Denard was two picks away from being a Lion

Submitted by Red_Lee on

I know this was mentioned later in the Jaguar thread, but gosh darnit:

 

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/04/report_detroit_lions_told_dena.html#incart_river

 

When Detroit traded away their upcoming pick after Denard was drafted two spots ahead of theirs, I had a gut feeling that they were ready to pick Robinson and weren't prepared when he went off the board. Then they drafted Theo Riddick, who projects at a similar position, and I pretty much knew I was so close to having a dream come true.

 

I'm happy that he got drafted, especially in his home state, but you can tell he looks a little befuddled from the video clip when he's drafted. Also, my TV gets a lot more Lions games than Jacksonville.

 

Shoot.

Gulogulo37

April 28th, 2013 at 9:20 AM ^

"The Lions ended up trading their pick at No. 137, although Mayhew told Detroit reporters that wasn't tied to Robinson's selection."

So they were going to pick him...unless they weren't.

Tater

April 28th, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^

They can fire all of the coaches and GM's they want, but as long as WCF, whose middle name really should have started with a "T," owns the team, it won't matter.  Even Bobby Layne didn't think Ford would control the team for more than 50 years, back when he made his famous prediction.  

If WCF had been the minority owner who bolted, and Ralph Wilson had been the one who gained control of the team, instead of taking a chance on the AFL and leaving the team for WCF, the last 50 years would have been a lot better for Lions fans.

MidnightBlue

April 28th, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^

Can u elaborate in that entire situation ? I didnt know wilson was a minority owner nor know who layne was referring to at the time.

Danwillhor

April 28th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^

I've seen you type this before and without any snark I can say it absolutely makes me sick. To the Ford family, the Liona are just a toy. Better yet, another income source if Ford should ever fold. Heck, they use the Lions to help out the motor company financially! They don't care about winning as much as "winning" and "winning" to them is having just enough talent to get fans in seats and buying shit. A Lombardi trophy is truly not even in their minds as I think they'd like to trip over one but they won't hire and make the moves to earn one.

NoMoPincherBug

April 28th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^

Great for Denard that he avoided the black hole that is the Lions organization.

BTW, the Ziggy pick is BS.  This is a team with major needs that went 4-12...  Ziggy is a developmental pick who has barely played football.  I dont care what kind of an athete he is, it takes a lot of time to develop in to an NFL DE.  He may do it...someday...but no one walks in to the NFL at that position out of nowhere and makes an immediate impact. 

and they spin it in the press like they just drafted Bruce Smith...fk the Lions.  Typical.

XM - Mt 1822

April 28th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^

is wrong.  bill sr. is probably  the nicest (incompetent) owner in the league.   he kept chuck schmidt on as GM for years because chuck saved him from his alcoholism.  chuck wasn't such a great GM, as all of us lions fans know.  ralph wilson (nickname: hack) was never going to be majority owner of the lions - he owned the bills.   and bill jr. is, to be diplomatic about it, 'distracted' due to other priorities in life. 

Don

April 28th, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^

Both men were born into successful families, but the path they took couldn't have been more different. In the early 1960s, WCF was basically eased out of significant participation in FoMoCo's day-to-day operations by his brother (and Chairman of the Board for Ford) Henry Ford II, who understood that his alcoholic* brother should be kept as far away as possible from the true levers of power in the company. I read many years ago in one of the Detroit dailies that Henry essentially freed up the family dough to enable WCF to buy out all the other partners to assume sole ownership as a sop to Willie in exchange for pushing him out of meaningful power in Ford. I think WCF had the official title of Chairman of the Finance Committee or some such, but make no mistake: Henry Ford II ran that company, and there was no doubt who was making all of the important decisions.

Wilson, by contrast, took over his father's successful insurance company, but then expanded the business reach greatly, eventually going into manufacturing. While he certainly had an assist being born on second base, he then added to what his father had done. To a very real extent, he's a self-made man in a way that WCF would never be in a million years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Wilson

*One of the reasons that Ford kept incompetent Russ Thomas as the GM for so long was out of personal gratitude to Thomas, who helped Ford quit drinking.

Oddly, both WCF and Wilson have been lifelong residents of Grosse Pointe Shores.

Ernis

April 28th, 2013 at 12:06 PM ^

When you see consistently irrational decisions (e.g. Lions draft picks) and a culture of people covering their asses, punting decisions, etc. that is a classic symptom of micromanagement. Seems to fit the bill from my angle.

gustave ferbert

April 28th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^

to my knowledge never drafted a Michigan wolverine of any significance.  The lions always got them on the cheap when their careers were on the downslope. . . Cheap and incompetent.  Yet if you read the Biography of the Ford family by Peter Collier, WCF sees the Lions as his greatest achievement.  Purchasing the organization for only $4million and the investment growing to over $1 billion.  It's like owning a slum in Beverly Hills. . .

