11/21/24
September 23, 2008
Seven years of Lion angst ought to end: Now that William Clay Ford has weighed in publicly on the ineptitude of Matt Millen, how long will it take for the Lions to actually do something about it?
posted by beaverboard to football at 09:04 AM - 13 comments
I'm guessing.. about three years when his contract finally runs out. Unless they give him another five year extension.
posted by apoch at 10:43 AM on September 23, 2008
One point: William Clay Ford Jr. is the one who made these statements. While he does have a high position within the Lions organization, only his dad Billy Sr. can get rid of Millen. And I have no faith in his abilities as an owner.
Millen is pathetic. He recently released some statements saying that he was happy with Marinelli and the direction that the team is in and that he believes that every player is a perfect fit for the organization. The man is delusional and is a pitiful excuse for a general manager.
FIRE MILLEN
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 11:11 AM on September 23, 2008
Millen may be pathetic, but he's also embedded in the rock there. The CEO of Lehman Brothers is an office-temp gig compared to being the GM of the Lions.
He'll leave when he's bored, or when Daddy Ford wanders off. Not a minute before.
posted by chicobangs at 11:25 AM on September 23, 2008
"The Lions don't owe anyone anything but only to themselves to not be mediocre."
Actually, the thing that surprises me is that the NFL hasn't woken up and realized what a detriment it is to the league to have the Detroit franchise stink year in and year out. It is very much in the league's interest for Detroit to field a decent team.
The Lions are a long-time franchise in the league. They should be competent and respectable at least some of the time. Like the Eagles and Bears, etc. It's part of the NFL heritage (which is a revenue-producing intangible).
The Lions play in front of the whole country every Thanksgiving Day. When the Lions stink, it really degrades the overall feeling that fans have about the entire day. The football viewership on T. Day should be an all-encompassing lockdown, and these days it's not.
Here's what folks in my area do on T.Day: go see a heavy duty high school rivalry football game in the am, come home and eat like hell, go walk off the dinner before dark, avoid watching the Lions at all costs.
The other thing is a marketing issue. Some folks are going to think this is not important but it is. The Lions are flat out one of the most telegenic teams in the NFL. Their blue and silver uniforms are totally optimal for TV. They especially look great on turf indoors, against the color of the rug, etc.
I know, you hate domes and turf, and who cares about uniforms, but the TV folks know how powerful this appearance thing is. If I'm the NFL, I would want this team not only looking great on TV but playing good football as well.
Teams spend a lot of time and effort trying to tweak and optimize their visual brand. They know what looking sharp on TV did for Dallas. Look at what happened to the league-wide profile of the Pats when they ditched red and white for blue and silver - well before Brady came along.
(Not every team gets it right. People's Exhibit A: Denver.)
Anyway, the NFL should have removed Millen for the sake of the league long ago rather than waiting for the Lions to do something about it.
posted by beaverboard at 11:51 AM on September 23, 2008
Matt Millen obviously has pictures of Bill Sr. blowing a goat. There is no other possibility. No one else could demonstrate such utter incompetence year-in, year-out and still keep a job.
Beaverboard makes a great point -- a lame Lions hurts the NFL as a league. They're a core franchise. Hell, my Atlanta Falcons could disband tomorrow and no one would notice. But the Lions are woven into the fabric of the game.
And the frustrating part is: there's plenty of talent on that team!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 01:56 PM on September 23, 2008
When the Lions stink, it really degrades the overall feeling that fans have about the entire day
Not really, unless you're just talking about the fans in Detroit. I personally don't care about whether the Lions are any good or not but even a blind man can see that Matt Millen isn't good for the Lions.
They know what looking sharp on TV did for Dallas
To address this other quote, it's not about how sharp my 'Boys look on TV (although they do look awesome in HD) but it's about them winning. If the Cowboys weren't winning like the Lions, they wouldn't be on TV as much as they are.
I've been a Cowboys fan pretty much my whole life and still rooted for them after Aikmen, Irvin & Emmitt all went their seperate ways but the fact remains that no matter how sharp they look on TV, I'm still watching them when they're on even if I had to watch on a black & white set....(do they still exist?)
posted by BornIcon at 02:03 PM on September 23, 2008
Anyway, the NFL should have removed Millen for the sake of the league long ago rather than waiting for the Lions to do something about it.
And how would the NFL do that? Something tells me that there would be a large outcry from many people in the league if it attempted to remove Millen. They don't have justification and he is an employee of Ford. I can't see how it could be done.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:11 PM on September 23, 2008
Actually, I have been thinking about this a lot since FSU has this terrible QB carousel going year after year. I just realized that this isn't a personnel problem, it is higher up the food chain. The same goes here. At what point is it silly to blame the GM, Millen. The Lions have won one playoff game since Ford took over as owner in 1964. That's 35 years of ineptness before Millen. This franchise isn't going to be good under any GM. They need new ownership.
posted by bperk at 02:11 PM on September 23, 2008
I am a life long Michigan native, and the way I see it is as long as they keep packing the seats full every sunday nothing will change. Hell the old Silver Dome sold out 80,000 every sunday! We have got to stop buying tickets!!!!! Until we see empty seats at Ford Field, nothing will ever change.
posted by bo_fan at 02:40 PM on September 23, 2008
That is a good point bperk, the ownership is terrible. However, I believe that Millen is also one of the worst (if not the worst) general managers in the league which doesn't help matters.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 03:57 PM on September 23, 2008
That is a good point bperk, the ownership is terrible. However, I believe that Millen is also one of the worst (if not the worst) general managers in the league which doesn't help matters.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 03:57 PM on September 23, 2008
Apparently, Millen is gone.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:19 AM on September 24, 2008
...how long will it take for the Lions to actually do something about it?
I'll tell you when: You ever heard when hell freezes over? That's when!
The Lions don't owe anyone anything but only to themselves to not be mediocre. What's a shame is that the Lions have a core of guys that can go out there and perform at a high level but for whatever reason, it's hasn't happened. I can't sit here and blame Matt Millen for all that's gone wrong...ok, who am I kiddin'? Yes I can!! Matt Millen is the GM and the one that is supposed to get the blame or credit for whatever happens. In this case, Millen is to be blamed for the Lions not showing up on Sundays. It's sad because there are some young recievers that play in Detroit that deserve better than an average quarterback, an average offensive line and an average defense but hey, they do have a below average GM at the helm so what do we expect? They can't all be Dallas.