MATT MILLEN, Really?

[burk48237]

Great article in a local rag this week questioning ABC and ESPNs decision to bring this guy back to the broadcast booth. Does he really have any credibility? I mean when he talks about some college player who is going to be a great pro, can you really believe the man who drafted Gotsferd Cherilous, Joey Harrington, and Charles Rogers with early number one picks? When he says Rob Maranelli is a "great coach" (I'm not lying, he really said this) does 0-16 not mean anything?

Is there no escaping this boob? Is Detroit's collective blind rage over Matthew George Millen — the ex-jock who, in eight looong years as the Detroit Lions president, CEO and Lord High Executioner, singlehandedly set one of the NFL's oldest and proudest franchises back at least 10 years in its development and made it the laughingstock of the sports world — so overpowering that we can't appreciate his sparkling charisma and outstanding broadcasting skills that others obviously see? Or, more likely, does this Tank McNamara of television have negatives squirreled away of top executives at the alphabet-soup land called ESPN on ABC in compromising positions, forcing them to put him on the air at every opportunity?

He is boorish. He is not what even the most generous observer might call telegenic. He delivers his opinions and insights — none particularly opinionated or insightful — with the same mangled growl as the lout on the next barstool. He walks upright, so he fools people.

I wouldn't expect you to, but this paradigm of logic seems to have escaped the sporting nabobs at ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network. Anybody catch his Millen-being-Millen moment last week on Monday Night Countdown when he tried to bully Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young off his opinion that Brett Favre is running the Minnesota Vikings? His eyes were blazing like he wanted to deliver a helmet-to-helmet blow to Young's head right there. Still, that pales in comparison to the Detroit slap in the face during the Chicago Bears victory over Miami on Thursday Night Football last month. When NFL cameras focused on Bears defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli — the same Marinelli Millen hand-picked to "mastermind," if you will, the Lions' winless season — Millen gushed, "That guy right there is one of the best coaches I've ever been around." Did no one else consider calling this blockhead on conflict of interest? Tactless ego stroking? Or, at the very least, revisionist history?

http://metrotimes.com/screens/boob-life-1.1070963

[macaroni tony]

"Is there no escaping this boob? Is Detroit's collective blind rage over Matthew George Millen — the ex-jock who, in eight looong years as the Detroit Lions president, CEO and Lord High Executioner, singlehandedly set one of the NFL's oldest and proudest franchises back at least 10 years in its development and made it the laughingstock of the sports world — so overpowering that we can't appreciate his sparkling charisma and outstanding broadcasting skills that others obviously see? "

Yes. The rest of the world thinks he's pretty good in the booth, the Lions debacle notwithstanding

[Pilgrim]

Your success in drafting isn't the whole story. His ability to comment with excellent knowledge is paramount. He's good in the booth.

For comparison, I've always enjoyed Joe Theismann's commentary - even though the only position he has a clue about is QB. He doesn't know his butt from a hole in the ground about other positions, especially those on defense.

[Eric Perry]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

He's good in the booth...

I think so as well.

[macaroni tony]

And he was a great Raider

[mrpackerguy]

Bringing his experience as a player to bear, I haven't heard anything too terrible out of him.

[G]

(Fist in the air)

Preach Burk!

[burk48237]

I can't disagree more. Doesn't a color commentator have to have at least some credibility when talking about a players skills and ability? When he's doing a college game and he says some kid is going to be a great pro, my first reaction is compared to who? Teddy Lehman? Jordon Dizon? Kalimba Edwards? Shawn Cody? Only three of Millen's draft choces in eight years remain with the team!

Seriously, He called Maranelli "one of the best coaches I've ever been around". Why? Was it his calm demeanor while the Lions managed to do something no other franchise in history has done in going 0-16. That takes a special talent. Millen played for Steve Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and john Madden among others. Where exactly does Maranelli rank in that group?

You have to understand something, Millen wasn't bad, (52-60 is bad) he was pathetic (31-81). Here is the record of a team that had been in the playoffs for eight years in the 90's since Mr Millen took over. 2-14,3-13, 5-11,6-10, 5-11, 3-13, 7-9 (that team started the season 6-0) and 0-16.

Millen himself admitted to an interviewer in 2008 that the team's record under his leadership has been "beyond awful".[8] The Wall Street Journal said that NFL executives admit in private that Millen "has made more bad draft decisions than anyone else in two centuries".[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Millen

[macaroni tony]

He's not a draft analyst....he's a color commentator. He's seemed to have done just fine talking about a football game that's going on at the time. Now when they start casting Millen in some pre-draft program...I'll be with you Michigan guys saying ***!?!? I understand that you guys in the area see him in the booth and all you can see is "smug, incompetent CEO that ruined our team for a decade."

