Over the past 60+ years, the Detroit Lions have won exactly one playoff game, which seems almost impossible.
Year after year, fans get their hopes up — drink the Honolulu blue Kool-Aid– only to have those hope shattered rather quickly.
What was once a proud organization is not the laughing stock of the NFL and the question is, why has Lions ownership been unable to fix it.
Well, that is a question Sports Illustrated writer Albert Breer attempted to answer in a recent mailbag article.
I think in this case, overall organizational alignment is a baseline element that’s been missing. Part of it is that the team’s ownership is pretty hands-off (which, to be fair, a lot of football people prefer). Part of it is that so much of the business operation is at Ford Field while the football folks are in the suburbs day-to-day. And this manifests without there being a ton of checks and balances over how the football operation is working.
My belief is that, over the years, that’s allowed for problems, wherever they may be, to fester. Again, most football coaches and scouts want relatively hands-off owners. But the truth is that most good owners are at least creating guardrails for the football people, and making sure certain standards are being upheld. Along those lines, I’m not sure the Fords have done enough in Detroit. Maybe new controlling owner Sheila Ford Hamp will be different. She’s got some big decisions coming.
Nation, do you agree with Breer? If not, what do you think the main problem is?
