ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -Matt Millen was used to success in his life.
He won Super Bowls as a linebacker. He gained acclaim as a TV analyst. He had reasons to be proud as a husband and father.
As the leader of an NFL team, however, he was a failure by any measure.
The Lions fired Millen seven-plus years after hiring him as team president.
“Matt worked tirelessly during his tenure to win, and he would be the first one to tell you that you have to win in this league,” team owner William Clay Ford said in a statement Wednesday. “It just didn’t work out.”
The Lions were an NFL-worst 31-84 since 2001 with Millen in charge, but his boss refused to get rid of him.
Until now.
The tipping point might have been public comments made by the owner’s son earlier this week.
Lions vice chairman Bill Ford said Millen should leave the team and the Ford Motor Co. executive chairman said if he could, he would make moves.
d reporters Monday.
Finally, his father agreed that Millen had to go and an awful start was a factor.
Detroit was routed in each of its first three games this season, falling behind 21-0 twice and 21-3 once en route to lopsided losses going into its bye week.
“I am very disappointed with where we are as a team after our start this season,” Ford added in his statement. “Our sole focus now is preparing for our next game against Chicago.”
The Lions’ front office will now be led by executive vice president Tom Lewand, who will report to the owner on business issues, and new general manager Martin Mayhew, who will report to the owner on football matters.
“These decisions are for the duration of the 2008 season,” Ford’s statement said. “Once the season is over, we will undergo a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of our entire football operation and put together a plan that we believe will transform this team into a winner.”
The Lions became one of the biggest losers in NFL history under Millen, losing at least 10 more games than any other team since 2001. They gave up a league-high 25.3 points and ranked 30th with 18.3 points a game under Millen, according to STATS.
Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday on Millen’s cell phone.
Drivers of vehicles whizzing past the Allen Park facility beeped their horns and gleefully yelled out because the Millen era was over.
Eddie Gates drove through the team’s parking lot in his minivan as his girlfriend, Sue Stanton, held a sign out the window reading, “Millen Must Go To Get a Super Bowl.”
“I’ve been a season-ticket holder for 28 years and because they fired Matt Millen, I’m going to renew,” Gates said. “This is the happiest day of my life.”
The Fords – father and son – were thrilled when they lured Millen out of the broadcast booth to run their hapless franchise.
“I’m willing to stake my reputation on Matt’s success,” Bill Ford said after Millen was introduced at a news conference in January 2001.
Millen was the team’s first general manager since Thomas left in 1989. The Lions allowed their coaches – Wayne Fontes, Bobby Ross and Gary Moeller – to run the football operation after Thomas resigned.
The younger Ford contacted Millen a couple years before he came to Detroit, but his father initiated contact a few days after the 2000 finale before hiring him.
“We’ve been pretty much stuck on dead center for quite a few years,” William Clay Ford said when Millen was hired. “Matt offers us an opportunity to move ahead.”
Coach Rod Marinelli will be left with the task of salvaging something from the final 13 games of the season. But he and the players haven’t inspired much confidence with an NFC-worst 10-25 record since 2006.
iful era that compares only to Tampa Bay’s 12 straight double-digit loss seasons from 1983-94.
The Lions are winless, and 1-10 dating to last season. The latest loss at San Francisco dropped Marinelli to 3-15 on the road and dropped the Lions to 8-60 as visitors with Millen in charge.
The former Penn State standout was an NFL linebacker from 1980-91 with the Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins. He won the Super Bowl four times.
He claimed a Super Bowl-or-bust mentality shaped decisions he made for the Lions.
“I will not rest until we win it all,” he said.
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