But, hey, the proof is in the pudding...he's a pretty good commentator. He was one even before he got to the Lions - his ability on TV ain't gonna change because he sucks at running a team

[stratovani]

Here's hoping the Matt Millen never shows his face here in New England. Kraft might hire him to clean toilets in Foxboro, and even then...


On the other hand, he'd make an excellent addition to the coaching staff of the New York Jetz!

[macaroni tony]

Originally Posted by stratovani

Here's hoping the Matt Millen never shows his face here in New England

I wouldn't mind seeing that

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by macaroni tony

He's not a draft analyst....he's a color commentator. He's seemed to have done just fine talking about a football game that's going on at the time. Now when they start casting Millen in some pre-draft program...I'll be with you Michigan guys saying ***!?!? I understand that you guys in the area see him in the booth and all you can see is "smug, incompetent CEO that ruined our team for a decade."

But, hey, the proof is in the pudding...he's a pretty good commentator. He was one even before he got to the Lions - his ability on TV ain't gonna change because he sucks at running a team

Was he really good before? Or did he just have us snookered? He sure snookered William Clay Ford. I mean I'd love to go back and check some of his comments before, he probably was claiming Maurice Clarett was a shoe in for the pro bowl too. And he certainly isn't any good now, he claimed Rob Maranelli was a great coach, I'm sorry a pathetic commentator wouldn't do that, nor would a mediocre one, certainly not a good one.

I guess if all you want out of a commentator is clever anecdotes and a lot of BS he's a winner. I just want to know where I sign up for that job.

[Pilgrim]

Millen knows football - he just wasn't a good GM. No harm in that now that he's in a position he's better suited for. He knows more about football than any of us - and I haven't found his comments to be BS.

[macaroni tony]

Originally Posted by burk48237

Was he really good before? Or did he just have us snookered? He sure snookered William Clay Ford. I mean I'd love to go back and check some of his comments before, he probably was claiming Maurice Clarett was a shoe in for the pro bowl too. And he certainly isn't any good now, he claimed Rob Maranelli was a great coach, I'm sorry a pathetic commentator wouldn't do that, nor would a mediocre one, certainly not a good one.

I guess if all you want out of a commentator is clever anecdotes and a lot of BS he's a winner. I just want to know where I sign up for that job.

All I want is to be entertained; he's entertaining to me. No trickery there. To each his own, though

[sloasdaylight]

Being a good General Manager doesn't mean that you don't know how to call a football game. Frankly I think he's decent in the booth.

[macaroni tony]

It's OK, burk; you're from Michigan. I wouldn't be surprised of we got slanted reviews of Kobe Bryant from Pilgrim, either

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by burk48237

Was he really good before? Or did he just have us snookered? He sure snookered William Clay Ford. I mean I'd love to go back and check some of his comments before, he probably was claiming Maurice Clarett was a shoe in for the pro bowl too. And he certainly isn't any good now, he claimed Rob Maranelli was a great coach, I'm sorry a pathetic commentator wouldn't do that, nor would a mediocre one, certainly not a good one.

I guess if all you want out of a commentator is clever anecdotes and a lot of BS he's a winner. I just want to know where I sign up for that job.

When Mo Clarett was playing nearly everyone thought he would do well at the pro level given his level of talent. Hindsight is 20/20.

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by sloasdaylight

When Mo Clarett was playing nearly everyone thought he would do well at the pro level given his level of talent. Hindsight is 20/20.

There were actually quite a lot of talent scouts who thought he would be a bust - mostly due to lack of speed.

It was more like 50/50 then "everyone"

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by macaroni tony

It's OK, burk; you're from Michigan. I wouldn't be surprised of we got slanted reviews of Kobe Bryant from Pilgrim, either

Nope, this is different. I can't stand Jim Tressle, and I don't respect Michael Jordan for his comments about the Pistons and keeping of the best point guard in the league off the Olympic team, but I would never say MJ couldn't play basketball or Tressle can't coach (in the big ten).

PILGRIM Millen knows football - he just wasn't a good GM. No harm in that now that he's in a position he's better suited for. He knows more about football than any of us - and I haven't found his comments to be BS.

This goes directly to his knowledge of the game, something a color commentator is supposed to have. Millen proved without question that he has zero ability at evaluating talent or coaching, too me those are critical to "knowledge of the game."

MACARONI TONY All I want is to be entertained; he's entertaining to me. No trickery there. To each his own, though

If you watched the Lions during those years he's about as entertaining as a root canal. There is not a big game this season that either MSU, U of M or the Lions did that he wasn't brought back here to rub are faces in it. I suspect that Lebron won't be doing color commentator for any Cavs games any time soon. I imagine the Celts won't be hiring Bill Lambier to call games at the garden any time soon, but ESPN and ABC have no problem bringing him back here every chance they get.

[pica]

Wait just a minute. Don't you think Mr. Ford deserves most of the blame for keeping him around so long. What was it like 5-6 years. How many millions of dollars did he steal from the Lions?