Matt Millen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Matt Millen | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): Linebacker |
Jersey #(s): 54, 55, 57 |
| Born: March 12, 1958 Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania |
|
| Career information | |
| Year(s): 1980–1991 | |
| NFL Draft: 1980 / Round: 2 / Pick: 43 | |
| College: Penn State | |
| Professional teams | |
|
As Player
As President / CEO |
|
| Career stats | |
| Interceptions | 9 |
| Sacks | 11 |
| Fumble recoveries | 8 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958 in Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania) is a former professional football player and executive in the National Football League. He was President and CEO of the Detroit Lions from 2000 until 2008. His eight-year tenure as head of the franchise led to the worst eight-year record in the NFL (31-97) since World War II, and resulted in his termination on September 24, 2008.
Prior to his management affiliation with the Detroit Lions, Millen was a professional football linebacker for the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins of the NFL. In Millen's 12-year NFL playing career, he played on four Super Bowl-winning teams. Millen won a Super Bowl ring with each of the three teams for which he played[1][2].
Following his NFL career, he was a football commentator for several national television and radio networks. His last job before joining the Lions was as a member of the number two broadcast team for the NFL on FOX[3], as well as being the color commentator for Monday Night Football on Westwood One. On February 1, 2009, he joined the NBC broadcast team for pre-game analysis of Super Bowl XLIII.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] High school and college football
Millen grew up in Whitehall and attended Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley region. He was a standout high school football player for Whitehall, which played in the highly competitive East Penn Conference (now known as the Lehigh Valley Conference). He was recruited out of Whitehall High School by Pennsylvania State University, where he became an All-American defensive tackle for the Nittany Lions.
[edit] NFL career
Following his career at Penn State, Millen entered the 1980 NFL Draft and was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the draft's 43rd overall selection in the second round.
During his 12-year NFL playing career, Millen played for the Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Washington Redskins. He won a Super Bowl with each of these teams, including two with the Raiders (one when the team was based in Oakland and one during their stint in Los Angeles). He won one Super Bowl each with the 49ers and Redskins, though he was de-activated for Super Bowl XXVI while with the Redskins[4].
During his NFL career, he was selected to play in one Pro Bowl (in 1988). Millen finished his 12 NFL seasons with 11 sacks and 9 interceptions, which he returned for 132 yards, and 8 fumble recoveries. He also returned 7 kickoffs for 72 yards.
[edit] Television and radio career
Following his professional football career, Millen worked as a color commentator for CBS TV (which teamed him with Sean McDonough, Paul Olden, Mike Emrick, and Tim Ryan), and for FOX (which teamed him with Dick Stockton). He also provided game analysis for the radio broadcasts of Monday Night Football, working alongside Howard David on CBS's Westwood One radio network.
At FOX, Millen came to be considered the number-two analyst for its nationally-broadcast games, behind John Madden (who had been successfully teaming for years with Pat Summerall).
Millen returned to broadcasting when he served as a studio analyst for NBC's coverage of Wild Card Saturday[5], his first television appearance in an analyst role since the 2000 NFC Divisional Playoffs, and reprised that role for NBC on their coverage of Super Bowl XLIII.
On June 15, 2009 Millen was named the lead analyst for the NFL Networks Thursday Night Football telecast, replacing Cris Collinsworth.[6]
[edit] Detroit Lions management
In 2001, Millen left broadcasting to assume the job of the Detroit Lions' CEO and de facto general manager. At that time, Millen had no prior player development or front office experience.
