Lions' first-round pick sentenced to probation, must pay $52,000 for bar brawl

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES • June 26, 2008

Lions rookie offensive lineman and first-round pick Gosder Cherilus was ordered Wednesday to serve one year of pretrial probation for his role in a Boston bar brawl in which a patron was seriously injured, the Boston Globe reported.


Cherilus also was ordered to pay the victim $52,000 toward his medical bills.

Cherilus and teammate DeJuan Tribble, stars at Boston College, were celebrating Cherilus’ 23rd birthday with teammates at a bar last July when they intervened in a confrontation between a patron, Sean Maney, and a State Police sergeant, Joseph Boike, a part-owner of the place.

Maney testified in Boston Municipal Court that Cherilus grabbed him in a two-arm choke hold and dragged him across the room while Boike and Tribble repeatedly punched him, according to the Boston Globe. Maney testified that he and Cherilus slammed into a table, that he lapsed in and out of consciousness, that Cherilus and Tribble kicked him, and that he suffered a spinal injury that required surgery.

Boston Municipal Court Judge Paul K. Leary ordered the players to stay away from Maney and ruled that the charges against them would be dismissed if they abide by the court order and stay out of trouble for a year. Each was charged with one count of assault and battery and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a shod foot).

Leary issued the ruling after the players and Maney reached an agreement to resolve the case.

"The lesson I learned," Cherilus told the Globe, "is not to try to break up any more fights."

Maney also has filed a civil suit against Cherilus, Tribble, Boike, and The Greatest Bar.

This week, it was revealed rookie linebacker Jordon Dizon, the Lions’ second-round pick, was arrested six days before the NFL draft on suspicion of drunk driving, driving the wrong way on a one-way street and failure to provide insurance.

The Lions traded their 15th overall pick in the NFL draft to Kansas City, moved down to No. 17 and took Cherilus over the likes of Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall and Pittsburgh offensive tackle Jeff Otah.

Cherilus has the football character coach Rod Marinelli wants and fills an immediate need. He is a big, tough, strong lineman with a mean streak who likely can step in and start at right tackle, a position that caused problems for the Lions last season.

"Is it a glamorous guy coming in? No," Marinelli said after the draft. "But for a coach, it is."

Marinelli visited with Cherilus at the Senior Bowl and in a predraft visit at team headquarters in Allen Park. He described Cherilus as "an extremely serious guy about what he does" and said he had a good gut feeling about him.

"I love football," Cherilus said. "I'm not the type who's going to be satisfied just getting the job done. I want to go after guys and be aggressive, let them know we're very good offensive linemen. We're aggressive. We're nasty."