Detroit Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew released an apology today for the personal foul penalty he received in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints. Pettigrew was penalized for contacting an official who was trying to restrain him from getting into it with Saints safety Roman Harper. Pettigrew was flagged 15 yards for the penalty and added to Detroit's list of self-inflicted mistakes during the game.

Via the Lions, here is Pettigrew's apology:

"I want to sincerely apologize to my teammates, my coaches, the Lions organization, fans and the NFL for my actions during the game on Sunday," Pettigrew said Tuesday. "In the heat of competition, I allowed my emotions to get the best me. I know better and my unintentional mistake cost my team."

"I’ve never acted this way before and it won’t happen again," he said. "I am fully committed to helping the Detroit Lions win with class and in a manner that our fans will respect."

Pettigrew may not have learned from Ndamukong Suh's incident against the Packers in terms of avoiding costly penalties, but his apology certainly came off better than the one Suh issued. Then again, it doesn't change the fact that he did take an awful penalty, so I suppose it doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. The best way to truly apologize is to learn from the mistake and not let it happen again, and that goes for the entire team at this point.