The Curse of Bobby Layne...

Well, as I sit here, pondering my week 5 picks, I have to say I'm amazed that Matt Millen is gone.... When you've gone so far into the sewer, at what point does one say "Okay, that's enough."???

Anyway, his record as a GM is quite brutal, to be sure. So much stuff happened on his watch, it's almost difficult to fathom. As a long suffering Brewers Fan, I like to think I've seen as much bad losing as is humanly possible, but this Lions team is right up there in the brutal, humiliating losses category...

Let's look at a couple coaches hired by big Matt:

(in fact, even before Millen got there, the Lions have been a real coaching graveyard. But seriously, Wayne Fontes is pretty much a joke, obviously. Convicted of Coke while an assistant, that didn't keep him from getting promoted, and having a kinda long run. He did have Barry Sanders, though... more on that later. Fontes was 67-71 in his tenure)

Marty Mornhinweg 2001-2003 5-27-0
He was considered a good hire at the time, a young up & comer with a lotta innvoative offensive ideas. He's an assistant with the Eagles now, but it seems unlikely he'll ever get a HC gig again... Pretty much a punchline for some bad HC jokes...

Steve Mariucci 2003-2005 15-28-0
Another guy considered a borderline genius, high energy guy, had a great record with the 49ers, and his stint as a QB coach with the beloved Pack is still remembered fondly, as he molded a raw kid named Brett Favre into a hall of famer... 15-28 is not good, but it's a breath of fresh air after Marty... Steve, much to my surprise, has run to the Network gig and apparently has no plans to re-emerge into coaching...

Some of these Millen highlights are truly breathtaking, though. Lets take a look:

The strange Gary Moeller Contract:
A couple games after taking over for a "dejected" Bobby Ross, Coach Moeller was given a 3 year contract, then fired at the end of the season. Moeller had to be laughing all the way to the bank as he got paid for the next two years while his replacement, Mornhinweg, would only win 5 games and lose 27 during this same stretch. Despite the poor performance of the team during those two years, Mornhinweg was given a guarantee that his job was safe after the season. A month after getting his job guarantee, Mornhinweg was fired. Screwed up coaching deals like these would be the norm rather than the exception as Millen's hiring practice of only interviewing one person would result in league fines and condemnation by minority leaders such as Jesse Jackson.

0-10 Start in 2001
The Lions 0-10 start caught the attention of Jay Leno making for some memorable monologues and skits. Sometimes the Lion fans would get in on the fun, displaying banners such as "This Isn't Funny" on Thanksgiving to a national audience. Finally the Lions beat the Vikings and while leaving the field, Johnnie Morton exclaimed "Jay Leno can kiss my ass". That Monday Jay brought in a live donkey and kissed the donkey while Johnnie Morton watched on a split screen in Detroit (He also said the Vikings were on suicide watch after losing to Detroit, the last jab at Detroit at least for that season).

0-24, Road Losses 2001-2003
The Lions went 3 entire seasons without winning a road game, shattering the old record and adding another prized piece of tin to their collection. The streak ended at 24 when the Lions beat Chicago at Soldiers Field in 2004. With salary caps creating parity in the league it is very doubtful that another team will ever break this record.

Millen Releases Johnny Morton
Matt Millen released Johnny Morton after the 2001 season (Morton caught 77 passes for 1,154 yards that year). 2 years later (2003), the two reunited when Morton's new team, the Kansas City Chiefs, beat the Lions in a "close" 45-17 blowout. After the game Morton told Millen to "kiss his ass" to which Millen replied "You faggot, yeah you heard me, you faggot!" Millen later apologized for his outburst. One year earlier (2002), Millen had insulted his own players by referring to one of them as a "devout coward" during a radio interview.

2005: FIRE MILLEN!!!!
Lion fans had to be proud of their team when television camera's captured Lion security chasing an individual with a "Fire Millen" sign throughout the stadium. Each time the fan eluded security the crowd would cheer. Occasionally the fan would pass the sign to other fans in a make shift form of keep away that must have really irked Ford Field security. Once the Fan was apprehended, the crowd began chanting "Fire Millen" to the obvious dismay of security. The incident would cause an uproar in the Detroit area and garnish National attention as the chant "Fire Millen" became the fans battle cry. "Fire Millen" chants were heard at Michigan State Basketball Games, Detroit Pistons Games, Detroit Red Wings Games and "Fire Millen Signs" have shown up on ESPN broadcast and Gil Thorp comic strips. Meanwhile "Keep Millen" signs would pop up wherever the Lions played on the road.

Joey Harrington's Revenge, 2006
Just when we thought the Thanksgiving Day humiliations could not get any worse, Joey Harrington returns to Detroit and leads his new team (Miami Dolphins) to a brilliant 27-10 victory over the hapless Lions. After the game Joey was voted MVP of the game and told interviewers it was the most satisfying win in his career. The Lions traded Joey for a conditional draft pick, most likely a fifth rounder. Believe it or not, the Lions actually led in this game 10-0 in the first quarter, but would be shut out and completely bore the holiday audience for the last 3 quarters.

John Kitna Prediction, 2007
Before the start of the season John Kitna predicted the Lions would win 10 games. Kitna looked like a genius and many thought the curse was ending early as the Lions jumped out to a 6 win and 2 loss start! However the curse would kick in with a fury in the second half of the season where the Lions would win only 1 more game and not only miss the playoffs but end up under 500 and joined another infamous list (teams who started 6-2 and missed the playoffs). Lion Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz, hailed as an offensive genius, was fired as a result of the collapse, another victim of the curse.

Lions First Lead of 2008
It looked like the curse was ending a couple weeks early as the Lions came roaring back from an early 21 - 0 deficit in their home opener and actually took their first lead of the season (25-24) with only 7:41 left to play. As the Detroit stadium erupted with applause, the curse kicked in so brutally that before the 2 minute warning would sound, the Lions would be down 48 to 25 thanks to 3 consecutive interceptions thrown by Detroit QB John Kitna. An eerily similar fate awaited them in the game vs the Packers...

Mike Martz Gets Revenge
After being fired as a scapegoat by the Detroit Lions, Mike Martz and ex Lion backup QB JT O'Sullivan soundly defeated the Lions 31-13 giving the Lions an 0-3 start after going undefeated in the pre-season. Detroits defense started each game going down 21-0, 21-0, and 21-3 respectively to 3 quarterbacks who had never started a game prior to this season. The awful start would lead to the firing of Matt Millen leaving him with an NFL record of 31-84 (10 more losses than any other NFL team over the same time frame). To fully appreciate the humiliation of this moment one has to remember that JT O'Sullivan was Lion QB John Kitna's backup the prior year.

You can read lots more at
http://www.curseofbobbylayne.com/

Quite fascinating... anyway, good luck this week!!

PS The Lane Kiffen Death Watch continues.... Is it so far fetched to think Al Davis might bring in Matt Millen??? Heh heh, I'm chuckling to myself just thinking about it, the comedic implications are so unbelievable.... How great would that be?!?!? Millen did get a super bowl Ring while wearing the silver and black.... Hee hee, could it happen??