Matt Millen as NFL commentator?

I heard some interesting thoughts on this today.

On the surface, its rediculous to think this guys giving football advice/commentary. The architect of 0-16 has zero cred....and is a mockery on TV because of it.

On the flip side, I heard Colin Cowherd (hands down ESPN's best radio host) state that guys like Millen aren't very common...someone whose a true insider, and as he put it "has been into meetings you couldn't buy your way into". That kind of insight is exactly what I want from my commentators.

Now do I want that insight from Millen? I'm torn. I'm leaning towards he's a joke.

IF he was awke in those 'meetings' is yet to be determined

He was pulled from the broadcast booth to be the Lions GM so he does have the experience.

Yeah, this is what he was doing BEFORE the Lions debacle, so he does bring broadcast experience to the table.

However, I agree...I can't stand when awful coaches and GMs get broadcast gigs where they're supposed to 'share their wisdom'. Cause, for example, Mike Ditka is going to teach me...what...how to be considered an absolute joke by the players who won him his one ring, how to underachieve with a great team for several years after that, and then how to trade an ENTIRE DRAFT for a running back because he wanted to go golfing? Millen shouldn't be back in the booth.

being the worst GM in history for 8 years proves that despite the meetings, the "insider" experience, and all that crap, he knows absolutely squat about football. It's even more ridiculous than Steve Phillips trying to act like ESPN's authority on roster management.

I think the timing is just bad, if a couple seasons went by after this, I dont think it would be all that bad.

I'm not going to pile on here. I haven't heard much from Millen as an analyst, but what I have heard was pretty good. Insightful, I thought. The fact that he failed as a Gm means, what exactly? I dont see how anyone deserves 100% of the blame for the abortion that is the Lions. They have coaches, right? Head and assistant coaches who surely get their share of "credit". They have roughly 50 players a year who contributed, I would say.

Besides, even if you consider Millen a failure as a GM, dont forget that there have been many, many coaches, managers, GM's, owners, and other executives in all sports that have failed miserably at times, only to somehow rise to the top at some later point in time.

Personally, I couldn't figure out why Millen wasn't fired years ago. Anyway, even if he was a poor GM, that doesnt mean that he doesn't know a lot about football.

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Originally Posted by Swampdog

I'm not going to pile on here. I haven't heard much from Millen as an analyst, but what I have heard was pretty good. Insightful, I thought. The fact that he failed as a Gm means, what exactly? I dont see how anyone deserves 100% of the blame for the abortion that is the Lions. They have coaches, right? Head and assistant coaches who surely get their share of "credit". They have roughly 50 players a year who contributed, I would say.

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Millen did make the decisions on which coaches to hire & which players to get, giving him a majority of the 'credit' in my eyes

Just half of Millen's first round picks are still with team. 2 of them aren't even in the NFL anymore.

They were calling for Millens head after the Harrington debacle. There has been many 1st round busts at QB, but you never see the level of hate for a different GM that selected a bust like that other than Millen. I kind of dont understand why other than he was a former player.

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Originally Posted by ragecage

They were calling for Millens head after the Harrington debacle. There has been many 1st round busts at QB, but you never see the level of hate for a different GM that selected a bust like that other than Millen. I kind of dont understand why other than he was a former player.

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I think it's;

1. Because of how many years he remained GM after horrific teams.

2. 0-16

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The fact that he failed as a Gm means, what exactly? I dont see how anyone deserves 100% of the blame for the abortion that is the Lions. They have coaches, right? Head and assistant coaches who surely get their share of "credit". They have roughly 50 players a year who contributed, I would say.

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True. If it was one or two seasons, thats very fair. But coach after coach, assistant after assistant, and player after player (all of which were signed by Millen) have stunk up Detroit for many years. The only consistent item was well........Millen!!

He deserves 100% of the blame for what transpired this year. 0-16. Its very hard to take any of what he says seriously in my opinion. I honestly don't know why he'd want to put himself through the mockery. Surely he could find other ways to make a comparable buck.

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Originally Posted by haveacigar

being the worst GM in history for 8 years proves that despite the meetings, the "insider" experience, and all that crap, he knows absolutely squat about football. It's even more ridiculous than Steve Phillips trying to act like ESPN's authority on roster management.

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I remember when ESPN had Steve Phillips do that mock GM crap a few years ago. Holy cow, what an idiot.

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Originally Posted by dickay

I think it's;

1. Because of how many years he remained GM after horrific teams.

2. 0-16



True. If it was one or two seasons, thats very fair. But coach after coach, assistant after assistant, and player after player (all of which were signed by Millen) have stunk up Detroit for many years. The only consistent item was well........Millen!!

He deserves 100% of the blame for what transpired this year. 0-16. Its very hard to take any of what he says seriously in my opinion. I honestly don't know why he'd want to put himself through the mockery. Surely he could find other ways to make a comparable buck.

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Its very easy to forget they did go 7-9 in 2007. But they still wanted Millens head on the platter. You dont see other GMs being called out like that, especially after a 7-9 season. Grant it he made mistakes, but it seemed as though they were turning the corner. But then this season happened. I dont see other GMs getting called out to the point Millen was. Thats all im saying.

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Originally Posted by ragecage

Its very easy to forget they did go 7-9 in 2007. But they still wanted Millens head on the platter. You dont see other GMs being called out like that, especially after a 7-9 season. Grant it he made mistakes, but it seemed as though they were turning the corner. But then this season happened. I dont see other GMs getting called out to the point Millen was. Thats all im saying.

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what other GM was that bad for that long and had a 0-16 season? He really is in a league of his own.

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Originally Posted by ragecage

Its very easy to forget they did go 7-9 in 2007. But they still wanted Millens head on the platter. You dont see other GMs being called out like that, especially after a 7-9 season. Grant it he made mistakes, but it seemed as though they were turning the corner. But then this season happened. I dont see other GMs getting called out to the point Millen was. Thats all im saying.

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when 7-9 is considered a good season, thats saying something

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Originally Posted by ragecage

Its very easy to forget they did go 7-9 in 2007. But they still wanted Millens head on the platter. You dont see other GMs being called out like that, especially after a 7-9 season. Grant it he made mistakes, but it seemed as though they were turning the corner. But then this season happened. I dont see other GMs getting called out to the point Millen was. Thats all im saying.

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What? How can you possibly be defending a GM for going 7-9? He is without doubt the worst GM in sports, and that team showed no signs of improvement before this year. IN fact, everybody knew they would be worse this year than they had been last year. When you GM a team for 5+ years, and your best record is a 7-9, then you deserve the hate he received.