Linebacker Jordon Dizon was arrested six days before the 2008 NFL Draft for a variety of driving charges, including suspicion of drunk driving. Although the arrest happened way back in April, the public never learned about the incident until late last month. The Lions were in the same boat as they had no knowledge of any arrest when they drafted Dizon in the second-round.
"We do all the background checks right up to the draft and none of that came through,'' Millen said.
A source close to the situation said that Dizon's arrest might not have been "in the system'' because it wasn't processed immediately.
Millen would not speculate on how news of the arrest might have affected Detroit's decision to draft him, but said that head coach Rod Marinelli addressed the situation with Dizon.
"As soon as it happened, he and Rod had a nice long talk about it,'' Millen said.
As much as I'd like to bash Millen and the Lions for not knowing about the arrest, I'm going to go easy on them this time. Since Dizon was arrested the week of the draft, it would be pretty tough to learn about the charges before draft day arrives, especially when we didn't even find out about them until June.
On the flipside, no free pass is given for drafting Gosder Cherilus despite his involvement in a bar brawl as that happened last summer. Obviously Detroit felt that the slip up was a onetime thing and that Cherilus will behave himself. It's either that or they just didn't do their homework, which I suppose is a very possible explanation. Either way, both Cherilus and Dizon are on a short leash now with both the NFL and Rod Marinelli.