Damon Harrison Says He Was “Hell-Bent On Getting Out Of” Detroit

Damon “Snacks” Harrison is still a free agent but it sounds like he’s happy about being free instead of being in Detroit.

Harrison, who was released by the Lions in February, said on the “Green Light” podcast with former retired defensive end Chris Long that he never felt comfortable playing in Matt Patricia’s defense and had to get out of Detroit even though he respects Patricia as a coach.

“I came into camp in shape, but during the first three weeks of camp I think I kind of worked myself out of shape because I wasn’t doing anything,” Harrison said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “That was a time where, to be honest with you, we were trying to facilitate a trade. I was hell-bent on getting out of there.”

The Lions gave Harrison a $2.2 million raise prior to training camp, but he explained that he was worried about health problems his wife had with gallstones.

“Mentally I was just out of it, man,” he said. “I couldn’t focus on football. I was too busy trying to get caught back up with everything. It was a rough training camp for me, the roughest training camp of my career, and I just spent a lot of time just pondering my future.”

Harrison went on to say that he was never comfortable in Detroit and never wanted to go there in the first place. The Giants traded him to Detroit during the 2018 season for a 5th-round pick.

“To be completely honest with you, I didn’t want to go to Detroit because of some things that I heard from some guys in the past and some guys who were there,” Harrison said. “So when I got the call that that’s where I was traded, I didn’t answer the phone for a couple hours. Bob Quinn was calling me and I didn’t pick up the phone because I was trying to figure out a way to get out of it.”

“It’s nothing against the people of Detroit, the city or anything like that. I’ll forever love the city of Detroit, but I just had to go try to put myself into a situation where I saw myself there for two or three years to end my career, and I just didn’t see myself in Detroit for that long.”

In 2019, Harrison appeared in 15 games and recorded 48 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 pass defenses. He said after the season that he would contemplate retirement but multiple reports have indicated he wants to continue playing.

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