With the federal government now prepared to bail out America’s automobile industry it is now clear the only thing in worse shape in Detroit than GM, Chrysler and Ford is the Detroit Lions.
Should the Lions lose this Sunday’s final regular season game against the Green Bay Packers they will finish the 2008 NFL season with a 0-16 record.
At this rate the disgraced former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is more likely to be bailed out than the Lions.
It would mark the first time an NFL team has lost every game it played in one season since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers went 0-14 during their inaugural season. The NFL expanded its regular season to 16 games in 1978.
Fans of the old Baltimore Colts will point out they didn’t win a game in 1982. However, that season was shortened by a players strike and even then the Colts at least mustered a tie.
Every professional sport has bad teams. Where there are winners there are losers. Someone has to finish in last place. Yet bad teams in baseball, basketball and hockey occasionally win a game. But a schedule with so few games a losing streak in football is arguably more difficult than in any other sport.
In 1980, the New Orleans Saints went 1-15. The Saints were so bad that year that some of their own fans wore paper bags over their heads. So perhaps it was fitting that this past Sunday the Saints should eviscerate the Lions 42-7 in front of what few fans the Lions have left. The Saints gained 532 yards against the Lions’ porous defense seemingly at will and did so without their star running back Reggie Bush. Lions’ fans would probably find a paper bag over their head insufficient. Putting their heads inside a lion’s mouth at the Detroit Zoo would have been more comforting.
Truth be told the Detroit Lions have had very little to roar about in the past 50 years.
The Detroit Lions came into being 75 years ago. Like the American auto industry, the Lions had their greatest success in the 1950’s when they won three NFL championships. The Lions last championship was in 1957.
The comparison to the auto industry is fitting given that the Lions were purchased by William Clay Ford, Sr. in 1964. In nearly 45 years, the Lions not only have never played in the Super Bowl but have won exactly one playoff game. Ford’s son, William Clay Ford, Jr., is the current Chairman of Ford Motor Company. Since they are getting our tax dollars perhaps the federal government should tell Ford their business is tailpipes not tailbacks.
For awhile though it appeared the Lions were headed for a renaissance in 1990s. They had an upbeat head coach in Wayne Fontes as well as a bona fide superstar in running back Barry Sanders who won the Heisman Trophy in 1988 for his play at Oklahoma State. Sanders had a sensational NFL career in which he rushed for 15,269 yards – 3rd on the NFL all-time list. Only the late Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith have rushed for more yards. But unlike Payton and Smith, Sanders never knew what it was like to go to Disney World. Sanders would retire unexpectedly at the age of 30 in 1998. The best Sanders, Fontes and the Lions could do was get to the NFC Championship game in 1992 which they lost to the eventual Super Bowl XXVI champion Washington Redskins.
The Lions made the playoffs three more times with Fontes at the helm and Sanders running the ball from 1993 through 1995 but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each time. Years later Sanders admitted the losing atmosphere in Detroit had robbed his competitive spirit and desire to play the game. Unlike many other athletes who “retire” Sanders has never attempted a comeback.
Fontes was dismissed as head coach following the 1996 season when they went 5-11. He was succeeded by Bobby Ross, a coach from the college ranks who had made a successful transition to the NFL. Ross had led the San Diego Chargers to a Super Bowl appearance in 1995. However, Ross could not replicate his success with the Chargers in Detroit. In 3½ seasons under Ross the Lions made the playoff once in 1999. Once again they were ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Ross would abruptly resign in the middle of 2000 frustrated with what he perceived as lack of desire to win by his players.
If the 1990s were a decade of missed opportunity for the Lions, the 2000s have been a decade of near extinction. Since Ross’ resignation, the Lions have never again returned to the playoffs. Much of the blame has been placed on the shoulders of Matt Millen, who was hired by Ford to become the Lions’ Team President in 2001. Millen had no experience in recruiting or developing players or any other management experience. However, he had been a NFL linebacker for 12 seasons and had four Super Bowl rings and later provided color commentary for NFL games on TV and radio.
Millen’s success as a player and a broadcaster did not translate into success as an executive. He oversaw a series of terrible draft picks (i.e. Joey Harrington) and went through four head coaches (Marty Mornhinweg, Steve Mariucci, Dick Jauron and now Rod Marinelli). Lions’ fans clamored for Millen’s head. They even went as far as to organize a Millen Man March (I kid you not.) Millen was finally dismissed by Ford after the Lions lost their first three games of the 2008 season. During Millen’s tenure as Lions’ President the team has gone 31-84.
But Millen’s departure did not solve things. The Lions’ problems run much deeper than Millen. Marinelli has a lot for which to answer as the Lions have gone 10-24 since taking over as head coach in 2006. The Lions have the worst defense in the NFL and Marinelli has taken a lot of heat over his defensive coordinator, Joe Barry. As it happens, Barry is Marinelli’s son-in-law. While such a critique might not be entirely fair the results haven’t helped matters. It was certainly over the line for a reporter from The Detroit News to ask if Marinelli if he wished his daughter had married a better defensive coordinator after their loss to the Saints.
