Free Republic

Making it to the big leagues is the dream of countless athletes, but for playoffs-bound Don Carey, being an NFL player does not fulfill his purpose. Carey, the 27-year-old Lions safety, has had to endure the same grueling practice and game schedules as the rest of his peers in the NFL. However, he manages to find the time to pursue a masters degree at Moody Theological Seminary in Plymouth Township, Michigan, while being a family man to his new wife and soon-to-be newborn son.... "Tomorrow is not promised to any of us," Carey told The Christian Post. "I am more...

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is not suspended from Sunday’s playoff game after all. Suh has won the appeal of his one-game suspension and will play on Sunday at Dallas. Instead of getting suspended, Suh will be fined $70,000. That’s actually a more harsh financial penalty than a suspension would have been, as players on wild card teams are paid $22,000 for their first playoff game.

Ndamukong Suh will pay a steep price for his fancy footwork in Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers. The NFL has suspended the Lions' defensive tackle for one game for stepping on the leg of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the league announced Monday. Suh will not be available for Sunday's NFC wild card game against the Dallas Cowboys. "You did not respond in the manner of someone who had lost his balance and

DETROIT -- Lions running back Reggie Bush, who has been outspoken about the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, continued his outspoken nature Sunday when he wore a shirt reading "I Can't Breathe" during pregame warm-ups Sunday. Bush wrote the message -- in black ink on his blue shirt -- signifying the last words of Eric Garner, the New York man who died while being placed in a chokehold as he was being arrested. Bush wore the shirt a day after Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose wore an "I Can't Breathe" T-shirt in pregame warm-ups prior to his team's game Saturday night...

Left to fend for themselves among the dead, the tragic animals stranded in Gaza zoo as it falls apart after weeks of Israeli shelling The lions sit dazed in the shade of their damaged pen, while nearby the decayed carcasses of two vervet monkeys lie contorted on the grass of a Gaza zoo. The animals were caught in the crossfire of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants that has killed more than 1,960 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side. In one enclosure a fly-covered pelican huddles in the corner with a duck. Opposite, a small crocodile sits motionless...

MEMPHIS, June 24 (UPI) -- Wonder if they were animal crackers? An unidentified Tennessee woman has been banned from the Memphis Zoo for hopping a barrier and entering the enclosure that holds the lions to feed them cookies. Other zoo patrons called the zoo's hotline number after seeing the woman jump the barrier and hearing her singing to the lions. When the woman was over the barrier, the only thing separating her from the lions was some wire. "[She was singing] some song that was telling how much she missed them. It was bizarre," witness Michelle Beasley told WMC. "I've...

Antelopes are known for their athleticism and their ability to evade lions and other forms of prey in Africa, but they are not always successful in their attempts to flee.

COPENHAGEN (The Global Edition) – The Copenhagen Zoo has killed several of its staff members early this morning in order to create four new job openings, the Zoo public relations sector reported. Officials of the Zoo say that the four members of the staff were humanely executed after being put to sleep with a lethal injection, and then skinned and chopped up while visitors crowded around and the meat was fed to the lion population.

Pope Francis shakes me up. Not in a worldly, materialistic way like when I lost my twenty dollar subway and bus pass last week, or when I totally forgot to pay my cell phone bill last month and got a late fee. But in a primal, profound way that I cannot shake – in a way that haunts me.

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that the Dallas Cowboys worked out David Carr, Tyler Thigpen, John Skelton and Caleb Hanie, only to send all four of the free-agent quarterbacks home without a contract. Now we know why.

Five mountain lion cubs mothered by Teton Cougar Project research animals have met their ends in the jaws of wolves over the past few years. Now a Jackson Hole female cougar appears to have exacted vengeance. A lion tracked by the Kelly-based science institute for the past six years is documented to have recently dined on a yearling wolf, Cougar Project biologist Mark Elbroch says. “What’s nice about this particular incident is that this is a collared mountain lion, and we know for sure that she killed it,” ... While not unheard of, proven cases of lions killing wolves are...

