Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Sheila Ford Hamp, Now is the Time!
William Clay Ford was a good man. He hired people to do their job and let them do it. His only flaw as an owner, was one of his greatest assets as a human being. He was simply too loyal to those he hired. However bad things got, he would hang onto them, not wishing to fire them. Many of you know the infamous saying by Darryl Rogers. "What does a guy have to do to get fired around here?" His record was 18-40.
Then it happened again when Matt Millen tore the little life that was left in the Lions out and stomped on it. He had to literally build the worst NFL team ever (at the time) with an 0-16 record in 2008 to get fired. Unfortunately, such a great asset as being loyal to those you love, is an absolutely horrible asset for an owner of a professional sports team!
Then WCF passed away, may he rest in peace, and Martha took over as owner. Almost immediately she forced Caldwell to fire Lombardi (so I believe is what happened), and we thought we had an owner that would demand success at last! Then after two 9 win seasons in a row where the Lions failed to make the playoffs, Caldwell was fired. Nine wins was not good enough anymore, we were told as Quinn hired Matt Patricia. In his first year as coach, Patricia won only 6 games.
"Wait, what! I thought nine wins was not good enough? But six is?"
Unfortunately 6 wins is good enough for his first year. He will have a second off-season to make changes and we will see improvement in his second year, right? Not even close!
In Patricia's second year as head coach, he won 3 games only. In nearly every loss, the Lions held a 4th quarter lead and it was Patricia's own defensive scheme that could never hold a lead. Yet three wins was still good enough to keep his job. Nine wins was not enough for Caldwell, but six wins and then three wins the following year is enough for Patricia.
Then in the off-season Martha either decided she was too proud to admit she was wrong, or truly did grow too old and finally handed down the reins to the Detroit Lions to her daughter Sheila Ford Hamp.
After 4 games in 2020, the Lions are 1-3. The only reason they have the one win is because Kyle Murray threw three interceptions. Likely Patricia is taking credit for those picks just like he takes credit for the interception in the Super Bowl, but the truth is he is full of crap! No coach game plans to pick off a pass on a certain play. Their schemes are set up to put players in position but it is heads up plays by good players that jump routes and pick off passes. But Patricia would rather claim the glory for himself than to give recognition to where it belongs. Even with those three picks on Kyler Murray, the Lions still almost lost to the Cardinals.
The Lions have gone into the bye-week, and even though nearly every fan wants Patricia fired, he still has his job. Even though sports writer after sports writer has said he should be fired, he still has his job. Even though sports casters on national TV are ridiculing the Lions and saying how bad Patricia is, he still has his job. Even though pro-bowl caliber players have left the Lions because of Patricia, the man still has his freaking job!
Sheila Ford Hamp, what the hell are you doing? This is the moment when you are supposed to take the reins in truth and show the world that you are now in control and will not accept continuous losing! This is when you should be telling the fans that losing is not going to be the accepted way for the Lions anymore! This is when you are supposed to slam your fist down and say enough is enough! If two seasons in a row of nine wins each were not good enough, then nine wins over a span of two seasons certainly is not enough! This is when you are supposed to put your foot down and fire the men responsible for destroying the hopes of so many fans!
There is absolutely nothing to gain by waiting! After a third straight season of having one of the worst defensive schemes the NFL has ever witnessed has given us a 1-3 record, do you truly have any hopes that this guy is going to turn things around? I have never coached a peewee game but I would give this team a better chance of winning than Patricia does! You can pick anyone you want to be the interim coach. Anyone! And the simple truth is, they won't make things any worse!
We are losing good players because Patricia has turned them against him! We have a defensive scheme that actually doesn't even believe it is important to pressure opposing quarterbacks! The Lions have hit rock bottom again! You have absolutely nothing to gain in waiting to fire him! But you might have something big to gain in firing him now!
How can you be sure that if you fired Patricia and turned it over to someone else for the rest of the year, that they couldn't turn this team around?
I tell you now! What is wrong with this team is not a lack of talent! It is not the players that are hurting this team! It is Patricia and his defensive scheme that he insists on using no matter how bad it is proven to be! Give me a half an hour meeting with you and I can explain why his defensive scheme is flawed in detail and I will put it in a way you will understand it to be the truth. Half an hour! All you need to do is get rid of the man who insists on using this scheme, and make some basic changes to the defensive scheme and this team will improve immensely!
You have nothing to gain by waiting and letting the losing continue while the entire NFL berates the fact that Patricia still has his job! You have nothing to lose in making a change! So why do you wait?
