The Heckler:
As he dressed prior to Thursday's practice at the team's Allen Park practice facility, Detroit Lions receiver Roy Williams could not believe what he was seeing. The lion on Williams' helmet, famous for his uncanny ability to hold his eternal leaping pose, was lying down.
"Everybody check your helmets!" Williams shouted across the locker room. "My lion isn't leaping anymore."
As the players checked their helmets, the locker room began to fill with "awwws," sounding a lot like a hospital nursery full of mothers laying eyes on their sleeping babies.
"Looks like the little guys are tired and getting ready for a nap," Linebacker Boss Bailey said. "I think we should turn off the lights and let them get some rest."
Everybody agreed and the locker room lights were dimmed and the players tip-toed out careful not to wake the lethargic lion.
Due to league rules, the Lions were required to inform the league of the uniform change in case the lion had not awoke by Sunday's tilt versus the Bears. Team officials are still unsure what caused the lion to suddenly lay down.
"Since the debut of the leaping lion to the helmets in 1960, he seemed strong and ready for battle. We never even considered the strain the leaping pose would put on him," said Cy Huston, the franchise's first VP and GM. "I don't know, maybe over 40 years of losing wore him out.
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