December 26, 2008
William Clay Ford Sr. is simply the worst
Virtually alone at bottom of team owners' list
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
One more loss and William Clay Ford Sr. gets the scarlet letter he so
rightfully deserves.
That's what 0-16 means to Detroit.
Ford will forever wear that blemish. It becomes the first sentence of
his NFL biography. There's justice in The Imperfect Season becoming
the 83-year-old owner's legacy, offering some measure of payback to
the frustrated and forlorn. They want the perpetrator of this
poisonous climate bearing a permanent scar.
People were always upset with Ford's 44-year stewardship of this
franchise, but it's vindictive now.
One more loss and Ford unequivocally becomes the worst owner in NFL
history -- quite possibly the worst in all professional sports.
Al Davis might be the craziest NFL owner ever. There is neither rhyme
nor reason for some of the Oakland Raiders' owner's actions -- firing
head coaches with the ink on their first contracts still wet. But
there was once a "commitment to excellence" with the Raiders.
Ford's Lions have been "committed to exasperation."
The Arizona Cardinals' Bill Bidwill might be the cheapest NFL owner,
perhaps explaining why the Cardinals have only one playoff victory in
the last 61 years. That's worse than the Lions' one playoff win in 51
years. But the Cardinals are only 10 years removed from that one
playoff triumph, whereas Ford is 17 years removed from his last
playoff success.
And let's not forget that the Cardinals' return to the playoffs for
the first time since 1998, winning their first divisional championship
since they hailed from St. Louis.
Ford fosters an organizational culture choked by its own rampant
paranoia, chronically preoccupied with the steady stream of criticism
written and said about it. He once tossed around quarters like manhole
covers. But he pays his minions well now and they stay fiercely loyal,
adamantly defending what those on the outside see as Ford's
aristocratic aloofness.
But it's indefensible now. I'm tired of the
nice-old-man-deserves-a-break argument. Ford doesn't deserve a
championship simply because he's been around much longer than most of
his NFL ownership fraternal brothers. He's directly responsible for
one of the worst eight-year stretches in professional sports history.
If you assessed the public mood eight months ago on the greater
impossibility -- the country shedding its shackles of racial
intolerance and electing America's first black president, or an NFL
team going winless through a 16-game parity-driven schedule, the
concept of perfect football imperfection would've comfortably won the
argument.
The Lions have one-upped Barack Obama.
That distinction doesn't earn them a place on the inauguration stage
next month, but rather a unique spot in sports infamy.
They're going 0-16.
They've finally sold me on their destiny. I was once a stubborn
advocate of the blind squirrel theory, especially in a league that
blatantly legislates competitive balance. But the Lions finally
convinced me that even dumb luck when seeking that elusive acorn
doesn't fully absolve dumb decision making.
But when searching for the next great impossibility, it's that the
Lions will never win a championship as long as Ford's fingerprints
remain on this franchise.
Just when everyone thought the Lions were immune from further
management malfunctioning, Ford announced there would be no radical
front-office housecleaning.
It was a vintage Ford moment -- making a decision without really
making a decision. He said that the two-headed interim executive
monster he created following Matt Millen's long overdue dismissal --
chief operating officer Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew
-- would remain with the organization, although he didn't specify
their responsibilities in a new power structure.
Ford said he would seek another football executive but wasn't sure who
would answer to whom.
And you're still wondering why they've won only one playoff game in 51 years?
Contact DREW SHARP at 313-223-4055 or dsharp@freepress.com.
