Getty Don Carey celebrates with Lions fans after a 2016 win.
The Detroit Lions have a former member of the team getting his feet wet in the political arena, and his reason for doing so revolves around helping everyone else rather than any personal gain.
Former Lions safety and special teams ace Don Carey is currently running for a city council seat in Chesapeake, Virginia. Some might think it is to satisfy a personal desire, but for Carey, the situation is actually quite different. He craves to help people, and finds the best way to do so is to roll up his sleeves and get to work on the front lines.
As Carey explained to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, his journey to the political arena has been a long and winding one, and the ambition dates back to his time in the NFL watching closely how communities can be positively impacted
The reason for his involvement, however? Entirely for the people and the experience of getting to serve them in order to solve problems and meet needs.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve found in this political thing, I don’t care much for the politics of it, but I do love dealing with people, hearing the issues that matter to people and then getting something solved,” he said. “It’s tougher to hear those issues (now), so I’m left to tell people what I care about.
“But thankfully, I’ve been around enough and I’ve talked to enough people that I kind of get an understanding of what the different areas, different neighborhoods of the city are needing. And the things that I care about aren’t too far off or aren’t different at all than what the different areas already need.”
According to the piece, Carey has received enough signatures to appear high on the ballot, but his overall campaign could be impacted by the coronavirus. For the time being he is staying upbeat and trying to remain positive about how his campaign might turn out when all is said and done.
Don Carey Stats
A safety who scrapped to make it into the NFL, Carey made a name for himself with the Lions, and did so mostly on special teams. He finished his career with 190 tackles, 3 interceptions, 8 passes defended 3 forced fumbles and 1 defensive touchdown. While playing with the team’s defense, he played sparingly and was usually pressed into action due to a player struggling or an injury creating a depth situation.
Carey, however, was best known for his class and how he impacted the community in a positive way. Now that his career is over, it’s nice to see Carey continuing to live that value out.
Lions Post-Career Involvement Varies
The Lions have no shortage of players doing big things off the field following retirement. Linebacker Chris Spielman is visible as a football broadcaster and works with the NFL on Fox. Al Baker operates a successful rib business, while Billy Sims has a chain of BBQ restaurants. Former quarterback Gary Danielson is a college football broadcaster currently with CBS Sports. Former offensive lineman Lomas Brown can be heard doing color commentary on Lions radio broadcasts. That’s just to name a few notable cases.
Carey entering the political arena would be one of the most interesting and important jobs a former player could have. Certainly, it will be fascinating to see how the campaign turns out for one of the better guys who played for the team in recent memory.
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