Now What, Lions Fans?
The City of Detroit is in need of a new pinata this morning.
Matt Millen, the Lions GM who said in February that the Lions record during his tenure was "beyond awful," finally got the boot. The move comes after years of often hysterical agitating by Lions fans to get Millen canned.
It also comes one day after Bill Ford Jr.said that, if he had the authority, he would have fired Millen by now. Bill's father, William Clay Ford, is the owner.
(Dinner exchange last night at the Fords:
Billy: "Daddy, please let me axe that horrid man Millen! You never let me do anything and all my friends make sport of me because of my short pants and his horrid, horrid managing in general!"
WCF: "It's time you became a man, William. We fire Millen first thing in the morning."
Billy: "Oh, Daddy! You ARE the best. And I love the Ford Flex crossover more than words!" )
The Lions record during Millen's tenure was 31-84. Not coincidentally, they didn't make the playoffs during Millen's time running the ship aground.
The Lions only failed to lose fewer than 10 games once during Millen's reign. That was last year when they went 7-9. Despite a furious effort to get to 10 losses after a 6-2 start, the Lions failed to live up to their standard of ineptitude.
Millen's horrific first round drafting record will be his enduring GM legacy. During the bleakest period there was quarterback Joey Harrington (No. 3 in 2002), wide receiver Charles Rogers (No. 2 in 2003), wide receiver Roy Williams (No. 7 in 2004), running back Kevin Jones (No. 30 in 2004) and wide receiver Mike Williams (No. 10 in 2005).
Rogers was out of the NFL by 2004, Harrington was unemployed until this past week when he signed with New Orleans as a backup. Jones scored three touchdowns in four seasons for the Lions and is now a backup in Chicago and Mike Williams played two seasons for Detroit and is out of the league at 24. Roy Williams remains with the Lions and is pretty good.
In 2005, after a Lions fan was tackled while holding a "Fire Millen" sign at a Lions home game, "Fire Millen" signs started popping up at Tigers games, Red Wings games, Michigan games and even in the Gil Thorp comic strip (so says Wikipedia).
It was a movement. And now it's done.
My dealings with Millen have been limited. I spoke to him at the NFL Owners Meetings each of the past two Aprils and he was without pretense or swagger. We spoke about a writer, Alan Greenberg, who covered the Raiders when Millen was a linebacker there and who I covered the Patriots with. Greenberg died suddenly in March 2007. Instead of saying, "Oh, that's too bad..." Millen asked me for the address of Greenberg's wife and was visibly moved by the news.
In short, he seemed a hard guy to dislike. But a guy whose football personnel decisions were easy to hate. And he understood that, too.
"If I was sitting at home and I was a Lion fan, you've got to blame somebody," Millen said in February. "I'd blame me, too. ... That's part of my job is to get blamed. I'm OK with that. But it's also part of my job to win. We haven't done that."
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About this blog
Drilling deeply into the mantle layer of America's Passion, NBCSports.com's Tom Curran offers up quick hits and insights on all things NFL.
you're an idiot, tom. now what?
we continue to boycott until ford sr sells the team and/or relinquishes control. that's what. like you give a damn either way.
The Lions have been perpetually the losing-est team in the NFL.
I remember watching the(traditional) Thanksgiving Day game with the Lions vs Whomever, and it was a sure bet the Lions would lose every year.
Being the GM for the organization is like being the president of the U.S. No matter what you do, you will never do the "right" thing.
Que Sera, Sera Matt.
"Jones scored three touchdowns in four seasons for the Lions and is now a backup in Chicago"
Where in the world are you pulling this information? Jones scored 24 rushing TD's and 3 receiving with Detroit. He cannot stay healthy to save his life, but you are not even close to the stat total.
I agree wtih what JGD said...
Tom look up your stats next time before you just post an article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=5555
It's really not hard to, you can even steal your facts from ESPN if you want.
I think that Millen must of hired Tom Curran! What sort of "reporter" misses a TD stat from a starting running back in the NFL!
Get me a "Fire Curran" shirt.
Hey Tom,
At least I knew the stats of the Detroit Lions players, and as a reporter, you should too!!!
We're both pathetic in our own ways.
Matt
This is trying to be funny and failing:
""Oh, Daddy! You ARE the best. And I love the Ford Flex crossover more than words!"
This is trying to look smart and failing:
"Jones scored three touchdowns in four seasons for the Lions and is now a backup in Chicago"
Jimbo you are a loser and do not come back to this site. I don't like your name or your casual clothing ideas. T. C. screwed up a stat and you and your jerkoff buddies jump all over him. Tom do your self a favor and make this your last Lions article. They are irrelevant and so are their fans.
Speaking of inept...and criticizing another person's professional capabilities...it's "with whom I covered the Patriots". Did you even *study* the English language in college? You did go to college, right? "Who" is used as the subject in a sentence. "Whom" is used as an object or in a prepositional phrase. You *never* end a sentence with "with", and you certainly never make both mistakes at once! Reading your "work" was like finger nails across a chalk board.
Oop. Kevin Jones had 3 RECEIVING touchdowns in his three seasons in Detroit but you folks are right, he DID have 24 rushing touchdowns. Bad job by me using the very excellent website http://www.pro-football-reference.com. My eyes were goin' crazy!
Bring back Millen!
As for you Stuck, you grammar nazi, you I would like to have a word with, at, for, by, over, from, to.
Well, Tom, you've got my email address. I'd be happy to explain to you why using proper grammar expressing your thoughts (especially as a professional who (not whom) makes his living writing) is not only appropriate but also beneficial to both the writer and the reader. I would think you would care to express yourself with clarity. Otherwise, what would be the point?
Actually, I'm lying. I would not be happy trying to convince you of something you should have figured out during all those years of education. But to answer the question you undoubtedly asked the teacher so often: Yes, you *were* supposed to "remember this".
Stuck, me and E.B. are sorry we birthed people like you. I'd love to take a past participle to your head. And the "me and" must drive you crazy!
Heck the Lions are so inept, they don't even have cheerleaders to give fans something to look at when they are being trounced every week.
HEY TC,
the emotional story of week 4 comes out of TB. A death in the "football family." Do you think fans, at large, recognize how football organizations consider themselves a psuedo-family? Sad news for Bryant, the kicker, who lost his 3 month old. This dude went from kicking an OT game-winner to losing his son.
when I read it here*
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3607238
my thoughts...[ok I have a problem] Take Bucs
*full disclosure I would have linked to nbc but it didn't make the top 6 on the page
Don't worry, Billy...I can assure you nobody remotely similar to you birthed me. :-)
Millen's decisions were his downfall - whether in the draft or via trade. The distilled, fundamental reason for the Lions' downward spiral is lack of execution - as the current season is definitely showing. No owner, president, or coach is going to turn the franchise around by themselves. That's the player's job, and what they get paid for (although, you need to have personnel with the right skill and mind sets). What surprises me the most, however, is that some bloggers dismiss not only the Lions, but their fans. Millen's decisions were horrible - but my franchise was one of the most successful in the 30's, 50's and 90's - and we've never been accused of "cheating". When Detriot recovers, and it will, I'll be one of the few who can say that I never left.
Now that MILLEN has been finally FIRED will we see Barry Sandaers come back?
Barry could still make Emmit and any other back look like a dope.