Since Millen's arrival in 2001, the Lions were 31-84, 53 games below .500, and had lost nine or more games each season. During the early part of Millen's tenure (2001-2003), the Lions failed to win a road game for three years (0-24) before opening the season with a win at the Chicago Bears in 2004. Overall, the Lions are 8-50 on the road since 2001.[7] Millen himself admitted to an interviewer in 2008 that the team's record under his leadership has been "beyond awful".[8] The Wall Street Journal said that NFL executives admit in private that Millen "has made more bad draft decisions than anyone else in two centuries".[9]
Despite the team's record on the field, Matt Millen was the second highest paid general manager in the NFL.[10] With a draft record that included a number of high first-round draft picks who were considered poor choices (Charles Rogers, Joey Harrington, and Mike Williams among them),[11] and widespread disappointment among fans, the media, and even some players, Millen received a five-year contract extension from owner William Clay Ford, Sr. at the start of the 2005 season.[12] Following the team's 3-13 performance in 2006, Ford announced that Millen would be retained as General Manager for at least another season, because according to inside sources to the Ford family, they still believed that Millen is the best GM that the Lions ever had.[13]
On September 24, 2008, Millen was confirmed to no longer hold his positions with the Lions. Whether he was dismissed or resigned was unclear.[14] It was later reported by a team official that Millen was actually fired. [15]
[edit] Controversy
In December 2003, following a Detroit Lions 45-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, Millen came under fire after a postgame incident with former Lions and then-Chiefs wide receiver Johnnie Morton, in which Millen was heard shouting "You faggot! Yeah, you heard me. You faggot!" at Morton, when Millen tried to congratulate some of the Chiefs players near the Chiefs locker room. Morton claimed that he wasn't going to say anything to Millen, and when he walked by him, Millen said "Hey Johnnie", Morton ignored him, and then Millen replied "Nice talking to you", and Morton replied "Kiss my ass." That's when Millen twice called Morton a "faggot", which was heard by a member of the Chiefs public-relations staff and a Kansas City Star columnist. Matt Millen apologized for the incident, and after learning about Millen's remarks, Morton replied "I apologize for what I said, but I never expected anything like that. What he said is demeaning and bigoted. Jeremy Shockey got in trouble for saying it about a coach (Bill Parcells)[16], and now we have a president of a team making statements like that. It's totally unacceptable. I have gay friends, and I don't even joke around with them like that."[17] There had been bad blood between the two since Morton was released by the Lions after the 2001 season, and Morton felt like Millen "tossed him aside."
[edit] Competition committee
Millen was named to the NFL competition committee on August 4, 2006.[18]
[edit] "Fire Millen" movement
The chant began to spread during a college basketball game between Michigan State and Wichita State at The Palace of Auburn Hills on December 10, 2005. It started when ousted Lions coach Steve Mariucci was shown on the big screen, prompting a standing ovation for Mariucci and a loud chant of "Fire Millen!" The following night in Los Angeles, in an NBA game between the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers, the chant surfaced late in the 4th quarter at the Staples Center. The chant has also been heard during various Detroit Red Wings games, both home and away, as well as during a college basketball game between Michigan and UCLA. Former Pistons power forward Rasheed Wallace even took part in the chant during a late timeout in a December 16, 2005 game against the Chicago Bulls. A "Fire Millen" sign was shown in the background of a February 3, 2007 broadcast of ESPN College Gameday at the University of Kansas. Fire Millen signs are popular among the students of Grand Valley State University, a division II school in Allendale, MI.[citation needed] One large sign with the "Fire Millen" slogan was removed by NCAA officials at the football national championship in Florence, Alabama.
"Fire Millen" even turned up in a background sign in the sports-oriented comic strip Gil Thorp[19] on February 20, 2006 ('Detroit News 'columnist Neal Rubin took over as the writer of Gil Thorp in 2004).
The "Fire Millen" chant returned in force to Ford Field during the second half of the 2006 Thanksgiving day game between the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins,[20] when former Lions quarterback and first round pick Joey Harrington (often a scapegoat for the Lions problems) led the Dolphins to a 27-10 hammering of Detroit, dropping the Lions' record to 2-9. More Fire Millen chants have been heard at wrestling event WWE's WrestleMania 23 held at Ford Field, and TNA's Bound for Glory. For 2008 The Fire Millen chants were back in force during the game against the Green Bay Packers.
[edit] Other protests
On December 6, 2005, Detroit sports talk radio station WDFN announced the "Angry Fan March" (also known as the "Millen Man March") in protest of Millen's contract extension.[21]
On December 9, 2005, in protest of Millen's poor record, one Detroit Lions fan site, known as "The Lions Fanatics," led by owner Dan Spanos organized an "orange out" event, which encouraged Lions fans to show up at Detroit's Ford Field clad in hunter's orange,[22] the color of their opponent that week, the Cincinnati Bengals. According to reports, over 65% (42,250) of all fans attending this game were wearing orange in protest.[citation needed]
On December 24, 2006 another group of fans planned a walkout protest towards the end of the first half in the game against Chicago, to express their disgust with the current management.[23]
[edit] Terminated from the Lions
After a 0-3 start to the Lions 2008 season, Lions vice chairman and Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr., told reporters on September 22, 2008 if it was up to him, he would fire Millen.[24] Despite this, the elder Ford claimed he had no plans to dismiss Millen.
