NBC’s Matt Millen press release filled with overwrought praise

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Matt Millen used to be a fine NFL analyst. Heck, it was his player insights during his stints as an NFL broadcaster on Fox and CBS and Westwood One radio that helped Millen get hired by the Detroit Lions to become the team’s president and director of football operations.

How’d that go for everyone? It might be a while before a pro sports franchise promotes anyone from the broadcast booth who hasn’t already proven himself as a head coach or general manager.

Now Millen is back on TV, fresh from being fired by the Lions for building an 0-16 team. In this economy, in this world, how many of us get to fail so totally and be unemployed for only a week? That’s what happened to Millen.

He’s working for NBC now, back on the air suddenly on Saturday, and today my e-mail inbox included this breathlesss release from NBC: (all caps is not an accident) FOUR-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION MATT MILLEN JOINS NBC SPORTS’ SUPER BOWL XLIII COVERAGE.

And the next line: ‘He is one of the very best football broadcasters of his generation.’ –- Ebersol

Ebersol would be Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and, boy, that was not faint praise he used.

Think Millen will have the audacity to criticize any player-personnel decisions of teams that, you know, won games this season? One can only hope.

-- Diane Pucin