Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola is one of the more outspoken people in football. His mouth has been known to get him into trouble over the years, but the accusations made against him in the wake of the Detroit Lions’ game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday are worse than anything we have ever heard about the 34-year-old veteran.
Raiola has been accused by multiple people of making obscene remarks toward the Wisconsin band during pregame warmups at Lambeau Field. One of the band’s tuba players reportedly told NFL blogger Tom Melton that Raiola called several members of the band “fat motherf—ers” and told them they “sucked.” The band was supposedly preparing to play the National Anthem and did not provoke Raiola in any way.
The stories get worse. Melton said another band member told him one of his fellow female members tried to get Raiola’s attention and he responded by calling her “the c-word.” Additional members of the band claimed Raiola made comments about one instrument player’s sexuality, calling him a “fag” and saying he was going to “take his trumpet and shove it up his sister’s p—y.”
One of the Wisconsin band members, Zach York, also posted the following on his Facebook page on Sunday:
Dominic Raiola is literally the worst person I have ever had the fortune to encounter. After marching down the field awaiting the national anthem, He went off on a verbal tirade, among other things, questioning my sexuality (as a band member) and then continued on to bring my sister and my recently deceased mother into the conversation. After I refused to give him the satisfaction of turning to look at him, he switched targets to a trombone ranting at him calling him overweight and saying he can’t play a real sport. After our halftime show, the same fine gentleman called a female member of the band the “c” word
Either the Wisconsin band came up with an elaborate scheme to get Raiola into trouble with the NFL, or the former Wisconsin star is a moron. Considering the amount of people who reportedly confirmed the story, we’re guessing the latter is true. Raiola has also been known to go on swearing tirades in the past and was unapologetic for flipping off Lions fans in 2009, so he hasn’t exactly earned the benefit of the doubt.
Raiola has been fined by the NFL on two separate occasions for making obscene gestures and comments toward fans. The Lions said in a statement on Monday that they are they are looking into the allegations and that the reports are “extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players.” If any of the aforementioned details are true, Raiola could be facing a suspension from the team and/or league.
