I’m still not sold. I’m still not believing that the kittens of Detroit are going to do great things in my lifetime; but I’m closer to believing it. In a move that the late William Clay Ford would have struggled six to ten years to make, Martha Firestone Ford made in a half season.
I won’t pretend these decisions are easy. I have fired people and I have been fired. Even old maxims in sport about how coaches and general managers are hired to be fired are true, when the ax drops, it is never easy.
Mr. Ford knew this and took his time with Matt Millen. Russ Thomas had to pass away before he lost his job as Detroit Lions general manager. Mrs. Ford took the hard decision with loyal employees of the team for over a decade and didn’t look back.
We can only suspect that Jim Caldwell isn’t long as Detroit Lions coach and the team even let quarterback Matthew Stafford know his job isn’t safe. The last time a team did this was in Indianapolis in 2011. General manager gone, head coach gone, quarterback gone. It was easy for Indianapolis to rebuild when they knew they could “suck for Andrew Luck” but how brave is it for Detroit to “look for Connor Cook”.
The thing is though I can’t buy in 100 percent with hope because William Clay Ford did think outside the box once and hired Matt Millen. I don’t need to tell you how that worked out. It is however, a year and a half into Martha Firestone Ford’s full ownership, a move that her husband wouldn’t have had the nerve to pull off.
It’s great to see an owner that seems to want to win and in spite of being 1-7 hasn’t “written off the season” yet. Although I suspect that line was for show. There has been nothing this years Detroit Lions team has shown me that tells me. being under the gun, that they can reel off eight straight victories and ease into the sixth playoff spot.
I won’t fully buy in to the Detroit Lions for at least a year. It will take that to see if the reins are fully in the woman’s hands. Is she going to hire football people and then after making the tough decisions, sit back and write the checks?
I suspect that Mr. Ford meddled in the “war room”. Talked the scouts and general manager into picking up certain players. It was stated that Matt Millen wanted to shore up the defense in 2002 and wanted to draft Quentin Jammer (a solid cornerback who was a starter for 10 of his 12 NFL seasons) but was overruled and was advised to pick quarterback Joey Harrington.
I wouldn’t put his meddling in the George Steinbrenner category, but I suspect there was meddling nonetheless. Mrs. Ford, please stay out of the war room. I don’t say that because you’re a woman, no I would give this same advice to Jerry Jones, Jerry Richardson, even Robert Kraft and definitely Dan Snyder.
As the owner, you sign the checks. You pay good money for football people to pick football talent to play football. If your family believes $1.44 billion is good money in the NFL… if the Lions start to win…if you start to sell Calvin Johnson jerseys in Nebraska and Winnipeg? $1.44 billion will be paltry.
So milady, the next move again, is yours.
