Here’s the letter, signed by Martha, Sheila and Rod:
Our 2019 season has not gone as anticipated by anyone in our organization. Our team has played hard and well enough to be very competitive. It has been well-documented that we are one of only three teams to have held the lead in each of our first 12 games. Unfortunately, all too often, we have come up a few plays short of victory. Our current win-loss record is ultimately very disappointing.
As we evaluate this season, we look beyond just our record. We are striving to build a team with a strong foundation of high-character players and coaches, that is physically and mentally tough, with depth at every position and one that can be successful over many years, not just one season. We see signs of this foundation in our team’s toughness, competitiveness and culture. Injuries happen in the NFL and are never an excuse. Nonetheless, our team has played through serious injuries this season to some of our best players. Despite the injuries, we have remained competitive in each game and our team depth showed up as a strength.
We also believe that the most successful teams in our league have a long-term plan, stability in leadership and exhibit patience to follow their plan. To that end, we are committed to year three of Coach Patricia’s plan. To be clear, our expectation is for the Lions to be a playoff contender in 2020.
To our dedicated fans: You deserve a winning team that you are excited to cheer for and proud to represent. Our entire organization is working to make the Lions a consistently winning team.
To our loyal season ticket members: Thank you for your continued support. We are announcing today that once again there will be no price increases for season tickets at Ford Field and several sections at the stadium will see price decreases. We want our fans to fill Ford Field for every game, continuing to make it the great home field advantage that inspires our players and makes it difficult for our opponents.
Thank you for your continued support, Happy Holidays and GO LIONS!
Let’s break that down:
“Our team has played hard and well enough to be very competitive. It has been well-documented that we are one of only three teams to have held the lead in each of our first 12 games. Unfortunately, all too often, we have come up a few plays short of victory.”
“We’re competitive?” Your record decides if you’re competitive. You’re not. You’re in last place. Again. Your defense is the worst many of us have ever seen. Opponents laugh at it. That’s not competitive.
“Held the lead in our first 12 games?” Complete loser-talk. So what?
“Unfortunately, all too often, we have come up a few plays short of victory.” Correct. Which is an indication that you’re failing losers.
How many times do I have to post this fact: The 0-16 Lions team lost five games by a touchdown or less. So, does that mean they were on their way to competetiveness? No. Of course not.
It’s the kind of thing weasels say when they’re trying to hold onto jobs they don’t deserve.
“As we evaluate this season, we look beyond just our record. We are striving to build a team with a strong foundation of high-character players and coaches, that is physically and mentally tough, with depth at every position and one that can be successful over many years, not just one season.”
A. You are what your record says you are.
B. High-character? Hooray if you’re great members of the community and charitable. Now what are you doing on the field?
C. Strong foundation? They’ve taken a team that was in the playoffs 3 of its past 4 seasons and made it one of the worst teams in football!
D. Depth at every position? A lack of quality depth is killing this team.
E. This is alluding to a rebuilding, which is a complete on-the-fly shift because of Quinntricia’s utter failure at what they were ACTUALLY trying to do, and what they thought was going to happen: Taking the team over the hump to winning playoff games and maybe the Super Bowl. Dishonest and weaselly.
“We see signs of this foundation in our team’s toughness, competitiveness and culture.”
Where? In the losses to the Redskins and Bucs?
“Injuries happen in the NFL and are never an excuse. Nonetheless, our team has played through serious injuries this season to some of our best players.”
Injuries are never an excuse. We will now proceed to use them as an excuse.
EFFING WEASELS.
Go look at the Saints or Steelers if you want to know how a competent franchise deals with injuries. Franchises that actually build quality depth instead of bamboozling old ladies into believing that they are. Franchises that truly don’t use injuries as an excuse.
“Despite the injuries, we have remained competitive in each game and our team depth showed up as a strength.”
You are 3-10-1, losing badly to bad teams. Your depth hasn’t shown up as a strength IN THE SLIGHTEST. Which makes it extremely disturbing that someone like Sheila Ford Hamp, who will be the next owner of this franchise for perhaps decades, is so clueless that she’s buying this and signing her name to it.
“We also believe that the most successful teams in our league have a long-term plan, stability in leadership and exhibit patience to follow their plan. To that end, we are committed to year three of Coach Patricia’s plan.”
Sigh… Good teams have coaches who stay in place because they succeed! They don’t win because they’ve been there for a number of years; they’ve been there for a number of years because they win! It’s not like if you give a bad coach enough years, it magically happens! That this needs to be explained to people IN THE NFL is astounding to me.
And “Coach Patricia’s plan?” To run a team that made the playoffs but couldn’t win into the first pick in the draft?
“To be clear, our expectation is for the Lions to be a playoff contender in 2020.”
Oooh, way to get tough! Playoff “contenders?” in the NFC East this season, a 7-9 finishing record were “contenders.”
It’s more of an excuse for the Lions to be what they’ve always been.
“To our dedicated fans: You deserve a winning team that you are excited to cheer for and proud to represent. Our entire organization is working to make the Lions a consistently winning team.”
Dear suckers: Keep spending that money and going to Ford Field. We’re working to make the Lions a consistently winning team by … continuing with the regime that fired Caldwell because 9-7 wasn’t good enough, brought in his boy from New England, destroyed the team, and now is pretending it was a rebuild all along.
You can be confident the team president and ownership group know what it takes to bring a consistent winner to Detroit – based upon our decades of success and the fact that we just let Quinntricia peddle this B.S. and swallowed it whole.
“To our loyal season ticket members: Thank you for your continued support. We are announcing today that once again there will be no price increases for season tickets at Ford Field and several sections at the stadium will see price decreases.”
A. Useful chumps, we still need you.
B. We recognize that it’s going to be even uglier next season, and that all of you are seriously pissed at this boneheaded loyalty play, so we’ll let you keep a couple of dollars. How’s that?
“We want our fans to fill Ford Field for every game, continuing to make it the great home field advantage that inspires our players and makes it difficult for our opponents.”
But we don’t want that so much that we’re willing to move on from our utterly failing general manager and head coach.
“Thank you for your continued support, Happy Holidays and GO LIONS!”
I wonder how many fans are like me, and are just ready to become totally disengaged from this shit-show, with the exception of hate-watching it for amusement?
Save us, Jeff Bezos. Throw so much money at them that even incompetent trust fund babies can’t turn it down.
