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The Greatest Villain In the History of All 32 NFL Teams

By Erik Lambert

of the New York Jets of the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium on November 22, 2007 in Irving, Texas
of the New York Jets of the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium on November 22, 2007 in Irving, Texas /
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23 Sep 2001: Ty Detmer #14 of the Detroit Lions talks with General Manager Matt Millen during the game against the Cleveland Browns at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Lions 24-14.Mandatory Credit: Tom Pidgeon /Allsport
23 Sep 2001: Ty Detmer #14 of the Detroit Lions talks with General Manager Matt Millen during the game against the Cleveland Browns at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Lions 24-14.Mandatory Credit: Tom Pidgeon /Allsport /

Detroit Lions

50. . GM. Detroit Lions. Matt Millen . 11. player

Ask any Lions fan who the biggest villain in team history is and this is almost certain to be the name that comes up. No man drew the sheer rage of Detroit despite the best of intentions more than Matt Millen did. As a player, the man had a terrific career. He won four Super Bowls as a middle linebacker and was considered a highly intelligent leader.

Sounds like a slam dunk for being a great executive, right? The Lions thought so. The problem is they plucked Millen out of a broadcast booth and instead of making him GM made him team president. That came with more than just football-related responsibilities. Then there was the issue of Millen’s personality.

He was the consummate team guy. When it came to making a decision, he would often choose to delegate in order to preserve unity rather than taking control himself. That might work great on the field, but in the front office it was a total disaster. Millen’s run was characterized by a series of poor decisions in the draft.

His most notorious was drafting a wide receiver in the 1st round from 2003 to 2005. Not only did he do this to the detriment of other positions of need, but he also missed out on several great players as a result. The Lions never had a winning season during his long reign and bottomed out his final year in 2008, finishing 0-16.

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