One year after the New England Patriots achieved the first ever 16-0 season, another team is pursing a 16-game mark.
Only this time it's in the loss column.
The Detroit Lions are threatening to go 0-16 and become the only team to have a winless season since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule.
Detroit fans are left to wonder who is to blame. And only one name comes to mind.
Matt Millen.
Although he was relieved of his duties in late September, Millen's actions over the last eight years have lead to this inevitable ending.
What most fans may not know is that Matt Millen actually had a very respectable career, playing 12 seasons as a linebacker with the Raiders, 49ers, and Redskins. He won four Super Bowls, one with each of his teams, (two with the Raiders) and was a Pro Bowl selection in 1988.
After retiring from the NFL, he became a color commentator for CBS, ABC, and Fox, where he was rated the second-best broadcaster behind John Madden.
In 2001, Millen took the position of general manager of the Detroit Lions. Prior to his job with the Lions, Millen had no front office or player development experience. During his first year with the Lions, the team went 2-14 after coming off a 9-7 season and missing the playoffs by a field goal.
Millen will always be known for his failed draft picks. In 2002, Millen selected QB Joey Harrington out or Oregon with the third pick in the draft.
In Millen's defense, Harrington finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, finished in the top five in the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, had a billboard in Times Square promoting him as "Joey Heisman," and was voted Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year.
Also, Harrington was taken behind QB David Carr, and was one of 15 QBs taken in the draft, none of which has had a Pro Bowl season, and only one of whom starts in the league now (David Garrard, selected 108th overall.) And after your team comes off a 2-14 season, you look to rebuild around a young QB.
Should Millen have selected someone else — Dwight Freeney, Albert Haynesworth, Ed Reed, or Clinton Portis — instead? Probably. But I remember a time when the nation was crazy for Matt Leinart and Vince Young as well.
Another Millen blunder was Charles Rogers, who was selected second overall in the 2003 NFL Draft after the Lions finished 3-13. Even though scouts told Millen not to draft Rogers, Millen took him. After all, every young QB needs a reliable receiver to throw to, right?
Rogers won the Fred Biletnikoff Award at Michigan State, which goes to the nation's best collegiate receiver. Rogers, who was born in Michigan, had 22 catches for 240 yards and three touchdowns in his first five games in Detroit, but broke his collarbone in practice. Rogers missed the rest of the season.
The following season, he broke his collarbone again on the third play of the season. In 2005, he was suspended for four games after failing a drug test. Rogers has only played in nine games since.
Although he tried out for various NFL teams since, he is currently a free agent. But the real question is should Millen had selected Rogers with receivers like Andre Johnson and Anquan Boldin on the board?
Another Millen blunder was the selection of USC receiver Mike Williams with the 10th selection in the 2005 NFL Draft. This was Millen’s third consecutive year selecting a receiver in the first round after he drafted Roy Williams the year before.
I remember watching this draft. As a Vikings fan, we needed a receiver. We had just dealt Randy Moss to Oakland for the seventh overall pick. I had watched Mike Williams, who had received multiple honors and awards while at his time with USC in 2003, and who had to sit out the 2004 draft due to ineligibility.
When the Vikings were on the clock with the seventh pick, Mel Kiper Jr. began talking about a speed receiver named Troy Williamson out of South Carolina. I prayed that the Vikings would select Williams over Williamson. They did not, but now that I look back I see it as a lose-lose situation. Williams is a free agent. Williamson earned the reputation as a butterfingers and was dealt for a sixth-round pick.
But it is not just those three. Many bad choices have been made, from those involving management, bad draft picks, and bad free agent moves. Over the past few years a “Fire Millen” movement had risen in Detroit. The fans had an “orange out” in which the fans all wore orange to their home game against the Cincinnati Bengals (whose colors are orange and black).
Parades and rallies were held, and chants of “Fire Millen” began to rise up at Pistons, Red Wings, Michigan, and Michigan State events. “Fire Millen” chants even rose up at WrestleMania 23, which was held at Ford Field.
After Millen’s dismal 31-84 record, which included a 24-game road losing streak, the Ford family, which owns the Detroit Lions, remained faithful. Following the team's 3-13 performance in 2006, Ford announced that Millen would be retained as general manager for at least another season, because according to inside sources to the Ford family, they still believed that Millen was the best GM that the Lions ever had.
So when are Detroit fans going to get a break? Even as a Vikings fan, I feel bad for Detroit. I watched the Vikings’ 20-16 win over the Lions on Sunday. I didn’t see an 0-12 team. I saw an NFL team full of professional players, making plays and earning their paychecks. I watched as Daunte Culpepper connected with the Randy Moss-esque Calvin Johnson (another first-round wide receiver for Matt Millen, making Johnson the fourth first-round receiver out of five first-round picks for Millen) for a 70-yard bomb.
With Culpepper in Detroit, who is signed through next season, Detroit will make an improvement. Detroit has a good chance of having the first overall pick in the 2009 Draft, in which the Lions will likely select a quarterback. That QB will have a year or two to mature behind Culpepper instead of being thrown to the wolves, as was the case with the young Joey Harrington.
8 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Neil Melms 6 months ago
Is Barry Sanders still available?
