If 0-16 architect Matt Millen would have left things where they were after his recent news conference, the process of turning the page on his disastrous time in Detroit could have moved further along.
But come now, did you really expect Millen to do something right?
He's continuing to talk about his time with the Lions, and having the audacity to play the victim, Nicholas Cotsonika notes at Freep.com.
Millen told SI.com's Don Banks, "“I don't go backward. I just don’t think like that. There’s nothing I can do about (Detroit). All I can do is from here on out."
OK. Nothing wrong with that. Let's just call it a day then, Matt, and begin to move o--
Oh, wait. He's not done:
“I understand. In Detroit, they need a bad guy. I was a bad guy. I was to blame for the fall of the auto industry and the housing market. Somehow, I had something to do with Kwame Kilpatrick, although I’m not sure what.
“But that’s what happens when you lose in this game. You give everyone a cheap and easy story to jump on.”
EXCUSE ME?!
Exactly who is to blame, then, for almost completely whiffing on the draft for 8 years? For very high draft picks not only failing but being out of the league in a matter of a few seasons?
Who is to blame for failed free agent signings like Bill "Butterfingers" Schroeder, or for re-signing mediocre Lions to mega-bucks deals? (Cory Redding)
Millen keeps saying "Put it on me. I take responsibility." Then, in his next breath, he makes sure you know he doesn't really feel it's his fault.
It was an embarrassment that the guy didn't have enough dignity to quit when he had demonstrably failed -- oh, say, three years ago.
That he doesn't get that he owns 0-16, that he owns 31-97, is stunning. And that he in any way is putting it back on Detroit and Lions fans ... well those are fighting words.
Cotsonika sums it up well:
But for Millen to portray himself as a victim is downright offensive to the people of Detroit, Lions fans everywhere and those who cover the team. As a media member, he should know how criticism works. As a former player and executive, he should know how accountability works. He has criticized, hired and fired people himself.
Millen was not a convenient scapegoat. He was not a “cheap and easy story to jump on.” He was not blamed for the fall of the auto industry, the housing market and the Kilpatrick mayoral scandal. For Millen to rub salt in those wounds is inappropriate at best. Maybe Millen was trying to be funny. Doesn’t matter.
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