What If Matt Millen Was A Black Man?

Former Detroit Lions President and CEO Matt Millen, in the simplest terms, had a horrifyingly-inept tenure running the football franchise in the Motor City. Millen was an outstanding college and professional football player and, prior to the time he came to the Lions, he was a solid television analyst for National Football League games. But, his run of success, however, fell into a tailspin as he tried to improve the Detroit Lions franchise. Detroit, as many of you know, became the first team in NFL history to finish 0-16. During the painfully unforgettable Millen Era, the Lions had a pitiful record of 31-97 before he was fired on Sept. 24, 2008 - to end eight years of football terror.But, I have a question that intrigues me: What if Matt Millen was a black man with that same record? I can imagine so many things that would have been said about Millen if he was a black man: He would have been called an affirmative action hire, his credentials would have been questioned, that he was only there because of skin color, that he wasn’t fired because of the fear of firing a black man … yadda, yadda, yadda. Now, to be fair, one or two questions like this were asked of Millen from time to time (when he made himself available to the media). But, imagine if black Matt Millen worked so hard to avoid media the way the real Matt Millen did? Imagine if black Matt Millen ducked out of town without facing the media as Millen did when he was given his walking papers by Fords? Imagine what would have happened to (or been said about) black Matt Millen in regard to his horrible draft record like the one the real Matt Millen had? What would be the reaction to black Matt Millen’s 31-97 record? Was the real Matt Millen referred to as some kind of an affirmative action hire? No. I am not so much speaking about the media as much as I am about fans (and especially fans who submit comments to message boards, anonymously, and disparage people and hurl generally unfounded accusations). These are some of the questions I pondered after I read so much of the racial crap said about Detroit News columnist and ESPN contributor Rob Parker. Parker, who came under fire after inappropriate comments he made to former Lions coach Rod Marinelli during a press conference a few weeks back, has been bashed over and over again for being an affirmative action hire, for being a racist (because he has the nerve to bring up topics of race), for only keeping his job because he is black … and so on and so forth. How many people thought Mitch Albom was an affirmative action hire (or only kept his job because he was a white guy) when he got in trouble (and was subject to an internal investigation) at the Detroit Free Press? I have nothing against Mitch Albom. He is an outstanding writer and he is very good at a lot of what he does. Imagine if now ex-Lions head coach Rod Marinelli was a black man? How would people have reacted if black Rod Marinelli had generally answered no questions with specificity, stuck to mind-numbing bland and generic talking points, defiantly confronted or ignored simple questions from the media, hired a son-in-law as a defensive coordinator (who runs a horrible defense), finished 0-16 (the first team in history to do so) and so on and so forth? So, what if Matt Millen and Rod Marinelli were black? Would they have been treated the same way as the real Matt Millen and Rod Marinelli were treated? Would affirmative action have come up? Just a few questions to ponder.