Commentary
Millen’s crime: Being honest PITTSBURGH – The National Football League fined Detroit Lions president Matt Millen $200,000.
His crime? Being honest.
The Lions are steaming about the fine and they should be.
Technically, Millen were penalized for failing to comply with the NFL’s policy on minority hiring.
The Lions’ head coaching job opened when Millen decided to fire Marty Mornhinweg in January with a year remaining on his contract.
The team made the switch after assuring Mornhinweg he would be back for the 2003 season. What changed? Steve Mariucci was let go by the San Francisco 49ers.
Once Mariucci was available, the Lions decided they wanted to hire him.
But NFL regulations, aimed at making sure minorities are represented in the interviewing process, requires employers to interview minority candidates.
Millen didn’t do that but he tried. He asked five African-American candidates – Steelers defensive coordinator Tim Lewis among them – to interview.
All five turned him down, believing the job was Mariucci’s anyway. They didn’t see any point in preparing for an interview that wasn’t going to get them the job.
So, absent any other candidates, Millen hired Mariucci eight days after Mornhinweg was fired.
Somehow, this is Millen’s fault and worthy of a $200,000 fine. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has suggested that future violations of this sort will draw fines of $500,000.
The NFL’s heart is in the right place but its execution is heavy-handed and misguided.
Millen created the opening because he knew exactly who would fill the job. It wasn’t open for Tim Lewis any more than it was open for Mike Mularkey or Dick LeBeau or Chan Gailey or anyone else who may have been qualified.
Millen attempted to interview minority candidates. He was rejected by men who saw that the job wasn’t open.
How does the NFL or the minority hiring process gain from tokenism?
Millen would have been fine with the NFL had he gone out and interviewed minority college coaches who had no chance at the job.
Where is the logic?
The NFL is right to make sure minority candidates are given a chance but it undermines the process with a case like this.
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Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton couldn’t complete the running test that opens training camp.
With mini-camp, voluntary coaching sessions and all the other off season checkpoints that have been built into the schedule, how did Hampton find the time to get out of shape?
And, as much as conditioning is important for every player, most nose tackles aren’t going to be required to sprint 40 yards downfield as part of their job.
One of the biggest parts of being a nose tackle is occupying blockers and space.
Seems like Hampton is doing those things pretty efficiently at his current size.
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The Cincinnati Reds cleaned house on Monday, firing General Manager Jim Bowden, Manager Bob Boone and a couple of coaches.
See if this sounds familiar – The Reds moved into a new ballpark but showed no improvement on the field. Their plan of having a contending team to coincide with the new park blew up.
Meanwhile, the acquisition of Ken Griffey, Jr. has done little or nothing for the Reds.
Griffey, once considered a sure-shot Hall of Famer, has been injured through most of his time with the Reds.
Bowden was hailed as a genius when he made the move to acquire Griffey from Seattle.
At last count, the Reds were more than 130 games under .500 since the Griffey deal and his salary is blowing a big hole in a limited payroll.
Sports correspondent John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehno@lycos.com