I've watched quite a few Lions games this season and at times I thought maybe they can win this one. Usually if they are winning (very rare), that feeling goes away pretty quick because they can't stop anyone. I wonder if Calvin "Megatron" Johnson has called Barry up to tell him how he feels. If anyone can relate to Calvin, it has to be Barry. A truly gifted athlete playing for one of the worst teams in the NFL. I still believe in an alternate time line where Barry didn't retire prematurely and breaks the rushing record before E. Smith.
Now in an era where coaches and managers are usually fired from their jobs when situations go in a southern direction, Millen stayed at his position for way too long. I never really liked that concept because we don't really see how a coach or manager adapts to a situation when things are at their worst. Because it is so easy to replace a coach or manager, as a fan I can't truly know if they are a great coach. Jeff Fisher is one of a few coaches who has stayed through an up and down career as a coach without being fired. Since 1994, he has only four sub .500 regular season records. His worst in 2005 when the Titans went 4-12.
However and this is a really big HOWEVER, Matt Millen is definitely an exception to that rule. The man has been given too many chances to rectify his mistakes and not only has he failed over and over again, he has continued to make the same mistakes. Maybe Mr. Ford saw something we didn't or maybe the man is just loyal to his employees to a fault. Whatever the circumstances, the firing of Matt Millen this year will more than likely change the Lions for the better in the future. They have got quite a few draft picks next season and if that first pick is another WR, then I'm moving to that other time line and bask in Barry Sanders glory.
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Brent Goebel 6 months ago
Good article, I agree I do think you are on the dot as to who to blame for the season the Lions are having and have had in the past, it is Matt Millen's fault. But at the same time I do think Mr. Ford is to blame for leaving Matt Millen at such power for so long.
I do hope that Mr. Ford and the Lions nation doe not blame this on Rod Marinelli or use him as a scapegoat. Although the numbers do not show, I think Coach Rod has done a decent job and has been the best coach the Lions have had in the Millen era.
I think it was a good move to trade Roy Williams, which was not done by Millen. The Lions will have two picks in the first round which will be good to improve their defense and possibly their quarterback. Another thing that has been good for the Lions this year is Drew Stanton. He has the potential to be something special if he can stay healthy. When he plays, he is exciting and controls the offense pretty well. Obviously the Lions need more defensive players, Calvin and Kevin Smith on offense is making the Lions look good and throw up some points, they just need a defense to keep them in the game.
But overall the Lions should and will not pick anymore WR or RB in the first round for a couple years.
Defense is key, and keep coach Rod he is good, he just needed any GM but Millen.
But any way, good article I enjoyed it.
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Kenny Stein 6 months ago
I love to analyze the Lions too. How could so much go so wrong for so long?
You have to look at the Gm who controlled them for this decade.
Still, I probably would've taken Harrington too.
And I definitely would've taken Charles Rogers. I loved Rogers ability at Michigan State and thought he had Randy Moss type potential. Now, if there were prior concerns about his frailty and collerbone, than so be it, maybe not a great pick. But I loved the idea of Harrington to Rogers. It just never worked out.
The moment you knew that Millen was out of his mind though was when he drafted Mike Williams. That one will always boggle the mind.
Oh and in reference to Rogers over Andre Johnson, thats fair if they wanted to take Johnson, but Anquan Boldin? Nobody was going to pick Anquan Boldin at #2. He was a 2nd round pick, he wasn't even the first WR drafted by the CARDINALS that season. That would be Bryant Johnson.
Lots and lots of bad picks and bad acquisitions by Millen though. Including never finding a good fit at head coach when other guys have been hired and flourished with their respective clubs.
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Keith Shelton 6 months ago
you would have drafted Rogers based on his skill, and who wouldn't? But Millen received warnings from numerous respected people in the NFL about his character and drug habits. He promptly ignored those warning and drafted him anyway.
Certainly Rogers would still have been a late 1st or 2nd round pick because of his skill, but going #2 overall with those kinds of character issues? Stupid.
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Zeke Fuhrman 6 months ago
The whole character issue thing happened to Randy Moss. They guy was the best receiver in the draft, and won the Biletnikoff Award, but nobody would take the risk due to character and drug issues, and he fell to the 24th overall pick.
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Cody Swartz 6 months ago
I remember the other year - I think it was 2001 - the Lions were 2-14 and lost almost every single game by less than one score. Chris Berman ran a thing on SportsCenter, in which he would change one play from the game to give the Lions a win.
For example, Johnnie Morton catches Ty Detmer's long TD pass (instead of dropping it, like he really did), and the Lions win. At the end of the season, instead of 2-14, Berman had the Lions at 13-3 or something.
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Cody Swartz 6 months ago
Yeah, I went back and looked it up, and they had nine consecutive losses - all by one score or less. I wonder if any team has ever done that before. And both their wins were by one score or less.
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Seattle Lion Fan 6 months ago
While Millen can be blamed for the inpetness over the past eight years, why does everyone forget who has been the common factor for mediocrity over the past 44 years?
Since William Clay Ford, Sr. purchased the Lions in 1961, the Lions have had 13 winning season out of 44. 10 trips to the playoffs with only one win to show for it and abysmal draft picks and free agent signings.
Ford has made bad choice after bad choice when it comes to football decisions. Yeah, Millen can be the scapegoat if the Lions end up 0-16 since he and Rod Marinelli built such a stellar team. But Ford is the top dawg when it comes to getting blamed for year after year of making the Lions the doormat of the NFL.
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