ike Williams, and Harrington would have worked out to be even decent players for the team, would everyone be saying that Millen has screwed up all of his draft picks? In 2001, Millen drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers. Not one of them were true busts. In 2002, came Harrington, Kalimba Edwards and Andre Goodman. Though none of them were top players, the only one anyone says was a bust was Harrington. In 2003, came Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey and Corey Redding. Rogers was the only bust and that was caused by a combination of two broken collarbones and a lack of discipline. I believe that discipline might have deterred him from smoking weed. In 2004, Millen drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy LehmaJoin me if you will. I would like to take a trip into fantasy land, where things are not as they are but how you want them to be. Imagine that Gary Moeller was not fired as the Detroit Lions head coach before the 2001 season.

In 2000, Bobby the General Ross quit half way into the season and left Gary Moeller in charge. Moeller quickly gained the respect of the players, and though he was considered a “Players Coach”, he was also a disciplinarian. Under Moeller, the Lions turned around and began to win and ended the season with a 9 – 7 record, just missing the play-offs when the Chicago Bears kicked a 54 yard fieldgoal on the last play of the last game of the season. So imagine if you will, that Matt Millen when he took over the Lions, had kept Moeller rather than bringing in Mornhinweg.

Under Mornhinweg and Mariucci, there was no discipline in the Lions camp. Players became lazy. Specifically the wide receivers began running lazy routes and not working hard in practice. IF Moeller would have been in charge, things would not have been like that. Players would have practiced hard and played harder. Imagine if Harrington would have had good receivers to throw to. Receivers who ran crisp routes and hustled. Imagine if Harrington had an offensive line that would not give up on plays and give him a little more time to find an open receiver who actually hustled and ran good routes.

Can you see where I am going with this yet? Can you see how the domino effect can rip through a team and decimate it? If Moeller had still been coach, the offensive line would have played harder and better. The wide receivers like Rogers and Mike Williams would have been practicing hard and playing better, giving Joey Harrington better targets. With more time to throw and open wide receivers, Harrington would have been a better quarterback. However much you hated or liked Harrington, the man was not horrible. Peyton Manning would not be an pro-bowler if he had the same team around him that Harrington had. Yet I am not here to argue for or against Harrington, I am simply making a point. Under the circumstances, any quarterback would have looked bad. If Harrington and Manning switched places, Harrington would likely have had better numbers. He would by no means have the kind of numbers Manning has and Manning’s numbers would not be as bad as Harrington’s numbers were, but it would amaze you how much a difference a good team makes for a quarterback.

So imagine that Harrington looked like at least a decent quarterback because he had a better offensive line. Imagine if either Rogers or M.Williams would have panned out because there was more discipline in their careers. If things would have been like this, then likely, Dre Bly would have had no reason to point fingers and create so much dissention in the locker room. Maybe he would have wanted to stay a Lion.

Dre Bly aside, if Mike Williams, and Harrington would have worked out to be even decent players for the team, would everyone be saying that Millen has screwed up all of his draft picks? In 2001, Millen drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers. Not one of them were true busts. In 2002, came Harrington, Kalimba Edwards and Andre Goodman. Though none of them were top players, the only one anyone says was a bust was Harrington. In 2003, came Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey and Corey Redding. Rogers was the only bust and that was caused by a combination of two broken collarbones and a lack of discipline. I believe that discipline might have deterred him from smoking weed. In 2004, Millen drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy Lehma

ok over the Lions, had kept Moeller rather than bringing in Mornhinweg.

Under Mornhinweg and Mariucci, there was no discipline in the Lions camp. Players became lazy. Specifically the wide receivers began running lazy routes and not working hard in practice. IF Moeller would have been in charge, things would not have been like that. Players would have practiced hard and played harder. Imagine if Harrington would have had good receivers to throw to. Receivers who ran crisp routes and hustled. Imagine if Harrington had an offensive line that would not give up on plays and give him a little more time to find an open receiver who actually hustled and ran good routes.

Can you see where I am going with this yet? Can you see how the domino effect can rip through a team and decimate it? If Moeller had still been coach, the offensive line would have played harder and better. The wide receivers like Rogers and Mike Williams would have been practicing hard and playing better, giving Joey Harrington better targets. With more time to throw and open wide receivers, Harrington would have been a better quarterback. However much you hated or liked Harrington, the man was not horrible. Peyton Manning would not be an pro-bowler if he had the same team around him that Harrington had. Yet I am not here to argue for or against Harrington, I am simply making a point. Under the circumstances, any quarterback would have looked bad. If Harrington and Manning switched places, Harrington would likely have had better numbers. He would by no means have the kind of numbers Manning has and Manning’s numbers would not be as bad as Harrington’s numbers were, but it would amaze you how much a difference a good team makes for a quarterback.

So imagine that Harrington looked like at least a decent quarterback because he had a better offensive line. Imagine if either Rogers or M.Williams would have panned out because there was more discipline in their careers. If things would have been like this, then likely, Dre Bly would have had no reason to point fingers and create so much dissention in the locker room. Maybe he would have wanted to stay a Lion.

