What Happened to the Detroit Lions Before “The Old Man” Died

          Part Two:

          What Managerial Logic?

How William Clay Ford’s loyalty in his decision making led to a franchise that consistently underachieved.

The NFL General Manager (GM) and Head Coach (HC). It’s an understatement to say these figures are the life-blood of a NFL franchise. Between the two of them, they have the challenging tasks of working with or heading: the scouting, scheming, drafting, player development, finances, hiring, and public relations of a franchise, all under the watchful eye of the NFL owner, 365 days per year. Their work ethic is the difference between a Lombardi Trophy and mediocrity, so it’s essential that the GM and HC know what they’re doing. It may be easy to say, but for some, they can’t wrap their head around this concept.

William Clay Ford Senior (WCF) was sadly one of these people. He put his blood, sweat, and tears into ownership of the Detroit Lions, striving hard to win a championship. In the end though, WCF’s mindset prevented his goals from being achieved. And usually, it ended in talk of being ‘cursed’ in a complete S.O.L., “meltdown (Hanzus).”

Looking back at WCF’s ownership from 1963 to his death in 2014, one thing sticks out. WCF ran the Detroit Lions the same today, as back when he purchased the dominant team in 1963. That may bring up a few question marks, but one piece of evidence shows it’s the truth. Loyalty. Taught to everyone as child as being essential to one’s life and defined as, “Faithfulness to commitments or obligations.” In some instances though, it’s a killer. And as Mike Hanzus alluded to, “Ford (WCF) was known for his loyalty, but it was sometimes to a detriment.”

Over the time of WCF’s ownership, there are many instances where WCF could have given up loyalty, but in line with his personality, it didn’t happen. He could’ve, after the string of inconsistency and playoff losses in the 1970s-1990s, given control to his son William Clay Ford Junior (WCF Jr.), who was apt to run a NFL franchise.  WCF, though, ended up not even considering because he was loyal to the Detroit Lions and had a, “deep desire to win with the Lions (Hanzus),” himself. He could’ve recognized that some of the hires that were made at GM and HC weren’t working out, but WCF stayed pat and despite advice from WCF Jr., team president Tom Lewand, and others, contract termination wasn’t an option. But most importantly, WCF could’ve sought out change, a complete stop to S.O.L., and the Lions becoming something more than mediocre. In reality, WCF’s loyalty in his ownership kept the Detroit Lions irrelevant and always looking for answers.

And if you’re looking for one thing WCF’s loyalty, there are only two words to describe it: Matt Millen.

You today can see him being the color commentator on ABC College Football games, and it’s asked, ‘How could this commentator and former NFL Super Bowl winning and Hall of Fame linebacker become the representation of the struggles of the Detroit Lions and WCF?’ In response, Lions fans say the one remark that haunts them to this day, “0-16.”

On January 9, 2001 though, no one saw an imminent disaster when WCF hired an excited Matt Millen to take over at GM of this struggling franchise. Many said that this move, “was impetus for Detroit’s long-awaited resurgence (Meinke),” and Detroit would finally hoist the Lombardi Trophy after so many long years. What came after the initial press conference though, no one expected. In the next seven years, Matt Millen became undoubtedly the worst GM in NFL history.

Hiring head coaches like Marty Mohrninweg, Steve Mariucci, and Rod Marinelli with no question from WCF, Millen set up the Lions for failure.  These people in the organization didn’t have the right system for the Lions to succeed, whether it be from little player connectivity to horrible scheming, and caused the team to fall apart at the fabric. Then, came Millen setting the Lions back with, “Questionable and sometimes bizarre personnel moves…particularly…in the draft (Meinke).” Honestly, my nine year old cousin could’ve drafted better than Millen. With no concept of what’s employed presently in the Detroit Lions organization, like, “the…long-term needs”, “best available,” or even logic, drafting seemed to make the Lions worse, never better (Katzenstein). 

Picks like Joey Harrington, Charles Rogers, and Mike Williams made sure the talent level stayed at its lowest, even though Millen had chances to choose better. For example, back in the 2005 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions at draft pick 10 had a chance to take DeMarcus Ware. As Matthew Millen (Matt Millen’s son) and many experts around the league said, “DeMarcus Ware is a stud… (would become) a great pass rusher (and) he would fit our (The Detroit Lions’) scheme (Hanzus).”  Millen on draft day pulled a fast-one though, and decided to take a shaky Mike Williams at wide receiver instead. After two years, Williams was released after drug problems, and Ware became a pro-bowl linebacker in Dallas. Matthew Millen and the NFL couldn’t believe what illogic they’d witnessed and with it, established the “Millen-esque (Patra),” way of doing things.

 

Even with the mess that Millen created in the several years he was GM, WCF against advice again from family and employees, stayed confident in and loyal to Millen. And with that, the bottom fell out for the Detroit Lions. To 2008, the franchise’s execution worsened even more, and eventually it took WCF Jr. saying, “He would (fire Millen)…if he were in charge (Hanzus),” to make WCF finally fire Millen three games into that season. But the damage was done, and the Lions “accomplished” a record of 0-16, “a feat never seen before or since (Hanzus).”

“Matt Millen’s run as GM of the Detroit Lions has become stuff of “legend” (Hanzus),” with his 31-84 total record and illogical administration. He essentially drove the Detroit Lions into the ground, and except with the one good of drafting Calvin Johnson, to this day, “The Lions (are)…still recovering from the Millen era.” In Detroit, Matt Millen is up there with Kwame Kilpatrick as one of the most hated, but it never should’ve ended that way. By WCF staying loyal to Millen’s decision making for so long, “The Old Man” could’ve been said to be instrumental to the driving the Lions into the ground.

WCF seemed to have finally learned his lesson from “0-16” and the past forty-plus years of failures, and consequently gave WCF Jr. control of the day-to-day operations of the Detroit Lions in 2009. The Lions remember and are still dealing with the after-effects of WCF’s loyalty, like with the S.O.L talk, recently terminated Jim Schwartz, and a losing culture. The Lions are starting to move on though, and are doing well in striving toward becoming a world class organization. With WCF recently passed though, it’s hard not to stop and think how improbable it is that all of this happened to him and the Detroit Lions. But, it’s the Lions, right? No matter what happens though, Lions fans will always remember WCF’s loyalty. Not to his employees, but to one city and one team.

Works Cited

Hanzus, Dan. "Matt Millen's Son on Lions Passing up DeMarcus Ware." NFL.com. N.p., 7 Oct.

2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

Katzenstein, Josh. "Lions Need to Win Now but Must Consider Future with First-round Pick."

 The Detroit News. N.p., 1 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

Meinke, Kyle. "5 Days That Defined William Clay Ford's Ownership of the Detroit Lions."

M-Live. N.p., 9 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Patra, Kevin. "Detroit Lions: Best and Worst Draft Picks." NFL.com. N.p., 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 27

Mar. 2014.