Why is Matt Millen an Analyst?
Why is Matt Millen an Analyst?
To those of you who may not know, Matt Millen was President, CEO, and GM for the Detroit Lions from 2000 to 2008. During that span, Detroit went 31-97, their worst eight-year record since WWII, and lost nine or more games in each season. Just as horrible as those stats are, Millen also had arguably the worst first-round draft picks in NFL history (Charles Rodgers, Joey Harrington, Mike Williams). Like a friend of mine said, “there are probably armchair QB’s out there that could’ve done a better job for the Lions.” Even as a player he didn’t post great numbers, he went to one Pro-Bowl (although he did win four rings with some great teams). With all that being said, how can this noticeably terrible NFL team executive be a football analyst on ESPN and the NFL Network?
Listening to Matt Millen analyze football correlates with Don King giving a speech on “Exemplifying Moral Values When Managing Professional Boxers.” No, I don’t have a personal grudge against Millen. No, I’m not a Detroit Lions fan. Yes, I do give people the benefit of the doubt, but for some reason, every Monday night when Matt Millen speaks all I hear are the sounds from the Charlie Brown cartoon “Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah.” This doesn’t happen when Steve Young or Stuart Scott speak, although occasionally I hear those sounds when John Gruden aka Mr. Intense aka Chucky goes on and on about jokers and special mouth pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a big fan of previous MNF analyst Emmitt Smith, but why not hire a flamboyant, humorous, football knowledgeable analyst like Neon Deion or Michael Irvin? ESPN had to have a list of other candidates out there with better resumes than Matt Millen.
Granted, Millen may be a student of the game, well respected in the NFL player community, and a really nice guy, but we are all graded on our performance. In the back of my mind is always, what does he know? Possibly, the blame should be focused on Lions owner William Clay Ford, Sr.. Ford hired Millen knowing he had no front-office experience and, additionally, allowed the franchises’ future to be placed in Millen’s hands. On top of that, Ford gave Millen a five-year extension after the 2005 season. Ford allowed this debacle to continue despite the disapproval of fans and analysts everywhere. On the other hand, Millen should have taken into
consideration the damage to his credibility and reputation that could occur from the frequent bad football decisions he manufactured. Apparently, Millen knew something we didn’t. Unbelievably, in June Millen was named the lead analyst for NFL Networks Thursday Night Football telecast, replacing Cris Collinsworth. How does that work?
Opinions from ESPN analysts such as Ron Jaworski, Trent Dilfer, and Mark Schlereth, to name a few, hold more value in the NFL community than Matt Millen. It baffles me that ESPN and the NFL Network would support and hire Millen to represent MNF and Thursday Night Football. Maybe I’m being a little judgmental or cruel, but until proved otherwise, he is the Michael Jordan of NFL team executive failure, the greatest ever. One conclusive thing about the sports fan, we’re honest and critical. I’ll call a spade a spade. To quote Hunter S. Thompson, “The person who doesn’t scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.” If that’s the case, Matt Millen must have an endless supply of Just for Men.
Follow us on Twitter: @GridironExperts
Gridiron Experts Designed By:
Boy, do I agree here. This guy is a joke. I almost coughed up my beer when I saw him giving “analysis”.
How is this guy suited to judge anyone that is even remotely related to football?
He FAILED for 8 straight years, and he’s right back in a high chair with the rest of the so-called experts?
Honestly, you can’t get much lower than Wayne Fonts.
Whoops. I meant Millen. Must have had crappy Lions coach on the mind.
Sorry, dude, but if a guy is giving quality analysis and you can’t hear anything but “wah-wah-wah” because you’re stuck thinking about his last job, then that’s on you. Your fault. The guy knows what he’s talking about even if he couldn’t run a franchise. Give him a break.
He is a good analyst. thats like saying emmitt smith, who was the worst analyst i have ever seen, should be on tv just cus he was a great player. matt millen failed as a GM but the insight he offers on that show is better than 99% of football guys besides mark schlereth or jaworski. people should be protesting merril hodges biased ass.
Nice Post Kenny. Have people been warming up to this clown not that the Lions have shown a slight potential to rebound from the Millen Wrath. Most Millen Hater postings are a year old. The stench that is coming out of my tv set listening to this has been is as fresh as it was the day NBC felt sorry for him, accepted his services then put him on the air.
Keep up the good work Kenny.