This is not the time to wait! This is not the time to be afraid to actually take control! This is the time to put your stamp on the team and start running it correctly!
Then it happened again when Matt Millen tore the little life that was left in the Lions out and stomped on it. He had to literally build the worst NFL team ever (at the time) with an 0-16 record in 2008 to get fired. Unfortunately, such a great asset as being loyal to those you love, is an absolutely horrible asset for an owner of a professional sports team!
Then WCF passed away, may he rest in peace, and Martha took over as owner. Almost immediately she forced Caldwell to fire Lombardi (so I believe is what happened), and we thought we had an owner that would demand success at last! Then after two 9 win seasons in a row where the Lions failed to make the playoffs, Caldwell was fired. Nine wins was not good enough anymore, we were told as Quinn hired Matt Patricia. In his first year as coach, Patricia won only 6 games.
"Wait, what! I thought nine wins was not good enough? But six is?"
Unfortunately 6 wins is good enough for his first year. He will have a second off-season to make changes and we will see improvement in his second year, right? Not even close!
In Patricia's second year as head coach, he won 3 games only. In nearly every loss, the Lions held a 4th quarter lead and it was Patricia's own defensive scheme that could never hold a lead. Yet three wins was still good enough to keep his job. Nine wins was not enough for Caldwell, but six wins and then three wins the following year is enough for Patricia.
Then in the off-season Martha either decided she was too proud to admit she was wrong, or truly did grow too old and finally handed down the reins to the Detroit Lions to her daughter Sheila Ford Hamp.
After 4 games in 2020, the Lions are 1-3. The only reason they have the one win is because Kyle Murray threw three interceptions. Likely Patricia is taking credit for those picks just like he takes credit for the interception in the Super Bowl, but the truth is he is full of crap! No coach game plans to pick off a pass on a certain play. Their schemes are set up to put players in position but it is heads up plays by good players that jump routes and pick off passes. But Patricia would rather claim the glory for himself than to give recognition to where it belongs. Even with those three picks on Kyler Murray, the Lions still almost lost to the Cardinals.
The Lions have gone into the bye-week, and even though nearly every fan wants Patricia fired, he still has his job. Even though sports writer after sports writer has said he should be fired, he still has his job. Even though sports casters on national TV are ridiculing the Lions and saying how bad Patricia is, he still has his job. Even though pro-bowl caliber players have left the Lions because of Patricia, the man still has his freaking job!
Sheila Ford Hamp, what the hell are you doing? This is the moment when you are supposed to take the reins in truth and show the world that you are now in control and will not accept continuous losing! This is when you should be telling the fans that losing is not going to be the accepted way for the Lions anymore! This is when you are supposed to slam your fist down and say enough is enough! If two seasons in a row of nine wins each were not good enough, then nine wins over a span of two seasons certainly is not enough! This is when you are supposed to put your foot down and fire the men responsible for destroying the hopes of so many fans!
There is absolutely nothing to gain by waiting! After a third straight season of having one of the worst defensive schemes the NFL has ever witnessed has given us a 1-3 record, do you truly have any hopes that this guy is going to turn things around? I have never coached a peewee game but I would give this team a better chance of winning than Patricia does! You can pick anyone you want to be the interim coach. Anyone! And the simple truth is, they won't make things any worse!
We are losing good players because Patricia has turned them against him! We have a defensive scheme that actually doesn't even believe it is important to pressure opposing quarterbacks! The Lions have hit rock bottom again! You have absolutely nothing to gain in waiting to fire him! But you might have something big to gain in firing him now!
How can you be sure that if you fired Patricia and turned it over to someone else for the rest of the year, that they couldn't turn this team around?
I tell you now! What is wrong with this team is not a lack of talent! It is not the players that are hurting this team! It is Patricia and his defensive scheme that he insists on using no matter how bad it is proven to be! Give me a half an hour meeting with you and I can explain why his defensive scheme is flawed in detail and I will put it in a way you will understand it to be the truth. Half an hour! All you need to do is get rid of the man who insists on using this scheme, and make some basic changes to the defensive scheme and this team will improve immensely!
You have nothing to gain by waiting and letting the losing continue while the entire NFL berates the fact that Patricia still has his job! You have nothing to lose in making a change! So why do you wait?
This is not the time to wait! This is not the time to be afraid to actually take control! This is the time to put your stamp on the team and start running it correctly!
