Matt Millen

Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is an American former professional football player and executive in the National Football League (NFL).

Millen played as a linebacker for 12 years for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins, playing on four Super Bowl-winning teams and winning a Super Bowl ring for each of the three franchises for which he played.

Following his NFL playing career, Millen was a football commentator for several national television and radio networks.

His last job before joining the Lions was as a member of the number two broadcast team for NFL on Fox, and the color commentator for Monday Night Football on Westwood One.

Millen was recruited from Whitehall High School by Penn State, where he played for the Nittany Lions in the 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979 seasons.

In 1978, Millen was named an All-American defensive tackle for Penn State.

Following his career at Penn State, Millen entered the 1980 NFL Draft and was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the draft's 43rd overall selection in the second round.

During his 12-year National Football League playing career, Millen played for the Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Washington Redskins.

He won a Super Bowl with each of these teams, including two with the Raiders (one when the team was based in Oakland and one during their stint in Los Angeles).

He won one Super Bowl each with the 49ers and Redskins, though he was deactivated for Super Bowl XXVI while with the Redskins.

During his NFL career, he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl in 1988.

Millen finished his 12 NFL seasons with 11 sacks and nine interceptions, which he returned for 132 yards, and eight fumble recoveries.

He also returned seven kickoffs for 72 yards.

Tackles were not yet being officially recorded at that time.

Following his professional football career, Millen worked as a color commentator for CBS TV (which teamed him with Sean McDonough, Paul Olden, Mike Emrick, and Tim Ryan), and for Fox (which teamed him with Dick Stockton).

He also provided game analysis for the radio broadcasts of Monday Night Football, working alongside Howard David on CBS's Westwood One radio network.

At Fox, Millen came to be considered the number-two analyst for its nationally broadcast games, behind John Madden (who had been teaming for years with Pat Summerall).

He filled in for Madden, alongside Summerall, on the 1997 American Bowl game because John Madden had fears of flying.

Millen returned to broadcasting when he served as a studio analyst for NBC's coverage of Wild Card Saturday, his first television appearance in an analyst role since the 2000 NFC Divisional Playoffs, and reprised that role for NBC on their coverage of Super Bowl XLIII.

In 2001, Millen was hired as president and chief executive officer of the Detroit Lions and served in that position until 2008.

In 2001, Millen left broadcasting to assume the job of the Detroit Lions' CEO and de facto general manager.

At that time, Millen had no prior player development or front office experience.

When first approached by owner William Clay Ford Sr. about the job, Millen told him "Mr. Ford, I really appreciate this, but I'm not qualified."

Ford responded "You're smart. You'll figure it out."

Millen was the Lions' CEO for seven full seasons, from 2001 to 2007; during that time, the club compiled a record of 31–81 (with at least nine losses each season).

His eight-year tenure as head of Detroit Lions led to the worst eight-year record in the history of the modern NFL (31–84, a .270 winning percentage), leading to fan outrage, and ultimately his termination from the franchise on September 24, 2008.

Millen assembled the personnel and coaching staff of the 2008 Lions, which became the first team to go 0–16.

On February 1, 2009, he joined the NBC broadcast team for pre-game analysis of Super Bowl XLIII.

He has also been employed by ESPN as an NFL and college football analyst, and by the NFL Network as a color commentator on Thursday Night Football.

On June 15, 2009, Millen was named the lead analyst for the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football telecast, replacing Cris Collinsworth.

He was also a color analyst for ESPN College Football telecasts, teaming with Sean McDonough, Joe Tessitore, and Bob Wischusen.

In 2015, Millen returned to broadcasting with Fox NFL and debuted on the Big Ten Network.

Millen was born and grew up in the Hokendauqua section of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Allentown.

He attended Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley region.

Whitehall High School competes in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, an elite high school athletic conference known for producing a great number of National Football League and other professional athletes, and Millen was a standout football player for the school.

Whitehall High School later permanently retired Millen's Whitehall football jersey number (#83) in honor of his high school, collegiate, and NFL football accomplishments, making him one of only three Whitehall High School football players, along with fellow Whitehall High School alumni and NFL stars Saquon Barkley (#21) and Dan Koppen (#77), to have their Whitehall jersey numbers permanently retired in the school's history.

In April 2022, Millen also was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

Since 2015, Millen has provided color commentary for college games on the Big Ten Network and occasionally for NFL on Fox.

It stood as the worst single-season record in NFL history until 2017, when it was tied by the 2017 Cleveland Browns who went winless in the season.

He is generally regarded among the worst general managers in the history of modern sports.