Matt Millen's Wife Takes a Shot at Detroit: 'I Told Him, You're Out of Football Prison Now'

A few hours after Matt Millen was fired, finally, from his job of running the Detroit Lions into the ground, his wife decided to take a shot at the franchise that showed her husband more as much loyalty as any employer has ever shown any employee in human history.

Here's what she said:

"We're fine," Millen's wife, Patty, told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. "In the world's view, this may look like failure. It's been a hard road, footballwise, but we've gotten a lot of eternal blessings. We'll move forward. I told him, 'You're out of football prison now' and we have a greater purpose."

Hey, Patty: If Detroit is "football prison," that's because your husband made it so. Before your husband arrived, the Lions were coming off a 9-7 season and had been to the playoffs six of the nine years before that. Since your husband's arrival, the Lions have never even been close to making the playoffs.

But Patty and I agree on one thing: Millen's tenure in Detroit looks like a failure. Because it was.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-25-2008 @ 8:18AM

B said...

I believe she was referring to football itself and not specificaly the Detroit Lions. I didn't read the original article, so I don't know what she said before or after that quote. When she says "we have a greater purpose" it leads me to believe that she doesn't like football.

9-25-2008 @ 8:31AM

eeluk said...

Out of prison? and hopefully straight into retirement.

9-25-2008 @ 9:04AM

lcleejr said...

MUST BE NICE TO GET 5 MILLION A YEAR FROM FOOTBALL PRISON.

9-25-2008 @ 11:28AM

Elsquare said...

Matt Millen should never have been hired for the job, just as Tony Kornheiser should never have been hired for the MNF job. BUt, leave Millem's wife out of it.
Wives are entitled to defend their husbands, period. No critiques/rebuttals on wives' comments by smart a-- media people. Be gentlemen and LEAVE THE WIVES ALONE!

9-25-2008 @ 10:20AM

swb said...

I agree with B. I believe that this was an acknowledgement that football is OVER for Millen. He was a player, then a broadcaster, and then GM. There is no future for him at any level in football at this point. Financially, they should be fine, unless they were heavily invested in AIG, or something...

That aside, I believe his wife is merely making the point that they can do something else other than football now. At my former company, we used to call the firing of someone to be "releasing them to their destiny."

The Millen family is now released from football, in all of its forms, to pursue their destiny.

9-25-2008 @ 10:41AM

leonferna said...

What an ungrateful bitch.

I understand sticking up for your family, but this franchise just made you unjustifiably rich, and gave your bumbling idiot of a husband many more chances than he deserved to succeed at a job he was clearly unqualified for.

Shut up, sit on your money, and understand that your husband is a complete embarrassment.

9-25-2008 @ 1:11PM

Al Davis said...

YES DEAR.................

9-26-2008 @ 3:23PM

Oracion said...

In regards to Elsquare,

No one would have even MENTIONED his wife until she opened her big mouth. We have enough problems here in the D, to just sit back and be criticized by this woman who has benefited from the $50 MILLION her husband was paid to ruin my favorite team. Millen deserves all the criticism he receives and his wife can kiss my ass.

9-26-2008 @ 9:51PM

robert erdmann said...

let his son run the team ford jr. ,and change the coach we have too, he loooks like a jerk,where do they find these coaches at anyway,let alone matt,do the lion hire these people on perpuse and laugh at the fans for how stupid we all are,i mean i just dont get it, the whole systems a joke.