Forum Overview :: Fire Matt Millen
 
Recent interview by Ice Cream Jonsey 11/24/2009, 11:22am PST
In a previous millennium, Matt Millen was a rising sports TV star, a respected voice and heir apparent to John Madden as Analyst of the People.

In this millennium, he mostly is known as an epic flop as president of the Lions from 2001-08.

Which left us with this question as he returned to television this season, working college games for ESPN and now pro games for the NFL Network, including ones involving the Giants and Jets the next two Thursdays:

Has Millen's credibility been destroyed for good? The answer likely depends on whether you are a fan of the team he ran into the ground.

For most of us, his TV comeback is a non-issue; he largely has picked up where he left off in the 1990s as a solid booth presence. For followers of the Lions, though, his mere presence tends to cause anger and nausea.

Overreaction? Perhaps, but to help you relate, imagine being a Knicks fan and having Isiah Thomas turn up last season as an analyst on national NBA broadcasts.

Millen insisted last week that he has not thought much about the passions his TV work has stirred. He also said most people he has run into in Detroit have been "supportive.''

But he does not blame fans for feeling the way they do.

"I understand the fans' side completely; I would probably feel the same way,'' he said. "They can only make judgments on wins and losses, and we didn't win . . . You don't know because you're not in it. Then when you're in it, you're like, 'Whoa, there is a ton of stuff.' ''

Millen chooses his words carefully on this subject. At one point, he paused nearly 10 seconds before he spoke about Lions fans' feelings toward him.

"They weren't there,'' he said. "They don't see everything . . . I don't really pay much attention to it because they're in their world and I'm in this world and it's just different places.''

[...]

Millen called his hectic schedule for ESPN and the NFL Network "football nirvana,'' and sounded as if he meant it.

Now that he is back on TV and finally done worrying about the wins and (mostly) losses that come with working for a team, he is sure to stick with announcing for good, right?

Um, no. He called the competitive side of the sport "a drug.''

"Some people would say, 'Well, you don't have to worry about anything, just go home and sleep,' '' he said. "It doesn't work that way. It's like it's inbred in you. I don't know if it's the personality type or it's just that I've been in this since I'm 8 years old.

"All I know is you crave the competition. That's what you can't replace.''


I think he's one of the most repellent people in professional sports.


ICJ
NEXT REPLY QUOTE
 
Recent interview by Ice Cream Jonsey 11/24/2009, 11:22am PST NEW
    Re: Recent interview by laudablepuss 11/24/2009, 5:16pm PST NEW
 
powered by pointy