If you want to understand just how far the Detroit Lions, who play on Thanksgiving Day, have come in recent years, how the team has developed into one of the NFL’s best stories, you need to first look at their past. A new documentary about legendary Lions running back Barry Sanders does that but it’s the reaction from one person to it that speaks more about how the Lions have gone from a perennial joke to a possible Super Bowl champion. (Yes, I said they could win the Super Bowl this year.)
That person is former Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell.
One of the tributaries of the documentary called ‘Bye Bye Barry’ is essentially a discussion about wasted talent. The Lions had this stratospheric player in Sanders and were still, well, Lions-y. Stars like Michigan natives Eminem and Jeff Daniels basically state what cost the Lions a Super Bowl was Mitchell.
If the Lions had a quarterback, the argument goes, they would have made a Super Bowl.
Today’s Lions are the epitome of a complete team. They don’t have a singular talent like Sanders (few teams ever have) but they are solid across the board. A good quarterback and offensive weapons, an opportunistic defense, and an underrated coach. The Lions’ 8-2 record, according to the NFL Network, is the best for the franchise heading into a Thanksgiving Day game since 1962.
In the past, when the Lions were on television on Thanksgiving, you were tempted to change the channel to a parade. Now, they’re the parade.
I can’t stress this enough. I spent a lot of time covering those Sanders teams and the general belief then was that if the Lions had a good quarterback, they would have captured not just one Super Bowl, but multiple ones.
This is where Mitchell comes in. He played for the Lions from 1994-1998.
Mitchell saw the documentary, and the things people said or inferred about him, and he lost it in a post on Facebook. Let’s just say he gives the documentary zero stars. His comments are angry (while simultaneously funny) but also instructive. They show how far this franchise has come; from often the butt of jokes, to a franchise that has a legitimate shot at a championship.
‘I just watched ‘Bye Bye Barry’ on Amazon Prime,’ Mitchell wrote. ‘It was not a very pleasant experience. I was Barry Sanders teammate for five years. I had a front row seat to some of the most amazing plays in NFL history. He will never have an equal as a pure runner in the NFL. I could argue that their (sic) were several running backs that were more complete, but I won’t. Barry was great!’
I could argue that (there) were several running backs that were more complete, but I won’t.
But you kinda’ just did, Scott.
‘However, I am so tired of hearing how I was the reason that Barry Sanders never won a Super Bowl,’ Mitchell stated. ‘I’m so tired of hearing how I was not a good QB. My only response is F–K YOU ALL!!!!! That includes Eminem (and) Jeff Daniels.’
Happy Thanksgiving to Eminem and Jeff Daniels!
Mitchell also targeted his then coach, Wayne Fontes.
‘I can’t even began (sic) to tell you what a disappointment it is to (hear) my own coach, Wayne Fontes, who went out in free agency and actively (pursued) me to the point of begging me to come to Detroit,’ Mitchell wrote, ‘say that he wanted Joe Montana or Warren Moon, and that the only thing that was missing from the team winning the Super Bowl was a quarterback. A little support from the coach might have gone a long way. Wayne never had my back!’
Mitchell wasn’t done.
‘Bottom line, Barry Sanders had everything in Detroit,’ he wrote. ‘Everyone loved him. Everything was built for Barry to succeed. In his 10 year career, he won one playoff game and the only reason he didn’t win more was everyone else was the problem? How many yards did Barry have in the playoffs in ’94, ’95, ’97? I’ll give you a hint not very many. We all are to blame for not winning a (Super Bowl) in Detroit even Barry Sanders.
‘I will believe until I die that had we been given more time and patience with the offense, and the talent we had we could have made a deep run in the playoffs and competed to win a Super Bowl.’
It would be unfair to say Mitchell was a completely failed quarterback in Detroit. In 1995, he threw for 4,338 yards and 32 touchdowns. The Lions went 10-6 that year. Overall, however, he was an erratic player for the Lions who failed to rise to the level of other players on offense. He was, without question, one of the most frustrating quarterbacks of his era. In his four years with the Lions he was 27-30 as a starter and 0-2 in the playoffs.
In the end, when you’re watching these Lions play on Thursday, this is a different group, and feel, from the Lions past. Even when they had Sanders, the Lions didn’t reach Super Bowls. Sanders kept them afloat but Sanders, as historic as he was, couldn’t save the franchise.
A franchise that now could win it all.