Unfiltered Manball

April 28th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^

and WCF is jaded, but a lifetime of what he has exposed us to as fans will do that.  For the better part of the last 50 years, the phrase "A fish rots from the head" perfectly sums up Ford's "leadership" of the Lions.

I cringe when Michigan men end up in Detroit.  Most will deserve better than what they will experience in Detroit.  Being able to watch a former Wolverine star more because they are now in Detroit is just me being selfish.  I enjoy seeing them elsewhere because they will be treated as professionals in an organization that actually cares about winning.

I want to believe again, but this doubting Thomas will have to see it to believe it.

Best of luck to Robinson back home in Florida.  

 

Magnus

April 28th, 2013 at 9:27 AM ^

There are certainly other possibilities besides the Lions not being prepared.  They might not have wanted somebody else at that spot, or perhaps they just thought there was more value in trading down.  One thing isn't necessarily tied to the other.

814 East U

April 28th, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^

The Eagles would have taken him a pick before the Lions. Chip Kelly had an interview (can't find the link) basically saying you can find a spot on the field for Denard somewhere with that kind of speed.

mGrowOld

April 28th, 2013 at 10:06 AM ^

Before anybody rushes out and buys NFL Sunday Ticket, does anybody know the odds of 5th round picks sticking with a team?  It would seem to be pretty low to me but my internet seems to be broken and I cant find it anywhere.

mGrowOld

April 28th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^

So was he it?  Did every other player get cut besides Tom?  If so then the odss are REALLY stacked against Denard on this one.

Besides he doesnt count.  TB was picked in the 6th round and DR went in the 5th.

mGrowOld

April 28th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^

But that's just it....I couldnt Google it.  I entered in about 15 different ways to word the question and got nothing.  I'm sure somebody has the data (somebody here ALWAYS has the data) so I am honestly and unsnarkingly asking.....what are the odds of a 5th round pick making a team?  I'm sure the answer is out there - I just cannot find it.

mdm87

April 28th, 2013 at 10:27 AM ^

It depends on the team. A team like the Jaguars are severely lacking in talent. There is a very good chance that he sticks there. I'm not sure the Jaguars have a running back, outside of Maurice Jones-Drew, that is a lock to make the roster. Maybe Montell Owens. Most mid-to-late round picks in the NFL have a chance if they can contribute on special teams and the Jags want Denard as their primary kick returner. I'm not telling you to run out an purchase Sunday Ticket, but I do think Denard is in a better situation than most 5th round picks.

Jehu the Damaja

April 28th, 2013 at 10:06 AM ^

And instead they took a freakin punter that they could have got off the streets. I should really stop caring so much about this team, since no one in the organization seems to. The team I should have been focusing solely on, the Denver Broncos, is actually an organization dedicated to winning, and looks to have a damn good shot at the Super Bowl this year

MileHighAnnArborite

April 28th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^

Having the same thoughts.  Living in Denver, I do follow the Broncos, and it's frustrating to see the differences in how the organizations are run.  The Broncos were terrible a couple years ago, with an idiot head coach who (among other things) wasted a first round pick on Tebow.  But instead of just letting those two hang around and lead them into a decade of incompetence, they were both run out of town ASAP.  I wish I had even the slightest hope the Lions would have done the same.

Jehu the Damaja

April 28th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^

I never liked Josh McDaniels, and when he picked Tebow in the first round I liked him even less. I had so many people sending me texts afterwards that just said "haha" or "Tebow??? WTF". And he shipped out their two best players in Cutler and Marshall. Thankfully they ran his litte punk ass out of town. But that's in the past now and the Donkeys are back and relevant again.

MileHighAnnArborite

April 28th, 2013 at 11:52 AM ^

I don't know.  Non-championship-winning streak aside, I don't know that I'd put the Cubs lower on the list of worst franchises.  As both a Cubs and  Lions fan, I actually have a lot more faith in the Cubs as an organization than I do the Lions.  Rightly or wrongly, at least the Cubs are good at providing hope that we'll be better soon -- even if it never turns out that way. 

Trey'sTrey

April 28th, 2013 at 10:45 PM ^

Not too sure the Jaguars are a better team to be on, I was hoping he was going to go to a contender. He is probably lucky that Al Davis is no longer alive, or else he would have been a Raider, simply because he can run and is a freak athlete.