Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If that’s the case, that William Clay Ford Sr., proud owner of the Detroit Lions, is in fact, insane.
I don’t mean to sound disrespectful by calling Ford insane, but what would you call it? What would you call a man who sits up in his owner’s box year after year and continues to march a bona fide loser onto the field only to rinse, wash and repeat once the season is over with?
The Lions are 0-15 and on their way to 0-16. It would be the first time in NFL history that a team finished 0-16, but its owner is convinced that standing pat is the way to fix things.
Following the Lions’ most recent loss (a 42-7 defeat to the Saints), Ford said that he would like to leave interim general manager Martin Mayhew and chief operating officer Tom Lewand in place for next season. That’s right, the same clowns that helped former GM Matt Millen build this hapless roster on their way back for another tour of duty.
Ford’s problem isn’t blindness – he can see that his team is a garbage heap. No, his problem is loyalty. He believes that when he or his organization hires a man, you stick with him until he finishes the job (no matter how inept he may be at doing said job). It’s a novel idea when you think about, but unfortunately he’s created a situation with no hope.
Lion fans deserve better. They’ve suffered long enough. They deserve change and a new direction. They deserve an owner who isn’t going to stand for losing anymore and who is willing to come in and blow the whole thing up. I don’t know who that man is, but it’s not William Clay Ford Sr.
The Detroit Lions will go 0-16 this season. And unless they level the entire franchise in the offseason, they might become the first team in NFL history to go 0-32.
