We've all seen the "Fire Matt Millen" signs and heard the chants. Every sports talk radio show and station seethes, wondering how he still has a job. I hear once a day from someone that "if I was as terrible at my job, and my performance was as bad as his, I wouldn't last 7 days much less 7 years!" The brown bags over fans heads' in the stands, the 29-83 record from 2001 through today and the Lions inability to sell out their home opener without a miracle buyout of the remaining 3500 tickets by a furniture company are other good examples of the sad franchise that is our unbeloved Lions.
And yet I can't get around the fact that . . . . . it's not Matt Millen's fault. You heard me. And no, I do not have a history of mental illness, I have not been in any recent car accidents that caused blunt force trauma, and I have not been admitted to any psych wards. At least that I can remember. . . . . . . . . . .
Before you throw your computer screen out of your window in disgust and wonder how anyone of sound mind could utter such blasphemy, I'd like you to consider what I have to say. Obviously I am putting myself out there for major backlash from the reading public and deserve a punchers chance to explain my thought process.
Let's get right to it. While firing Matt Millen would fill us all with warm fuzzies inside and give us a small ray of hope for the future, it would be a false hope. The ray that we would consider hope would actually be the oncoming headlight of a train bearing down on us at full bore. And Lions failures are as inevitable as trying to stop that train by standing in front of it. The Ford family is the parasite that is eating away at our souls who desperately want the Lions to succeed.
The comedy show that is the Lions organization is just an elaborate ventriloquist act. That family has their hand so far up Millen's hindquarters that if he sneezed, William Clay Ford would have to wash his hands. The extent of Millen's duties are to be the mouthpiece and act on what the family thinks is best when they aren't making terrible cars. So while I do think that Millen is a coward, and is willing to put his "legacy" on the line for millions of dollars per, I don't necessarily believe that if given the opportunity to make front office decisions he would necessarily be a bad CEO, and firing him would only placate the masses until the next 3-13 season.
Why would I believe that Millen has made ZERO decisions as a CEO and that the Ford family is the sole corruptor of all our hopes and dreams? There are many clues throughout the course of the new millenia of Lions debauchery that should lead you to believe the same way I do. The most obvious fact is that Millen still has a job. Everyone wonders how someone so inept is able to hold down such a prominent position. The fact that he still does after such a devastating run as CEO should lead a reasonable man to believe that none of the decisions actually made were his. How do you fire someone for doing what you tell them to?
Also, Matt Millen was a linebacker and a 4 time Superbowl champion. He won a championship with all three teams on which he played for (thanks Wikipedia!). Millen knows what a championship caliber team is and how it is constructed. As a linebacker, he knew that winning games was simple. Win at the line of scrimmage. That's it. A great defensive line clogs running lanes, and sacks and hurries the quarterback into bad decisions which lead to interceptions. And he also fought day in and day out with the best offensive lines in the National Football League. Those offensive lines blew holes in his defenses for long runs, stifled his attempts at blitzing the quarterback, and gave their signal caller plenty of time to make good throws out of the comfort of a cozy pocket.
All of which leads me to believe that Matt Millen has not been able to draft a SINGLE player, except for possibly Ernie Sims, that he knew should be their draft pick. Charles Rogers? Roy Williams? Mike Williams? Even Calvin Johnson? Players that the Ford family hoped would wow the Lions fans with a big play here and there to distract the fans that the Lions were actually a terrible team not willing to construct a roster in the right way. This is what I call the Barry Sanders affect. During Sanders era, everyone watched the Lions. Not because they won ANY postseason games, but because we were entertained by the amazing abilities of one man. And that was fine with the Ford's because they filled the seats at the Silverdome and got good ratings and jersey sales, and made plenty of money. Money. Not wins. The Ford family does not care about wins.
There is also talk of firing Rod Marinelli. This just gets better and better eh? Everyone else seems to get the blame for the Fords' fumbles. How might Marinelli get this team to win? Hoping and praying that Kitna has time to throw the ball, or that Kevin Smith might just have a hole to run through, or wishing on a prayer that we might pressure the opposing quarterback into an errant throw is all he can do. Marinelli can only coach what is given to him. And while I'm not saying that Marinelli is a great coach with Hall of Fame potential, he would only be another "fall guy" to take the heat off of the true instigators.
In fact, I believe firing Marinelli would have an adverse affect on the Lions. We have gone through so many coaches, schemes, and philosophies, that the players are no longer playing. They are trying to remember what year it is and which scheme they are supposed to be running. By the time a coach has implemented a system and the team has learned a playbook and has the right personnel, a new coach is brought in with another philosophy which doesn't correlate with the personnel the Lions have in place. If you need an example, you could look at UofM right now. Enough said. Marinelli is addition by consistency, and should not be removed.
Until the Lions ownership is changed (which will never happen), or the Ford's take a decade long vacation where there are no cell phone towers, Lions fans will never have a team they can be proud of. Would Millen be able to bring them back from the abyss? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.
Fire Matt Millen?
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1 comments:
Dave, while you are certainly right that the Fords are pulling Millen's strings with high draft picks and big name free agent signings, he still has not proven that he is a good evaluator of talent. That may be a result of his scouts, but I have trouble believing the Fords care 1 bit about 5th, 6th, and 7th round picks. Rounds where Millen has gotten absolutely no value. Look at the Colts from last year. A team that had double digit wins and not a single starter brought in through free agency. Why? Because nobody wants to play in Indy, just like no free agents want to play in Detroit. Also, while perhaps not fully trustworthy, there are rumors flying about the Brian Calhoun pick. Our friend and fellow blogger, Ryan Terpstra, reported to me that the offensive lineman Millen wanted was taken the pick before and Millen had no backup plan. With time running out and no player to pick, one of Millen's scouts said: What about the back from Wisconsin? Millen just wrote down the name and handed the paper in, probably not even thinking about how he had used a first round pick on Kevin Jones just a few years previous. Millen may know the ins and outs of football on the field but his front office skills like decisions under stress seem to be questionable to the point where I do not think he can cut it. My suggestion for future GM? One of the 3 fantastic writers of "Put it in Stone" :)
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