However, on September 24, 2008 Matt Millen's tenure as team president and general manager ended.[25] Lions owner William Clay Ford later announced that Millen had been relieved of his duties as Lions General Manager and Team President. An arbitration hearing for Millen will be heard sometime in 2009.
[edit] Millen Takes Responsibility
On the January 3, 2009 edition of NBC's Football Night in America Millen admitted his role in the team's downfall, saying he would have fired himself after the 2008 season.[26] During NBC's pre-game show for Super Bowl XLIII, Detroit's affiliate WDIV-TV ran a ticker asking viewers to question his credibility as an NBC Sports panelist given his past with the Lions on their website.[27] Over 36 pages of comments were posted on the station's website.[28]
[edit] Millen in Parodies
A target of many jokes among those in the football circles, among one of the more notable examples is that of Bang Cartoons, who depict Millen as a gorilla-like oaf with a child-like mentality. He's usually accompanied by a young, mentally challenged sidekick named Billy.[29]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Super Bowl champs on Lions roster Detroit Lions.com.
- ^ Lions to stick with Millen by Dan Haugh Football.com.
- ^ Fox's No. 2 announcing team proving itself to be first-rate The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ Halling's Hall of Fame NFLUK.com.
- ^ Matt Millen finds himself busy on a Playoff Saturday - Yahoo! Sports
- ^ Millen named analyst for NFL Network's Thursday Night Football
- ^ Source: Profootballreference.com
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3259255 ESPN.com article "Millen sympathizes with fans; has confidence in Marinelli, future" Accessed February 22, 2008.
- ^ The Sleeping Lion - WSJ.com
- ^ [1] Sign On San Diego.
- ^ Lion's share of blame goes to Millen - The Boston Globe
- ^ President CEO Matt Millen Signs Five-Year Contract Extension DetroitLions.com.
- ^ Lions' Millen: 'I'll never quit' The Detroit News.
- ^ Millen out as Lions president, GM Fox Sports.
- ^ It's confirmed -- the Lions have fired Millen
- ^ http://www.outsports.com/columns/page/20030809shockey.htm
- ^ http://www.outsports.com/nfl/2003/1216millenmorton.htm
- ^ Lions' Millen named to NFL's competition committee, espn.com, accessed August 4, 2006.
- ^ Week of February 20, 2006 The Official Gil Thorpe Website.
- ^ Miami 27, Detroit 10 Yahoo! Sports.
- ^ Fans take aim again at Lions GM Millen ESPN.com.
- ^ Asking For Your Support The Lions Fanatics.
- ^ Lions Fans are Mobilizing Their Hatred of Matt Millen AOL Sports.
- ^ Ford Jr. says if he was in charge of father's Lions, he'd fire Millen - ESPN.com
- ^ Sipple, George, "Ford fires Millen, says fans 'deserve a winner'", Detroit Free Press, September 24, 2008
- ^ Millen says Lions' downfall his fault.
- ^ Shrader, Steve (February 2nd, 2009). "Warning! Matt Millen's On". The Detroit Free Press. http://www.freep.com/article/20090202/SPORTS01/902020356/1049/SPORTS01/Warning++Matt+Millen+s+on+. Retrieved on 2009-02-02.
- ^ Bennett, Dashiell (February 2, 2009). "City Of Detroit Still Not Over Matt Millen". Deadspin. http://deadspin.com/5144695/city-of-detroit-still-not-over-matt-millen. Retrieved on 2009-02-02.
- ^ http://www.bangcartoon.com/2005/lionshare.htm
[edit] External links
- FireMillen.com.
- The Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team.
- Matt Millen NFL statistics at databasefootball.com.
- "This Raider's A Real Riot", Paul Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated, April 16, 1984.
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