Dominic Raiola and an anonymous general manager are fighting like fifth-graders. And one of them needs to stop.
The battle royale started a few weeks ago when Pro Football Weekly published quotes from an anonymous general manager taking verbal swipes at Detroit Lions GM Martin Mayhew, coach Jim Schwartz, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and defensive end Cliff Avril. Raiola called the GM a "coward" for being unnamed.
The GM, still anonymously, then went in on Lions center.
"I saw Dominic Raiola called me out, asking who the aimless, anonymous GM is who criticized the great Lions. 'Who is this person?'Â " Pro Football Weekly quoted the GM. "It's the guy who rejects you every time he watches your tape and thinks you are a complete fraud. It's the guy who didn't think you could play when you came out of college and still doesn't think you can play now.
"If (Raiola) spent as much time working the other muscles in his body as he does his jaw, he might have had the chance to be an average backup. You can put that in print."
Raiola, who's never one to be silent, answered Wednesday.
"All I've got to say to two people -- whoever's talking ... and then the person who wrote it at Pro Football Weekly," Raiola said, according to the Detroit News. "They're cowards, gutless.
"If I know who it is, then I could put a face with a name and kind of find out where he's coming from, but that's fine. I definitely ain't going to be a distraction to this team because we feel pretty good right now. We're moving in the right direction."
I'm usually all about a good old-fashioned catfight, but this doesn't seem to have any conclusion. And now it has taken an odd turn with Pro Football Weekly editor Hub Arkush issuing an apology. But why the apology if the GM was on the record?
It's all kind of petty. But once you get Raiola started...
"If you're his family, how do you even call this guy a man of your house?" Raiola said. "He's gutless."
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
