’t — they act like they truly don’t care.’ It’s so disheartening, and I hear from like other guys around the league that it’s, most teams aren’t that way. And so you start to understand, ‘Oh, this is definitely something that starts from the top down.’ It sucks.”I wouldn’t want to play for that organization just knowing what I know now and just how poorly they treat their players.”"
The Lions declined to comment on Crosby’s story, as expected. So it’s worth noting we’ll probably only ever hear his side of it.
Crosby’s situation was fairly odd at the time, and on our SideLion Report Facebook page someone coincidentally asked me about him recently. I only knew what information has been out there, that the Lions didn’t appear at all motivated to give him another shot and he hadn’t signed anywhere else (surely due to the December surgery on that last point).
But a question, among many in the sitiation, is why is Crosby coming out with his story now? It feels like a lawsuit against the Lions and/or former trainer Granito could be coming.