There’s a long list of games featuring players squaring off against their old teams during the regular season, with DeSean Jackson and Jared Allen near the top of the list.
Somewhere further down is Browns wide receiver Nate Burleson’s matchup against the Lions. For one thing, Burleson wasn’t one of the team’s most identifiable players outside of the strange pizza-related circumstances surrounding his broken arm last season. For another, the game takes place in the preseason and those dates are rarely highlighted on the calendar.
Neither of those points are stopping Burleson from making big promises about what will happen come August, though.
“Man, I’m wracking my brain figuring out what celebration I’m going to do -- because I’m going to get a fine,” Burleson said, via MLive.com. “I’m going to get a fine, period. I’m going to go to my coach and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to get a fine. I’m going to do something crazy. It’s going to be a little bit of an appreciation celebration to the fans and the city of Detroit. But it’s also going to be a poke in the back, saying, ‘You should have kept me because I’m still balling.”
If Golden Tate can get a handle on his new role, the Lions won’t feel much remorse about parting ways with Burleson even if this summer’s exhibition tilt features a performance for the ages from the veteran receiver.
