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by Published: January 03. 2007 3:00AM
Lions
DREW SHARP: Don't gripe; vote with your feet
January 3, 2007
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
What's there to say about the news Matt Millen will keep his job?
Anger at the Lions was long, long ago rendered useless. The long-suffering must divorce themselves emotionally and financially from this sideshow, even if sacrifice means waving good-bye to choice season tickets that have evolved into a cherished family heirloom.
But that won't happen because even the tortured can't walk away.
They're as much to blame, the co-conspirators in the undermining of good football in this city. They willingly come back every year with checkbooks open, demanding more emotional abuse.
If you keep endorsing a bad product, then you get exactly what you deserve.
Published: January 03. 2007 3:00AM
Lions
MICHAEL ROSENBERG: A bad joke
January 3, 2007
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
The worst organization in sports.
What else can be said here? Matt Millen has been totally incompetent in every way. He never should have been hired. He should have been fired four years ago. And the only conclusion we can reach is that William Clay Ford either doesn't care about his fans or is so utterly clueless that he believes the Lions' best route forward is with Millen in charge. Either way, it is mind-boggling that an owner can be this awful.
I am glad I am a columnist and not a fan of this team (or any other team, for that matter). I didn't grow up here. I have never cheered for the Lions a day in my life. Whether they win or lose has never had any bearing on my personal happiness. I just feel bad for all the people who do care. They want to watch a winning NFL team from Detroit. Unfortunately, the owner is content to give Millen an expensive fantasy team. What a joke.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Lions' Millen: 'I'll never quit'
Mike O'Hara / The Detroit News
ALLEN PARK -- Owner William Clay Ford hasn't fired him, and Matt Millen won't quit after six losing seasons as president of the Lions.
Millen will return for a seventh season -- at least -- as team president after a 3-13 record by the Lions in 2006 made his record 24-72.
Despite speculation to the contrary, owner William Clay Ford apparently never gave consideration to firing Millen. And Millen made it clear Tuesday that quitting is not an option.
"I'll never quit," he said. "I can't do that. I don't even consider that. It's the way I'm made. You're given a job, regardless of what it is. Whatever your charge is, you do the job.
"If it's not working, you keep on working at it until you get the freaking thing done. That's just what you do. You don't ever quit."
Ford hired Millen in 2001 and gave him a five-year contract. Millen got a five-year extension, through 2010, before the 2005 season.
Ford did not make an announcement about Millen's status, and Millen said it was not a point of discussion within the organization.
There is a strong working relationship among Millen, Ford and Rod Marinelli, who ended his first season as coach Sunday with a 39-31 victory over Dallas.
"Mr. Ford and I, we talk a bunch," Millen said. "Rod and myself, we've been talking all season long. It never even got to anything other than, 'Keep on doing what we're doing.' "
In a news conference earlier Tuesday, Marinelli said speculation about Millen's status had no impact on his job.
"I just go on with me, business as usual every day, and just line up and get going," Marinelli said.
Millen reiterated he understands people are upset that he has not produced a winner, and winning is the only thing that will change anyone's opinion. The Lions were 9-7 in 2000, the season before Millen arrived.
"I can't say anything to change anybody's opinion," Millen said. "Rod has said it a million times, and we're on the same page 100 percent. It's a show-me game. It's the way it is. So what can I say?
"The only thing you can do is go out and win, and until you do that, they can take their shots. They can say what they want. They can yell at me. I have nothing to say.
"I only think there's one winner a year (the Super Bowl winner). I've always believed that. There's one winner, and everybody else fails. The rest of it's just draft status."
Millen, who was successful as a network analyst for NFL games before Ford hired him, joked about the abuse he has taken from the media.
"I'm glad I could be of service to them," he said.
The Lions have not played in the Super Bowl or won the NFL Championship since Ford became sole owner of the franchise in 1964. They won their last NFL Championship in 1957. Ford was part owner and on the board of directors.
The public perception that Ford does not care about winning is wrong, Millen said.
"There are two people I know who love this game," Millen said. "Rod Marinelli loves this game more than anybody I've ever seen. It's important to him on a personal level, on a life level.
"The other guy who loves this team and this game as much is Mr. Ford. He's passionate about it. He cares about it. He wants to win."
Millen expected a difficult transition to Marinelli's hard-driving style. The players were used to a player-friendly style by former coach Steve Mariucci. The roster was hit hard by injuries to starters and primary backups.
"Sometimes it happens quicker," Millen said. "It just depends on your team, and it depends on the attitude of your team, and it depends on the makeup of your team.
"We knew it wasn't going to be smooth right out of the gate. But you hoped that we could correct it pretty quick and move on.
"I think we'll get our health back. There's enough talent if we're doing things the right way. The most important thing is Rod's insistence on doing things, the details of doing things. That's a huge one."
No changes are planned in the scouting and player personnel departments, Millen said.
The Lions will look to add players at several positions when the free-agent signing period begins March 2 and in the draft, April 28-29. They have the second pick overall in the draft.
A strong pitch will be made to re-sign wide receiver Mike Furrey and defensive tackle Cory Redding before they become free agents, Millen said.
"Both those guys are exactly what you're looking for," he said.
You can reach Mike O'Hara at (313) 982-3810 or mailto:mike.ohara@detnews.com.
So who is the dumber sack of sh** in all this, Millen, or Ford for putting with him???
