NFL Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions Starter Falls Behind on Child Support

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Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

It has always seemed crazy to me that professional athletes making millions of dollars often get into legal and financial trouble. Last week, I released the list of the top 15 arrests in the NFL. Today, I get to share the unfortunate news of a Detroit Lions player falling into financial trouble.

Lions starting center Dominic Raiola has been sued by a former lover, who had a child with the NFL player. Raiola is now two months behind on child support payments. Raiola had a child in February 2007. The son was born only a couple months before Raiola’s wife Yvonne gave birth to the couple’s third child.

Raiola has never talked about the child, but reports show his name on the birth certificate. An agreement was reached between mother Andrea Yee and Raiola. The arrangement called for monthly totals of $14,526 for child support and $1,907 a month for child care. Raiola also pays for medical expenses for both Yee and her son, and selected to pay for Yee’s attorney fees.

If you’re wondering if Raiola is in financial trouble, he shouldn’t be. In 2009, Raiola singed a four year extension for $20 million, with $9 million being guaranteed. The contract takes Raiola through the 2013 NFL season.

Raiola should probably take his own advice from a year ago. In December of 2011, Raiola said his team needed to “grow the f*** up”, referring to the large amount of penalties in a series of games. Perhaps, Raiola is the one who needs to grow up.

Raiola hasn’t exactly been a saint since he came to the Lions. In 2008, he was fined for making an obscene gesture at fans. The following year he was punished for using some selective words at fans to defend quarterback Matthew Stafford. Raiola also got into a battle with anonymous General Managers who attacked the team recently.

Raiola, drafted in the 2001 NFL Draft, has spent his entire career with the Lions. The Lions center attended Nebraska University, where he won the Rimington Trophy as the best center in the NCAA.

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