STANCE page 107
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Solomon says, despite being a
minority, he has encountered lit-
tle anti-Semitism in the NFL, al-
though he feels that many in the
league and many fans have a
stereotype of Jews.
"Most people think of Jews as
small, intellectual types, and all
of my Jewish friends are lawyers
and accountants. I'm intellectu-
al, too, but I'm certainly not
small." In the NFL, "You have to
break that stereotype that peo-
ple perceive of how Jews are. rye
done that by showing that I'm
not just big and tall, but I cm
tough, too."
Solomon and his parents, Ira
and Hope Solomon, belong to
Har HaShem, a Conservative
synagogue in Boulder, where he
had his bar mitzvah. The
Solomons, who operate an
aquarium business, always
stressed the importance of ob-
serving Jewish holidays and tra-
ditions and taught Ariel to take
pride in his Jewish identity. "I
celebrated Passover with my
family, I was active in B'nai
B'rith in Pittsburgh, and I enjoy
attending synagogue with my
family when I can," Solomon
said.
When the football season con-
flicts with Rosh HaShanah or
Yom Kippur, though, Solomon
says that he must play. "It's not
like Sandy Koufax," the former
Los Angeles Dodger star who re-
fused to pitch on Yom Kippur. "I
have to play through the holi-
days," Solomon said.
Solomon and wife Kristen
have a 2.5-year-old son, Dakota.
Kristen, although not Jewish,
said she always wished that she
- were. "I really identify with and
admire the Jewish emphasis on
family and education, and I en-
joy attending synagogue with
Ariel on the High Holidays," she
said. Solomon also brags that
"my wife cooks some awesome
potato pancakes, potato kugel,
and matzah ball soup."
Solomon is also teaching his
son about his Jewish roots by in-
cluding him in such family
events as lighting the Sabbath
candles on Friday evenings and
the menorah candles on
Chanukah.
The Solomon family includes
several Israeli cousins who are
Orthodox and live on the Modi-
am moshav between Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem. His cousin Ben-
Tzion Solomon owns the Modi-
am recording studio and is in the
Diaspora Yeshiva Band, which
won the Israeli Music Festival
four years in a row and will be
playing at Radio City Music Hall
this summer. Solomon has nev-
er been to Israel, though he
hopes to visit there in the future.
However, he enjoyed having his
Israeli cousins visit him during
the football season when he
played in Pittsburgh.
"We koshered my house,
putting rocks in the pans and
boiling water in them. I also took
my cousins to an NFL game, and
they had never seen Astroturf
before. They saw the cars and
houses that Americans have and
thought we were all movie
stars."
Jack Henry, who is the Lions'
new offensive line coach, was
also Solomon's coach in Pitts-
burgh. He sees Solomon playing
primarily center and guard for
the Lions, and perhaps at tack-
le as well.
"Ariel is very intelligent and
has a lot of flexibility. He can
play a number of positions on
our team, and I see him in a
back-up role in a number of
places," Henry said. Solomon's
"toughness and reliability will
make him a good role player" in
backing up Lions' starters Kevin
Glover at center, Jeff Hartings
at right guard and Mike Comp-
ton at left guard, according to
Henry.
Solomon knows that his pro
football career can't last forever,
and he plans to eventually go
into stock brokerage or banking
when he retires from football.
With his economics degree from
Colorado, he was prepared to fol-
low those careers when he grad-
uated, "but football chose me."
He is also looking into investing
in car washes.
In the off-season, Solomon
and his family live in Boulder,
where he enjoys, skiing, scuba
diving and riding his Harley
Davidson "Fat Boy" motorcycle.
In past off-seasons, he also
worked in the district sales of-
fice of USAir.
Although he does not yet
know where he and his family
will live in the Detroit area,
Solomon is scouting various
neighborhoods. "Wherever we
live, I hope that it's very close to
the Silverdome," he said. Excit-
ed about playing for the Lions
and its new coaching staff,
Solomon is also excited about
getting involved in the Detroit
Jewish community.
"We didn't have such a large
Jewish community in Boulder,
and I enjoyed being involved in
a large Jewish community in
Pittsburgh. I look forward to do-
ing the same in Detroit." ❑
Precision Skate
Try-Outs June 21
The Pizzazz Precision Skating
Teams will hold final try-outs for
the 1997-98 season on Saturday,
June 21, at John Lindell Ice Are-
na, south of Kimball High School
in Royal Oak.
Try-outs for ages 9 and under
will be from 8-8:30 a.m.; 11 and
under, 8:30-9 a.m.; 14 and un-
der, 9-9:50 a.m.
For information, call Tammy
Doroshewitz, (248) 280-3991; or
Carole Mascioti, (248) 399-0240.