Ford and the Detroit Lions Had a Lot for Which To Be Thankful

Thursday afternoon, people all over the nation were excused if they made a slight gagging noise at the table.

They were excused if a slight bit of their food came back up.

And, if they were football fans in Detroit, they were excused if they happened to let a “Thankful for what?” slip during grace.

Lions football has a habit of making you do all three.

Last afternoon, millions of people made a trek across our nation to spend a holiday dedicated to being thankful for America’s bounty with their family. Most of them would bring another tradition in as a piece of their own tapestry: Lions Thanksgiving Day Football.

On that national stage, the NFL’s version of a very unlikable Charlie Brown had a chance to score, if not a real victory, a moral one.

They had the chance to prove that they might be bad, but it’s not for lack of effort.

They had a chance to prove that there is life in Detroit football, to prove they have professional pride, to prove that they could give the slightest damn about anything meaningful to their long-suffering fans, and to really make a statement.

And make a statement they did: Detroit football is dead, and the people who should care the most couldn’t care less.

They could have proved all of the above, or at least convinced me otherwise, and they could have done it without even winning the game.

All they had to do was look like they were trying, and they couldn’t even do that.

This team has 60-some grossly untalented and/or washed-up players, and Calvin Johnson; they couldn’t even pretend to try.

As much as I want to scathe the players—they do deserve a good helping of blame—I can’t.

I want to write about how this is Marinelli’s fault—and part of it is, he’s a terrible head coach—but he’s just a guy who needs to be left as a coordinator so he can micromanage the way he likes to.

Marinelli is a man in over his head and he knows it. But better to ride it out than admit defeat. As weird as it sounds, I can buy that.

The players, for the most part, aren’t even able to hold a candle to the other team's backups, and they know it. It helps explain why this team just can’t get motivated any more. Think about it.

If you or I were asked to sign with a team we knew we’d be able to start for, we’d take it, even if we were in over our heads. And for a while, we’d go out and give it our all.

But, eventually, we’d see that nobody who could really help the team develop and get better would ever show up, and we’d give up.

Sounds like the Lions.

The blame has to rest with the Fords and their unending inability to do anything right.

Sure, it’s old news, but it’s staggering when you really look at how bad the Ford ownership has been.

William Clay Ford Sr. purchased controlling shares of ownership in 1964. My dad was about four depending on what month everything was finalized. Since then, he’s grown up, successfully raised two kids, and is now rapidly approaching 50.

Football-wise, he’s seen Miami re-build over five times, four “dynasties” rise and fall (Green Bay, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Dallas and New England), and the Indianapolis Colts leave Baltimore

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?