Dre Bly aside, if Mike Williams, and Harrington would have worked out to be even decent players for the team, would everyone be saying that Millen has screwed up all of his draft picks? In 2001, Millen drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers. Not one of them were true busts. In 2002, came Harrington, Kalimba Edwards and Andre Goodman. Though none of them were top players, the only one anyone says was a bust was Harrington. In 2003, came Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey and Corey Redding. Rogers was the only bust and that was caused by a combination of two broken collarbones and a lack of discipline. I believe that discipline might have deterred him from smoking weed. In 2004, Millen drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy Lehma

you see how the domino effect can rip through a team and decimate it? If Moeller had still been coach, the offensive line would have played harder and better. The wide receivers like Rogers and Mike Williams would have been practicing hard and playing better, giving Joey Harrington better targets. With more time to throw and open wide receivers, Harrington would have been a better quarterback. However much you hated or liked Harrington, the man was not horrible. Peyton Manning would not be an pro-bowler if he had the same team around him that Harrington had. Yet I am not here to argue for or against Harrington, I am simply making a point. Under the circumstances, any quarterback would have looked bad. If Harrington and Manning switched places, Harrington would likely have had better numbers. He would by no means have the kind of numbers Manning has and Manning’s numbers would not be as bad as Harrington’s numbers were, but it would amaze you how much a difference a good team makes for a quarterback.

So imagine that Harrington looked like at least a decent quarterback because he had a better offensive line. Imagine if either Rogers or M.Williams would have panned out because there was more discipline in their careers. If things would have been like this, then likely, Dre Bly would have had no reason to point fingers and create so much dissention in the locker room. Maybe he would have wanted to stay a Lion.

Dre Bly aside, if Mike Williams, and Harrington would have worked out to be even decent players for the team, would everyone be saying that Millen has screwed up all of his draft picks? In 2001, Millen drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers. Not one of them were true busts. In 2002, came Harrington, Kalimba Edwards and Andre Goodman. Though none of them were top players, the only one anyone says was a bust was Harrington. In 2003, came Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey and Corey Redding. Rogers was the only bust and that was caused by a combination of two broken collarbones and a lack of discipline. I believe that discipline might have deterred him from smoking weed. In 2004, Millen drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy Lehma

anning switched places, Harrington would likely have had better numbers. He would by no means have the kind of numbers Manning has and Manning’s numbers would not be as bad as Harrington’s numbers were, but it would amaze you how much a difference a good team makes for a quarterback.

So imagine that Harrington looked like at least a decent quarterback because he had a better offensive line. Imagine if either Rogers or M.Williams would have panned out because there was more discipline in their careers. If things would have been like this, then likely, Dre Bly would have had no reason to point fingers and create so much dissention in the locker room. Maybe he would have wanted to stay a Lion.

Dre Bly aside, if Mike Williams, and Harrington would have worked out to be even decent players for the team, would everyone be saying that Millen has screwed up all of his draft picks? In 2001, Millen drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers. Not one of them were true busts. In 2002, came Harrington, Kalimba Edwards and Andre Goodman. Though none of them were top players, the only one anyone says was a bust was Harrington. In 2003, came Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey and Corey Redding. Rogers was the only bust and that was caused by a combination of two broken collarbones and a lack of discipline. I believe that discipline might have deterred him from smoking weed. In 2004, Millen drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy Lehma

ike Williams, and Harrington would have worked out to be even decent players for the team, would everyone be saying that Millen has screwed up all of his draft picks? In 2001, Millen drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers. Not one of them were true busts. In 2002, came Harrington, Kalimba Edwards and Andre Goodman. Though none of them were top players, the only one anyone says was a bust was Harrington. In 2003, came Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey and Corey Redding. Rogers was the only bust and that was caused by a combination of two broken collarbones and a lack of discipline. I believe that discipline might have deterred him from smoking weed. In 2004, Millen drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy Lehman. The only bust was Lehman and that was due to injuries. In 2005, came Mike Williams and Shaun Cody. Mike Williams was the only bust. In 2006, Millen draft Ernie Simms and Daniel Bullocks. Both are looking good.

So in his first six years of drafting, the only players who are considered busts are Rogers, Mike Williams and Harrington. Again I ask you, would they have been busts under better coaching? It was not the picks that were bad, but the way they were brought into the league with no discipline and not made to practice hard.

Matt Millens record while in charge of the Lions is 24 – 72. Should he be fired for that record? Absolutely! But he was not fired and he is still with the Lions. Is Millen as horrible as the media and fans believe? Not even close. Again, arguments can be made that his drafting has not been bad. Harrington with a decent team would have been a better quarterback. Rogers showed signs of being a superstar in the making before his injuries. Mike Williams only problem was he was not made to practice hard in the beginning. Millen has made one crucial mistake. He fired Gary Moeller in order to bring in a friend as his coach. That one mistake has created a domino effect in lazy players, locker room dissention and players not working out as they should have under good coaching. In short, if Millen would have kept Moeller, it can be argued that the fans would not even have a problem with him in charge.

Millen made one mistake. He hired Mornhinweg. When he tried to fix that he hired Mariucci. That was not so much a mistake as it was something that just didn’t work out. At the time of the hiring, everyone in the media and all of the fans thought it was a good move. Nobody knew how conservative and lacking in discipline Mariucci would be. Finally Millen realized that Mariucci would not adapt so he fired him and brought in Marinelli. A coach who is a disciplinarian and has the respect of the players, the coach that Moeller would have been! Only now, Marinelli has to drag the Lions out of the depths of despair rather than build on a winning team. Other than firing Moeller, Millen has not really made any huge mistakes. It was simply that one mistake that created the domino effect to ruin the team. Am I a big Millen supporter? Not at all! If he was fired, it would make no difference to me. What I am is a supporter of the whole picture rather than seeing through tunnel vision. Trying to see the whole picture, I realized that if Millen would not have made that one mistake, so many other problems would not exist.