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QOTW: Who wins a Lions Hunger Games style competition?

Question of the Week is a feature in which we take a cross-section of opinions fromDetroit Lions players and coaches (and sometimes opponents) about a singular topic. Most of the time, they have nothing to do with football. Have a suggestion? Email:michael.rothstein@espn.com.

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ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Some of the answers were nonsensical. Others were utterly unusable because they didn't translate -- including one about the last book Xavier Proctor read (the answer is The Hobbit).

The question, though, was a two-part one from colleague Chantel Jennings. Who would win in a Hunger Games style competition in the Detroit Lions locker room and what would the strategy be?

Here, as always, are some of their answers.

Defensive end Darryl Tapp: Hmmm. I'm going to go crossbow. Not bow and arrow. I don't know how to shoot that. Crossbow, I can do.

You know how to shoot a crossbow? That the Virginia in you?

Tapp: No, I just learned how to shoot it when I was at college. I'd probably go crossbow. There'd be more strategy. I would probably link up with somebody and form an alliance and then go from there as far as what we needed most to take care of, food, shelter, some kind of perimeter. There would be some kind of strategy.

Who is winning?

Tapp: That's a good question. I don't know if it would be the linebackers. They need too much protein powder to sustain their muscle. It wouldn't be Proc because he would probably lose his glasses and couldn't see.

Xavier Proctor: What's the question?

Tapp: Who in the locker room would be the last man standing in a Hunger Games situation?

Proctor: Dang, hunger games situation?

Tapp: Yeah?

C.J. Mosley: I know exactly who would win. I have the answer. You know who wins. You just don't have your head right. I'll give you the position. Linebacker.

Tapp: On our team?

Mosley: [DeAndre] Levy.

Tapp: Oh yeah, yeah, that's true. Levy. Definitely not Proc.

Mosley (to Proctor): No, you're too tall. You'll lose every time.


Wide receiver TJ Jones: Who wins? I might win. I'm going to say I'll win. I'm going to outsmart everyone but at the same time when it's time to make the difficult decision, I'm going to make it. If I got to take you out for my well-being, I'm going to take you out and I'm going to know what's going to happen before you know what's going to happen so that's how I'm going to win.


Safety Don Carey: Hunger Games style competition? Who is winning, there's over 60 guys on this team. Out of everybody? I don't know, man. I'd probably say the style of it, you'd see guys band together, room by room, and take out other rooms. I'd say the DBs have the upper hand in that sense. After that, it's probably a free for all and I don't know who wins. Close competition.


Punter Sam Martin: My strategy, that's a really tricky question. You got a guy like Dom Raiola or Suh, any type of combat, they are probably winning that one. But then you can't rule out someone like Kellen Moore. That guy is hiding and he's surviving and he's thinking and he's smart. He's figuring out a way. So that's a toughie. But my mentality would be somewhere along the lines of that. I would stay away from Suh and Dom and figure out a way to make it to the end, dude. It's all about surviving.

So no actual strategy?

Martin: Yeah, you can't plan ahead for something like that. You get tossed in the ring like that, you got to do with what you're given. It's a game-time decision.

So who is winning?

Martin: It's going to all come down to strategy, you know. Any battle there would be Suh or Raiola. But then, I don't know, that's hard. For some reason, Ziggy (Ansah), he's probably somehow, he's jumping out at me right now. And just keep an eye on Kellen. Just watch him.


Linebacker Julian Stanford: I would have to pick myself to win. Of course. You can't doubt yourself. How would I go about winning? Of course, you would have to try and outsmart people. Everybody would initially try to knock everybody off so I would sit back in the beginning, analyze the situation, see what everybody is trying to do and let some guys get knocked off and gradually enter the battle. You've got to outsmart people because everybody is so big and strong. Some guys would probably try to use muscle more than use their smarts. At the end of the day it's going to be the smartest person who ends up winning the battle. May not be the biggest. I don't feel like I'm the smartest but I feel like I trust my abilities and instincts that I'd be able to do it.


Quarterback Dan Orlovsky: I would rally as many people as I could to get on my team with one specific goal in mind, which is survival. It wouldn't be a stab in the back thing but getting people to buy in that together we're probably going to be better off than if we were going to try to do this solo. I think it would have to come to it at some point but if I give someone my word that hey, we're together on this, then we wouldn't cross that bridge until we had to.