Detroit Lions: It's Hard To Be Paitent

There aren't too many more fans out there that want the Lions to win as badly as I do.

I have been a steadfast fan for 43 years.  I've suffered through the cheapness of Russ Thomas to the ineptitude of Matt Millen.  It ain't easy being a Lion fan.

What I don't understand is William Clay Ford, Sr.'s reluctance, up until the last few seasons, to make the Lions a champion. 

In rare interviews, Ford has implied that he loves the Lions and the Detroit fans.  Can't see it, can you?  I can't see Ford looking at the Lions as nothing more than a tax shelter for the last 49 years since he bought the team in 1961 for $4.5 million.

I think he's lying.  He has had a multitude of opportunities to build this team into a force in the NFL.  But the people he hired had no business running an NFL team.

Russ Thomas, a former NFL player and a Lions assistant, became GM in 1967 and his mantra was to hold-down salaries.  He was know as a tough but fair bargainer but I prefer to call him cheap.

It's not to say the Lions never had players that were elite in the NFL.  They just never gave those star players any help.  Two that come to mind are Billy Sims and Barry Sanders, perhaps the two most talented running backs the Lions ever had.

Sims was a fantastic runner and if not for an injury suffered in his fifth year, he would have been near the top for yardage gained.  In his five years, he gained 5,106 yards for an average of 4.5 yards a carry.  If he had played for 10 years, as Barry had, he would have gained 10,210 yards, putting him 25th for career rushing yards. 

And then Barry Sanders, perhaps the most tragic missed opportunity the Lions ever had to get the the Super Bowl.  Sure, he had contract squabbles and he held out a few times.  You can create a list a mile long of other great players who did the same thing.

But still, he played for one team in his 10 seasons, the Detroit Lions.  And instead of jumping to another team that may have given him a better shot at a ring, he stayed in Detroit.  Why?  In my opinion, it was because he really wanted to win in Detroit.

But they never gave gave him the support he needed as we all know. 

I'm not going to delve in the Matt Millen's tenure.  What's the point, we all know what he did to further destroy the Lions.

Let's look at the here and now.  We got Matthew Stafford, the real deal, a star quarterback in the making.  Mayhew may have gone out and gotten him the weapons needed.  Calvin Johnson was already here and the additions of Pettigrew, Burleson and Best was good.

But how does a quarterback get to that legendary status of a Joe Montana, Dan Marino or Jim Kelly?  He stays upright and protected.

It's not to say that franchise quarterbacks don't get sacked.  But great teams mitigate the number of times sacks occur.

Lions this year have reduced their sacks, glad to see it.  But that line is still allowing Stafford to get pounded.  They are letting Shaun Hill get pounded. 

So while I am happy with he moves that Mayhew has made, I wonder why he's ignored the O-line.  Pretty much every team that wins has at least a good line.

I'll end this with a quote from Barry Sanders when asked what it takes to have a great team.

"I don't know much about that.  But I'd start with the offensive line and go from there."

Wiser words were never spoken.