A female lion at the Dallas Zoo was killed by a male lion in front of visitors on Sunday and officials are unsure what prompted the attack. The female lion, 5-year-old Johari, was bitten on the neck by one of two male lions in the exhibit, Kamaia and Dinari, although it’s unclear what lion delivered the fatal bite. Lynn Kramer, the zoo’s vice president of animal operations and welfare, told MyFoxDFW.com he had never seen such an attack in several decades of experience with the animals.

A 12-year-old girl kidnapped by a group of seven men in the Ethiopian city of Bita Genet was found several days after her abduction, safe under the watchful eyes of three lions. Not only were the lions guarding her, they allegedly chased off her captors. The girl was reportedly abducted by the seven men with the idea that she would be forced into marrying one of the them. According to the United Nations, about 70 percent of the marriages taking place in Ethiopia are the result of similar kidnappings. And nearly 100 percent of those abduction-marriages are not thwarted by...

Six lions were speared to death by angry residents after preying on dozens of goats and cows in a settlement near the Kenyan capital's national park. Herders in the small township of Kitengela, on the outskirts of Nairobi, ambushed the animals because they said they had been killing their livestock. The group, who are mainly Maasai pastoralists, said about 28 goats and eight cows had been killed by the marauding lions in the last two days. Francis Kasha, a livestock keeper, whose animals were killed in a previous attack says these types of incidents have been on the increase, forcing...

2 salmon-eating sea lions killed at Bonneville DamAssociated Press – Fri, Apr 6, 2012 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Washington state wildlife spokesman says two salmon-eating California sea lions have been captured this week at Bonneville Dam and killed by lethal injection. The Oregonian reports the deaths are the first this year after a federal judge ruled last month the program could proceed. Washington Fish and Wildlife spokesman Craig Bartlett says the sea lions were captured Tuesday.

A Paradise man says he is lucky to be alive after an attack by a mountain lion Monday morning. Robert Biggs, 69, often hikes in the Bean Soup Flat area, which is about a mile and a half above Whisky Flats. He came across a mother bear, a yearling and a newborn, which were about 40 feet from where he was standing. After watching the bear family for a few minutes he decided to leave them be and turned to walk back up the trail. As he turned, a mountain lion pounced on him grabbing hold of his backpack with...

Everything proves global warming to the true believers. If it floods, that proves global warming. If it doesn’t rain, that proves global warming. If it is warm, that proves global warming. If it is cold, that proves global warming. And if everything proves it — nothing does really. Now we have this nonsense from the Telegraph: Climate change means autumn levels of sea ice have dropped by almost 30 percent since 1979 – but this is likely to trigger more frequent cold snaps such as those that brought blizzards to the UK earlier this month. And Arctic sea ice could...

DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford led a victory-lap parade around the perimeter of Ford Field, high-fiving fans that have been waiting since 1999 for the Detroit Lions to make the playoffs. With the crowd chanting "Play-offs! Play-offs!" as the final few minutes ticked away, Detroit clinched a postseason spot thanks to Stafford's three touchdown passes in a 38-10 win over the San Diego Chargers on Saturday. Stafford appeared to be touched by the face-to-face interaction with fans hanging over the railing to reach his raised right hand. "You could just get a sense of how much it meant to them," Stafford...

THOUSAND OAKS (CBS) — A toxicology report found that the 18-year-old son of a former NFL quarterback died from a heroin overdose, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said. Thousand Oaks High School backup quarterback Griffen Kramer was found dead in his Agoura Hills home on Oct. 30. Friends told investigators that Kramer began foaming at the mouth while doing heroin with them. Authorities say one of his friends took him home and hoped he would sleep it off. Police have arrested five people in connection with Kramer’s death. Griffen Kramer’s father, Erik, played in the NFL for 12 years.