Everything Old is New Again
Allen Park, Mich. - The Detroit Lions announced today that they have signed free agent RB Artose Pinner to a one-year deal.
Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is "the belief that one can get different results by doing the same thing."
Apparently, Matt Millen is no Albert Einstein.
How many times now has Millen brought back a player that he's already dumped at least once? Does he think that they have developed new skills, or has he forgotten that they've failed here before?
Pinner was here from 2003-2005, and was never more than a backup. In the last two years since the Lions cut him, he's been with three teams, and had exactly one good game. On Dec. 10, 2006, he rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns against ... would you like to guess? ... the Lions. He hasn't carried the ball more than twice in a game since.
But now he's back, and the Lions expect him to compete for the starting running-back job. Why? When has he ever proven that he's capable of being a starting back? One game against a terrible Lions team that had quit on the season?
The problem is that Millen keeps doing this. Tatum Bell was inactive for the last 11 games of the 2007 season and was so out of favor by year's end that the team didn't even take him to Green Bay. But the Lions don't get Julius Jones, and suddenly Bell has been signed to a free-agent contract and expected to be the starter. He's the same player that failed last year, and pretending he's not isn't going to change that.
It isn't even like this trick has worked for Millen in the past. He brought in Az-Zahir Hakim twice, and it was a disaster both times. Aveion Cason came back after two years away, and wasn't any better the second time. Corey Bradford signed a big contract in March of 2006, had been cut by the end of September, was brought back in November and cut again at the end of the season.
Maybe this year will be different. Maybe Artose Pinner has just been saving himself for five seasons, and Tatum Bell had trouble playing indoors, and George Foster was confused by the complicated offense, and now he'll be a Pro Bowl tackle after losing his job last season.
Or maybe Albert Einstein was right.