When the Lions make their final roster news, people often talk about depth charts and the chances of new players. This week, though, Detroit’s attention was taken off of sports and on a tragedy that made the whole locker room shake.
The sadness came after the sudden death of 24-year-old online artist Lina Bina, better known as MissJohnDough. Fans across the NFL were shocked when she died after having problems with her surgery. A time of hope should have turned into a time of sadness.
For the Lions, it meant realizing that one newbie had problems that went beyond the football field. As coaches chose the 53-person squad, they also had to decide how to best help a player who had just lost someone very close to them.
That rookie is wide receiver Jakobie Keeney-James from UMass, who wasn’t picked in the draft. The Lions put him on Injured Reserve with a designation to return on Tuesday. This will give him time to deal with his grief over the death of his girlfriend.
Keeney-James came into camp with a lot of potential. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds and led UMass in all major receiving categories as a senior. But nothing he learned in football got him ready for this kind of heartbreak.
“She was there for me every step of the way, cheering me on when I made a catch and telling me to keep believing.” His words were soft, and he leaned on his friends for support. “By the time I got to the NFL, she was already gone.”
Inside Detroit’s facility, teachers and players quickly came together to support him. That message was reaffirmed by head coach Dan Campbell, who talks a lot about “grit and family.” Family comes first, even when making tough choices about the roster.
The Lions will miss Keeney-James’s speed and promise on special teams at the start of the season, but the team made it clear that recovery comes before football. His teammates said he was “strong” and “the kind of guy everyone cheers for.”
Friends say that 24-year-old adult film star MissJohnDough had a third bbl surgery before she sadly died from a blood clot in her heart and neck.
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