October 8, 2015
NOTE: The views expressed in this EDITORIAL do not necessarily reflect the views of Detroit Sports Nation or
a majority of its writers and should not be misconstrued as such. The views contained within are the views of the
author and the author alone.
November 22, 1963. A date that now lives in Detroit sports infamy.
It is the date that the late William Clay Ford Sr. purchased controlling interest in the Detroit Lions.
Fast forward 52 years later and it seems Lions fans are still suffering from that decision. The compelling fact that
this team has only won one playoff game in that span doesn't even slightly touch the surface of what a colossal
failure this team has been for decades.
This past Monday night, the Lions took a shot in the gut at the end of a football game and it's "proud" owners
decided to sit idly by and say nothing. No anger. No statement. Nothing. Next thing you know the team is
getting pounded right and left from major media outlets about how much of a pushover franchise we are.
Unacceptable. Detroit Lions fans everywhere is sick of this. I am sick of this. Winning football teams need
true leadership and it starts from the very top.
So this is an open public announcement from yours truly directed to Martha Ford and William Clay Jr.:
It's time you either modify the strength of your leadership or do all Lions fans a big favor and sell the
team to someone who will!
Detroit is a proud city in the proud state of Michigan. Ford is a 112 year-old proud company. Why continue
to tarnish the name of both with inadequate ownership of it's sole NFL franchise. The sad part is that the
Lions were once a proud franchise. It was a franchise that went to four NFL championships in the 50's and
came out on the winning end of three of them. It seems that the combination of the Ford's buying the team
and Bobby Layne being traded (and cursing us) was the perfect concoction for five decades of losing.
Fans of other NFL teams don't respect us because we are the Lions. Players out of college probably don't
want to be drafted by us because we are the Lions. Hell, even NFL referees continue to screw us up the stasher
because we are THE LIONS!
Only four teams have been in the NFL longer than the Lions. The Bears, Cardinals, Packers and Giants. All
looked at as storied franchises. Meanwhile, our Lions are treated by everyone outside of Detroit like we are
an ever-struggling expansion team. You can blame the players. You can blame the front office. But these two
groups have been cleaned out dozens of times over. The only constant that is as incessant as the losing itself
is the Ford family. We've tried replacing everything BUT them. Sadly, the only way they can be replaced is if
they replace themselves.
I'm writing this not only as a proud Detroiter but a proud fan! I was birthed into Lions culture and despite the
immense amount of embarrassment and losing I've had to deal with in 25+ years, I still love my team. I would
never switch teams because they are my team. Any ill-decided switch would just make me feel like a phony.
And I'm no phony. I'm sure this is how thousands of other Lions fans feel. Trapped.
And it doesn't help that I serve in the military where 99.9% of my fellow co-workers are fans of other teams.
At least the citizens of Metro Detroit get to complain to each other and everyone can relate. In Fort Hood,
TX I am all alone and ridiculed daily for what I was born into. I know one, maybe two other Lions fans
down here and they don't even care as much as I do. So - Ford family if anything, do it for us. Lions fans in
the military. Those poor souls, like myself, that must endure their Lion fanhood in total desolation. At
home and abroad. Do it for those who serve. Sell the Lions for those that protect the Lions from enemies,
foreign and domestic.
To conclude I call on all Lions fans everywhere. I know what is written in this article will never normally
make it to the eyes of the Ford family. I need you to share this. Share it on Facebook. Share it on Twitter.
Print it out and mail it to your grandmother for all I care. Get it trending now. If you love the Lions dearly
and can't stand by and watch them decompose every season because of inadequate leadership then get this
to the eyes of ownership. Force them to see this title and read its contents. And I don't call on this because
of clicks or being noticed. I wrote this from my heart and Detroit-stern soul like I always do. I call on you
because I truly want to help change the piss-poor, losing culture of my Detroit Lions. Your Detroit Lions.
Martha and Bill Ford Jr.... change your ways and take a stand for the team you own or do us all a solid and
give it all up.
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