That's Soft!

I tried to move on. I really did. I told myself it's not worth my time, my complaining or my anger. And I was well on my way to full recovery when it happened, I saw Matt Millen on NBC analyzing games and players. I almost crapped myself. I don't wear glasses, but I put on my fathers to see if maybe I needed them finally. I thought my sight had to be going. What the fuck is this t-bag doing on the air?

I listened to his half-ass interview with Dan Patrick about how things just didn't work out with the Detroit Lions. He spoke for 5 minutes in a comfortable position and answered easy questions that were obviously rehearsed. I then watched him predict that Atlanta would beat Arizona during their first round game because they stop the run so well. Arizona proceeded to run the shit out of the ball all over those dirty birds and have since swooped into the Superbowl. Even when analyzing on TV, he can't get it right. I felt the vile taste of vomit beginning to churn up my esophagus so I did what was best and turned off the TV. This was almost four weeks ago during the first round of the NFL playoffs.

About two weeks ago NBC announced that Millen would join their crew permanently and would be part of their Superbowl coverage. This however made me a little happy. It's tradition that during Superbowl media day the station who is covering the game is also on display for the national media to answer questions just like the players and coaches who are involved. And there would undoubtedly be some Detroit sportswriters there to finally ask the man who single-handily took the once proud mediocre franchise of the Detroit Lions and turned them into the worst organization in sports. Finally he would have to fess up under an uncomfortable situation and answer the questions that every Lions fan wants to hear.

But alas, that did not happen. Mr. Millen did not show up to media day. Everyone else did. Bob Costas did. Chris Collensworth did. Jerome Bettis did. AL Michaels did. John Madden did. But not Millen. He chickened out. There is only one reasonable explanation for this. He knew there would be Detroit media and didn't want to talk to them.

Now some of you outside the bubble of Detroit might be saying, so what? So what if he did a bad job there? So what if he wants to work for NBC? What about second chances?

I'm all for second chances. I'm all for people getting that second opportunity to show they can succeed. But you don't know the whole story. Matt Millen has never fessed up for his blunders. He's never spoken with the local media. He's never had to sit in front of a podium surrounded by people who are not his friends, and answer the questions we as Lions fans want to hear. He never held a weekly press conference like most GM's do. He never even held a monthly one. He was never available for comment during the years of losing. He didn't even live in Michigan during the season. Every Monday he would go to his hometown of Smutsville, PA and remain there for the week. He would only fly in on Saturday before the game, watch the game on Sunday, then fly back out. So the President/GM of the organization was not even here to be asked. The only time he was seen was when he was firing coaches.

When he was fired four games into the 2009 season, he didn't even face the music. He simply left out the backdoor and was never seen or heard from again....until that night on NBC. He's had everyone else making his comments. After being fired we didn't hear from Matt, but his wife was awfully chatty. She began saying what a relief it is for him to be out of "football hell"........what the fuck? Football hell? Didn't he make this hell? Didn't he take over a 9-7 team that missed the playoffs on the last day of the season and then gut the shit out of them only to see them win 31 games over the next eight years? Yup, we heard from her, but not Matt.

John Madden has come out and said that Matt doesn't need to talk about Detroit. It didn't work out there, but that doesn't mean he's not a good man. Bettis came out and said Matt told him privately that a lot of that stuff that happened in Detroit was out of his hands. So he won't even make excuses in public.

The fact remains he snuck out the back door of Detroit with his tail between his legs never standing up like a man and saying this is what happened, this is why I failed. This is where we went wrong. And especially, an apology to the people of Detroit who, despite the awful record, still live and die with this team. To use a line often spoken by Rod Marinelli, the third coach fired under Millen's watch, "that's soft!" When Marinelli was canned, guess what he did? He took his spot in front of the media, answered the questions, said he was sorry it didn't work out and walked out the front door with his head high.

I'm all for second chances. There is nothing wrong with a man taking a job and not succeeding. Admitting you were not good at something or that you failed at something you tried is not shameful. But not answering up for it is.

Dick Vitale is one of the most respected and admired analysts in all of sports. But when it came to coaching the Detroit Pistons he was terrible. He was worse than terrible. But he came to grips with that. He often speaks about how bad a coach he was. How he failed miserably at that part of the sport. But when it comes to analysis, he's at the top of his game.

This could be Millen. He could be a Vitale type. Someone who was a good player and good broadcaster, but when it came to running a football organization and team, he was terrible and a failure. If he said that, if he came out and spoke to the people of Detroit, not his national friendly media, I may even forgive and forget. But that won't happen. Because for a guy who played the game so fiercely and with such determination, when it comes to answering tough questions about his failures, he's soft!