Former Lions CB Cam Sutton speaks publicly for first time since release

Not only did the Pittsburgh Steelers sign former Detroit Lions cornerback Cameron Sutton on Wednesday, but he was already in the building and participating in the team’s OTA practices later in the afternoon.

The Steelers also made him available to the media following practice, where Sutton mostly avoided talking about his legal issues.

“With everything going on, just not doing a lot of outside talking about (it),” Sutton said to lead off his media session.

Sutton was released by the Lions earlier this offseason after Florida police issued an arrest warrant for him following a dispute that resulted in a domestic battery charge. Sutton eventually turned himself in and entered a Domestic Violence Intervention Program that, upon completion, will dismiss any prosecution.

Sutton did talk about his mental journey through the past few months.

“Adversity strikes everyone in life, so it’s all about how you handle it, how you necessarily go through those phases,” Sutton said. “Just knowing who you are individually, not letting someone else dim your light. I always talk about being a free spirit, that natural spirit, not just for yourself but so many around you. Just never not losing a sense of who I am in that phase. I’ve never been fazed in that end. The continuity of just enjoying; there’s so much to be grateful for, so much opportunity and blessing to be grateful to be a part of.”

Sutton was also asked if he expected any sort of discipline from the league, but couldn’t offer any specifics.

“We’ve been in communication, but there’s not much that I can obviously talk about on the legal end or with the league on that stance,” Sutton said. “Whatever it comes down to, we’re ready to move on in that direction, but at the end of the day, like I said, you just keep moving on with your business, keep moving on in the right direction forward, and just be ready when it’s time.”

Sutton turned down any questions related to the Lions, and, instead, wanted to focus on his gratitude toward the Steelers for giving him another opportunity.

“It’s amazing, man,” Sutton said. “I came into a great foundation of this organization. It’s still the same way to this day. The people, obviously the players, the continuity. Just being back around this atmosphere, like I said, it’s very heartfelt and just lighthearted, really.”

As for his message to fans questioning the legal incident in question, here’s what Sutton had to say, verbatim:

“It’s an opinion-based world. Everybody kinda moves on the movement of not knowing, but feel the presence or feel the space to speak, you know? And that’s give or take, however it goes. My job is not to appeal to someone else. My job is to be the best version of myself, and how do I give that off to the mass or how I give that off to everyone around me. I’m in full control of that. So I’m never worried about a narrative. I’m never worried about what necessarily people say, because, obviously, more than likely, they don’t know me more than anybody else. Again, it gets back to your foundation, your morals, who you are individually as a human being, and just what you stand on. Holding my head high. Again, everybody goes through adversity, everybody goes through things in their life that can change in both directions, so it’s all about how you stand on that and what you do from that. I’m ready to keep moving in the right direction, everything else will keep falling in line, and we’ll just keep moving from there.”

You can watch the entire media session below, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: