Move to Detroit is Larry Foote's bailout

It took Larry Foote less than five hours to go from the NFL's mountaintop to its deepest valley.

In other words, he hopped in the car and drove from Pittsburgh to Detroit.

And it's with the Lions he will stay, as Foote's days as a starting linebacker for the Steelers are over. He was released by the Super Bowl champions in late April and signed a one-year deal with his hometown team a week later.

That's where Foote says he wanted to wind up, a Detroit native looking to help rebuild his hometown team, one coming off an unprecedented 0-16 season.

"The organization is starting fresh with a brand-new coaching staff, a new GM, and they've brought in a lot of new players," he said in a phone interview last week. "It's a challenge. If these guys they've brought in are fighters like I am, we're going to turn this thing around. What better way to come home and restart my career?"

Of course, no clear-headed NFL player says goodbye to the Steelers if everything is going smoothly. Foote was a starting inside linebacker the past five seasons but seemed to be heading the way of Bethlehem Steel, one step closer to being phased out.

He was due to make almost $3 million this season -- he refused to take a pay cut -- and the pressure was on to play first-rounder Lawrence Timmons, who moved over from outside linebacker and backed him up last season.

What's more, Foote wanted to prove he could be more than a two-down player who came off the field in passing situations. He could see he wasn't going to get that chance, so he quietly asked to be traded. The Steelers tried to deal him, but their asking price was too high, so, as Foote puts it, they eventually "did me a favor and let me go."

It was a bittersweet departure for the 2002 fourth-round pick from Michigan who beat the odds by supplanting Kendrell Bell -- 2001 defensive rookie of the year -- then holding off Timmons for a championship season.

The last hurrah came last week when Foote and his teammates from last season received their gargantuan Super Bowl rings in a celebration at Heinz Field, then gathered at the home of linebacker James Farrior.

"I didn't want to leave," Foote said. "All the boys, we just hung around talking, sharing stories. When I did that drive [to Detroit] this morning, it was kind of like saying farewell."

Now, by car, he's five hours, two state lines, 300 miles . . . and half a galaxy away.

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