Newspaper columnist Jason Whitlock is a bit miffed about NBC’s recent hire of former Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen as their lead studio analyst for the NFL playoffs. And he wondered if O.J. Simpson was available from his Las Vegas jail cell.

Seriously, O.J. on “Football Night in America” is the only thing that could top Millen’s inclusion. And NBC is promising to foist Millen on its Super Bowl audience. If this happens, I will confront Millen and NBC executives at the Super Bowl and go Rob Parker-Rod Marinelli on the responsible parties.

Look, the Lions haven’t won a NFL championship in over 50 years, and Millen was in charge for only eight seasons. Though under his leadership, the Lions did own the NFL’s worst winning percentage (31-81, .277) and became the first team in league history not to win a road game in three consecutive seasons (2001-2003). And, of course, there was the whole 0-16 thing. At the core of this failure are some pretty bad drafts that included guys like quarterback Joey Harrington, and wide receivers Charles Rogers and Mike Williams.

Lion fans surely grew tired of Millen’s time as the team’s CEO, but I can’t imagine them longing for the Eric Hipple years.

Rob Parker of the Detroit News has made a name for himself with this recent encounter with Lions head coach Rod Marinelli:

I actually had the opportunity to meet Rob and converse with him multiple times during Piston games when I worked for Sports Radio AM1130 WDFN in Detroit. He’s not a bad guy or an idiot, but he did make a poor choice by getting personal with Marinelli. If you want to ask tough questions, then ask tough questions. But don’t ask the man if he wishes his daughter would have married a better defensive coordinator, regardless of whether or not you preface it by saying, “On a lighter note.”

It was wrong.