DETROIT -- This might be the last time you hear from Dre Bly for quite awhile.
No, Bly, the All-Pro Lions cornerback, hasn't lost his voice or taken a vow of silence.
It's just that Bly, entering his fourth season with the Lions, simply wants his actions to speak for him.
Bly is tired of talking about what the Lions are going to do. And you can't blame him. In his first three years here, Bly was the optimist. He said everybody was wrong when many predicted that this club wouldn't win many games, let alone make it to the postseason.
With training camp just a few weeks away, Bly has one last message for the masses: The Lions finally will deliver. And it's not because he says so, but because they finally have everything they need to win week in and week out.
"I really feel we have the best coaching staff for what we have," Bly said.
A military approach
Bly said it starts with new coach Rod Marinelli.
"He's a military guy," Bly said. "He's a guy that basically lights a torch and motivates you. (Defensive coordinator) Donnie Henderson is a proven guy, the same type guy, a motivator. Then, Mike Martz. Everybody knows he's a mastermind genius on the offensive side of the ball."
Bly and Martz were in St. Louis together when the Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV.
"Detroit really hasn't had an offensive weapon since Barry Sanders came here," Bly said. "And with Mike Martz coming here, I'm saying this, it might be the biggest addition offensively that we've had since Sanders."
Bly, who will be entering his ninth season, believes Martz will be able to get the most out of the four young offensive players drafted the last three years: Kevin Jones, Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams.
"Everybody's excited," Bly said. "And we're definitely going to have our best year. I haven't felt this strongly since I've been here. You like to hope. But I really feel that this year is going to be our year."
Bly, 29, is a refreshing athlete who is not filled with canned quotes and is never afraid of stepping on someone's foot.
'I'm a grown man'
Granted, most would have not spoken out as loudly as Bly after Steve Mariucci was fired. Bly, a Mooch guy, blamed some players, especially quarterback Joey Harrington.
"I was criticized last year because of comments and everything else," said Bly, who has made it big after signing on as an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina with the Rams. "But I was a big supporter of Mooch because I'm a grown man, a professional. I don't need somebody to spoon-feed me to get the job done.
"I take my job seriously. If you don't get the job done, you get replaced."
Bly has entrenched himself around here in more ways than one. Bly, from Chesapeake, Va., is not the kind of athlete who does something to make money or to simply get publicity.
Take his recent third annual football camp at the Costick Activities Center in Farmington Hills. Children paid just $20 for his one-day camp.
"I want to show my support. I love the fans."
Enough said. The Lions now have to just win.
Dre Bly speaks...
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