ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Nick Fairley's determination was never questioned back in 2010. He was a force of nature at Auburn, an offseason that turned potential into reality followed by a fall campaign for the ages.

He delivered 60 tackles, 24 for loss, and recorded 11.5 sacks; the latter stats were school records. He won the Lombardi Trophy. He was the anchor of a BCS champion defense. He showed a nasty streak that got him labeled dirty. If anything, Nick Fairley's "want to" was too high.

Gone were any doubts. Of just a three-star recruit out of Mobile (Ala.) Williamson High School, where he had once considered a future in basketball, not football. Of a one-time projected offensive lineman switching sides. Or of a work in progress that redshirted his first year of junior college because no one saw him as a likely early entry candidate, even after his slow transitional first year at Auburn.

In 2010 Nick Fairley would not be kept from his goals, first opposing quarterbacks, then the first round of the NFL draft.

And now? Well, who knows?

Who knows if he can regain that old determination and focus or whether once he got to the promised land of the Detroit Lions, the will to succeed, to make his mark on the NFL, just faded away?

Fairley was arrested for the second time this offseason near his hometown over the weekend.

[Related: Lions are all apologies after multiple incidents]

He was charged with driving under the influence after police allege he was whipping 100 miles per hour on Interstate 10 at 1 a.m. Saturday. He was also cited, among other things, for trying to elude police and having an open container of alcohol.

His smiling mug shot was a bad look made even worse coming about a month after people in a Mobile neighborhood called 911 about a car that kept speeding through the streets. Police responded, pulled over Fairley and found him in possession of marijuana. He was arrested then, too.

Based on precedent, the dual arrests, especially the high-speed drunken chase, should cause NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Fairley for at least a couple games next season.

Fairley deserves his day(s) in court, but the run-ins raise a serious question: Is this a guy who lost some of his drive once he got to the NFL, got his guaranteed millions?

One time is one thing. Twice?

"That's the thing that's the most concerning about it," a none-too-pleased Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said Tuesday, referencing Fairley among a handful of Lions who have run into offseason trouble. "There's a lot of guys that have had an issue in the past, there's a lot of guys who have had some maturing situations. I think that goes for everybody. There (are) things that you do when you're young that maybe you're not proud of but you learn a lesson.

"We've had a couple situation here that it has happened twice. It certainly cause for concern that they haven't learned it."









Fairley isn't big, strong or talented enough to just cruise through the NFL. Almost no one is, especially on the brutal defensive line.

He played like he was 6 feet 5, 310 pounds at Auburn. When he checked in at 6-3, 291 at the 2011 NFL Combine, it was both a stunner and the most tangible reason he dropped to the Lions at 13th overall.

That slightly undersized frame for the interior line will always be an obstacle. There's no questioning his speed, which is a premium in the Lions' scheme. Still, success in this league requires intense dedication, work ethic and a will to become great – none of which is mined via late nights out, open bottles or fast cars.

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