As bad as their defense has been the Lions’ offense isn’t much better. Their quarterback situation is in disarray. The Lions began the season with veteran Jon Kitna. But Kitna would sprain his knee in Week 5. Since then the Lions have used three other quarterbacks – Dan Orlovsky, Drew Stanton, Drew Henson and former Minnesota Vikings great Daunte Culpepper. None of them has set the world afire and Culpepper, who has battled knee injuries in recent years, is dealing with an injured shoulder. Was it wise for the Lions to sign Culpepper to a two-year contract? It is difficult to win a game without a serviceable quarterback and isn’t clear any of the QBs mentioned appears viable. The only bright spot on their offense, if not the entire team, are rookie running back Kevin Smith and wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
So what does this all mean for the Lions when they go to Green Bay this Sunday? Orlovsky is set to start at quarterback. Conventional wisdom dictates the Lions lose big at Lambeau. The Lions haven’t won there since 1991. The Packers also beat the Lions in Week 2 in convincing style 48-25.
On the other hand, let us consider the recent misfortune of the Green Bay Packers. This is the post-Brett Favre era. Don’t get me wrong. Aaron Rodgers has the makings of a great NFL quarterback. But it is difficult to fill the shoes of Favre especially in your first full season. Rodgers and the Packers are going through growing pains right now. The Packers are 5-10 in 2008. They have lost 5 games in a row and six out of their last seven.
During a Monday Night Football telecast on December 22nd, the Packers had a 14-3 lead at half time against the Chicago Bears. The Bears ended up tying the game in the 4th quarter. When Packers kicker Mason Crosby attempted a game winning field goal the Bears defense blocked the kick sending the game into overtime. The Bears won in OT by a score of 20-17 on a Robbie Gould field goal. If there is any team in the NFL that is more demoralized right now than the Lions it is their division rival Packers. The Green Bay Packers could end up bailing out the Detroit Lions’ abysmal 2008 season.
But even if the Lions do pull off an upset on Sunday their organization must be retooled from top to bottom.
The Ford family should put the Lions up for sale. Perhaps Mike Ilitch could help. Ilitch is the owner and founder of Little Caesar’s Pizza and also owns both the Detroit Tigers and the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Although Ilitch has been more successful with the Red Wings than the Tigers they did win the American League Championship in 2006. That’s more than what can be said of the Lions. Of course, a new owner wouldn’t guarantee success. But the Lions have gone as far as they can go under William Clay Ford, Sr., who turns 84 in March.
The Lions should fire head coach Rod Marinelli and his staff. Now the Lions have changed coaches several times this decade without much success. Honestly, I am not sure who would be the best candidate to coach the Lions. But I would cast the net far and wide and search not only amongst the ranks of the NFL, NCAA, the vast unemployed of Arena Football and even the Canadian Football League. I realize Mike “Pinball” Clemons is ensconced as the CEO of the Toronto Argonauts. But Clemons’ infectious, positive attitude as a player, head coach and now executive might be what the Lions need. Detroit is only a stones throw from southern Ontario. Even if Clemons prefers to stay with the CFL it never hurts to be asked.
The Lions need to improve their recruitment and player development methods. Of course, there are no easy answers. Often it is a hit or miss proposition. Even Matt Millen made a couple of good draft picks in Calvin Johnson (2nd round, 2007 NFL Draft) and Kevin Smith (3rd round, 2008 NFL Draft). With the worst record in the NFL, the Lions get the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. When the Lions traded wide receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys in October they received an additional first round draft pick plus an additional pick in the third and sixth rounds. Yet a team can have all the draft picks in the world and still make lousy selections. A good starting point for the Lions would be to start where they are weakest. The Lions first pick should be a defensive end or a linebacker such as George Selvie or Tyrone McKenzie of the University of South Florida Bulls, respectively. Brandon Spikes of the Florida Gators also comes to mind.
As for the quarterback situation, the future lies with neither Culpepper nor Kitna. Drew Henson was a great collegiate player who can’t make it work in the pros in either football or baseball. The Lions should stick with the Orlovsky/Stanton combination or they should sign a free agent quarterback. Matt Cassel has done an admirable job for the New England Patriots since Tom Brady got injured in Week 1. Cassel is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. If the Patriots are committed to bring back Brady in 2009 then the Lions should pursue him. Cassel has proven he can step into the breach and play under intense media scrutiny and other adverse conditions (as he did days after his father passed away.) I cannot help but think that Cassel’s experience in New England would be of help to a franchise trying to reinvent itself.
But if Cassel has a future with the Patriots next season then Chicago Bears back up quarterback Rex Grossman is also an option. Grossman was the Bears QB in Superbowl XLI against the Indianapolis Colts. However, Grossman has taken a back seat to Kyle Orton. Although inconsistent, Grossman is too talented to languish on the bench and still has much to contribute in his NFL career. The Lions need players who have experienced winning. The opportunity to face off against his old team twice a season would certainly be a factor in Grossman considering a starting role in Detroit. A quarterback with something to prove can be an awfully effective leader.
As with the American auto industry, there are no easy solutions for the Detroit Lions. Unlike the American auto industry, the Detroit Lions cannot expect a bailout from the federal government. Only the Detroit Lions can bailout the Detroit Lions.
Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston. 
