Lions' Darius Slay happy to stay in Detroit, maybe for good
Allen Park — Lions star cornerback Darius Slay insists that Tuesday was just another day.
While his name was floated in rumors as the NFL’s trade deadline came and went with a whimper, Slay said he was just busy working on his game — video games, that is.
“I got a little better in Call of Duty,” Slay said of his Tuesday afternoon. “I played a lot of (NBA)2K, and I played a lot of PUBG."
Meanwhile, the two-time Pro Bowler was connected in rumors to Philadelphia as one of the league’s biggest names on the trading block.
After 4 p.m. passed and the NFL world largely remained silent along with the Lions, Slay’s wife, Jennifer, tweeted that “Detroit is home!” Slay stayed unfazed, he said.
This, after the star cornerback caused a bit of a stir last week after his friend and secondary mate Quandre Diggs was traded to Seattle, questioning the lack of loyalty in the league and not committing to his future in Detroit.
“(Crap), it basically say it don’t matter who you is," Slay said Thursday, two days after Diggs was shipped with a future seventh-rounder to the Seahawks for a 2020 fifth-round draft pick. “No matter how much you put in, at the end of the day it’s a business so that’s how I just look at it. Nobody’s safe, in my opinion.”
He went on: “I’m saying I’m here to play ball. … Like I said, it don’t matter if I’m here or not. That’s what I want to do, I just want to play ball.”
On Wednesday, Slay said he wouldn’t mind staying in Detroit for his entire career.
“As long as the Lions want me. That’s how long I need to be home for,” Slay said. “Who wouldn’t want to play with one team (their whole career)?”
Meanwhile, Slay was limited in practice Wednesday with the hamstring injury that kept him sidelined Sunday for the second time this season.
Slay said he wasn’t sure if he’d play Sunday at Oakland and refused to speculate on where his career will take him in the long-term — only joking that there’s no way his career would hit Year 20.
“I don’t really think about the future,” Slay said. “Only thing in the future I think about is with my family. This sports life, it comes and goes. My future isn’t that long in it."
But just like after last week’s media session, when his nonchalant comments about his future raised eyebrows enough for Slay to proclaim his love for the state of Michigan on Twitter, Slay was clear about feeling the love from Lions fans.
“I love the fans here; they’re awesome,” he said. "They’re a good fan base. I love the support they give me.”
Matt Schoch is a freelance writer.