Ex-Lions lineman Lomas Brown: I got Scott Mitchell hurt

Lions great Lomas Brown has made a name for himself in his second career of NFL analyst. Keen TV viewers in Detroit know not only does he make frequent appearance on Local 4 and in Happy's Pizza commercials, but he's a staple in the mid-to-late week on ESPN's myriad of shows.

On Friday, Brown was a guest on "SVP and Russillo" on ESPN Radio and the seven-time Pro Bowler made a interesting admission as the conversation turned to quarterbacks (as it always seems to do).

Ryen Russillo set up Brown by saying he didn't call out his quarterbacks much. But Brown did say there was something he'd do to send a message.

"Just let the guy hit him. Just let the D-lineman get a shot on him," Brown said. "I'd make it look good. I had some actor in me."

Need more details? Here's why a drive or two in the mid 90s may have stalled.

"That happened to Scott Mitchell," he said. Brown went on to describe how he whiffed on a block or two.

"We were playing Green Bay in Milwaukee. We were getting beat, 24-3, at that time and he just stunk up the place. He's throwing interceptions, just everything. So I looked at Kevin Glover, our All-Pro center and I said, 'Glove, that is it.' I said, 'I'm getting him out the game.' ... So I got the gator arms on the guy at the last minute, he got around me, he hit Scott Mitchell, he did something to his finger ... and he came out the game. Dave Krieg came in the game. We ended up losing that game, 27-24."

For the sake of being factual, the game was Nov. 6, 1994. Detroit was actually down, 24-0, in the second quarter. Mitchell suffered a broken bone in his right hand when he was hit by Green Bay's Sean Jones. At the time, Mitchell was 5-for-15 for 63 yards and two picks.

Krieg did come in and throw three TD passes, but the Lions fell, 38-30. But the Lions went 5-2 the rest of the season with Krieg at quarterback, only to lose to the Packers at Lambeau Field in the wild card game (the infamous Barry Sanders minus-1 yard rushing game).

"As you can tell, I'm just not a big fan of Scott Mitchell. He's not on my Christmas list," Brown said.

Kirkland Crawford writes for the Detroit Free-Press, a Gannett Property.