Setting aside worries helped Lions' Logan take off

On June 2, Lions RS-WR Stefan Logan turned 30. From a strictly scientific standpoint, Logan is considered young.

From a football-playing perspective, 30 is considered … well, not young, to be charitable. But Logan isn't concerned with that.

"Your 30s is your new 20s," Logan told PFW. "That's how I look at it."

The 5-6, 180-pound Logan believes his body is, relatively speaking, younger than 30, considering he simply doesn't have as much wear and tear as other players his age. After high school, Logan stepped away from football for five years, and he is only in his third NFL season.

It is possible the best is yet to come for Logan, one of only two NFL players (along with the Titans' Marc Mariani) to finish in the top five in punt- and kickoff-return average a season ago.  

The same could be said for his team.

"We know what we're capable of and what's on the table for us (this) year," Logan said.

The Lions, who closed 2010 with four consecutive wins, claimed Logan off waivers from Pittsburgh before the start of the season, and the move paid off handsomely. Logan averaged 26.3 yards on 55 kickoff returns, highlighted by a 105-yard TD vs. St. Louis. He averaged 12.1 yards on 30 punt returns, with a long return of 71 yards vs. Washington.

In '09, his lone year with Pittsburgh, Logan broke the Steelers' team record for single-season kickoff-return yardage. However, as he tells it, he feared making mistakes — and the Steelers' reactions to miscues. In Pittsburgh, he said, "When I (made) a mistake, I'm looking over my shoulder, I'm looking over on the sideline."

When he went to Detroit, Logan was "a little more relaxed." Moreover, he meshed well with the Lions' special-teamers and the coaches.  

"I trust the guys in front of me, and I know they're not going to leave me out to dry and get hit," Logan said.

Logan, who's listed as a wide receiver, said he's most comfortable as a running back. "I'm a wide receiver by trade. … I'm a running back by heart," he said. But he's up for anything for a Lions team that showed confidence in him last season — something he wants to continue in 2011.

"I think they're going to play me wherever they need me," he said.

He added, "As long as they don't slow down what I do as a football player, that's what works for me."

Source: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/06/17/setting-aside-worries-helped-lions-logan-take-off

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