ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Now that his deck’s finished, Dane Looker can turn to another pursuit: professional football.

The eight-season NFL veteran was pounding in the final nail for a new deck at his home in Seattle a few days ago.
That’s when the call came: Get on a flight. You’re going to Detroit.
The 33-year-old wide receiver arrived Sunday, signed on Monday and was catching passes from Daunte Culpepper and Matthew Stafford by Tuesday. Looker also was running plays designed by Scott Linehan, his head coach in St. Louis and his offensive coordinator at the University of Washington.
If all goes well, Looker hopes to be away from home for a while.
“It’s kind of weird. You say goodbye to your wife and your three kids, (saying) `I’ll probably see you on Monday’ and then you don’t know when you’re going to see them again,” said Looker, who packed only enough for a workout since he wasn’t sure the Lions would bite.
He also had worked out for the Denver Broncos, but didn’t catch on there.
“It was getting slim there, and I was getting a little nervous,” said Looker, whose Motor City stop is just the latest in a series of ups and downs in his career.
Despite being a prep star in Puyallup, Wash., he played basketball for two seasons at Western Washington before walking on at Washington and catching 84 passes in two seasons.
He went undrafted, but was signed by the Rams, who traded him to New England. After playing in Europe, Looker returned to St. Louis, where he lasted seven seasons and was a valued pass-catcher, holder on kicks and return man.
He won the team’s Ed Block Courage Award in 2007 for fighting his way back from an injury that could have cost him his left leg. Looker became a free agent after catching 23 balls for 271 yards and two TDs last season and wasn’t re-signed as the Rams decided to go with younger wideouts.
So, Looker kept in shape and turned his attention to home improvement. He even took classes at Home Depot on tiling and other handyman skills.
“I spend a lot of time at the lumber yard and doing projects around the house,” he said. “You have a lot of time when you’re building decks, when you’re pouring foundations, you have a lot of time to do some thinking — contemplating the rest of your life and wondering if you’re going to get an opportunity to play football again.”