Saturday, January 3, 2009

Amazing Grace... Demonstrated by the NFL Establishment

I couldn't help but see that Matt Millen was in the NBC Sports studio along with Bob Costas and Jerome Bettis to provide commentary at halftime and postgame for the Falcolns vs. Cardinals playoff game. My goodness. Matt Millen? Are you kidding me?

For those of you who aren't sports fans, this is akin to having Bernard Madoff on as a guest commentator on a CNBC special on "investing to win", hiring Elizabeth Taylor as your marriage counselor or having Britney Spears as a parental advisor on Supernanny. It's absolutely mind-boggling.

There's a website developed by Detroit Lions fans dedicated to the removal of Millen which outlines his less-than-stellar record. Mark Schlereth, an ESPN analyst and one time teammate of Matt Millen said said of Millen's work for the Lions: "It may be the worst personnel job in the history of the National Football League," Schlereth said. "He was horrible. Matt was -- I mean, it was absolute garbage." NFL executives had privately conceded that Millen "has made more bad draft decisions than anyone else in two centuries." Millen was the 2nd highest paid general manager in the league, and led the Lions to the worst eight-year record in the NFL (31-97) since World War II, punctuated by an 0-16 season this year. Not exactly the sort of reputation and resume that screams "expert commentator".

But somehow he got a plush gig pontificating as a commentator on NBC. Wow - there are churches that show less forgiveness (or disregard) for past sins than the NFL, where coaches and players with terrible records on and off the field continue to be recycled for jobs. I'm not sure if that speaks to how ungracious Christians can be, or how stupid the league is. Maybe both.

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