DETROIT -- Don't hate on Matt Millen.

Millen, hired by ESPN on Thursday, is right where he belongs -- on TV, not in an NFL front office.

For sure, fans here can't figure out what Millen has to offer after his disastrous eight-year stint as Lions president.

But as bad as he was as an executive, he was that good on TV. That's why ESPN tabbed Millen to work both on Monday Night Football and on its college football coverage.

As much as fans had hoped that Millen -- who will go down as the worst general manager in the history of professional sports -- wouldn't get another job in football, it was just unrealistic.

Millen is too smart, too well versed. He was going to be back on TV. It was just a matter of where.

Millen, who worked for NBC during the playoffs, deserves a chance to work. Fans here will eventually get over the mess he made in Detroit and accept him for what he is -- an analyst, not an executive.

"Matt will play a major role in our NFL and college football coverage and fans will enjoy hearing the strong, candid opinions which made him one of the absolute best analysts in the business,'' said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production. "His addition gives us our deepest roster of NFL experts ever.''

Millen's resume and accomplishments were outstanding before he came to Motown. He won four Super Bowls during his 12-year NFL career as a linebacker with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders (1980-88), San Francisco 49ers (1989-90) and Washington Redskins (1991).

A second-round pick (No. 43 overall) in the 1980 NFL Draft by the Raiders, Millen was an All-American defensive tackle in college at Penn State.

But Millen, who was hired without any previous front-office experience, should have never been hired. The Lions, finally looking for a football guy to run their organization, went outside the box and hired a guy who talked the game as well as anyone in broadcasting.

By listening to Millen, the Fords must have thought it was going to be a layup, that Millen would be able to tear down a 9-7 team that just missed the playoffs in 2000 and build it up from the ground up into a championship team.

Millen, though, was terrible from Day 1. He hired bad head coaches, including Rod Marinelli, who was 0-16 in 2008 before being fired. He made bad draft choices, including Joey Harrington, Charles Rogers and Mike Williams.

He was lousy at free agency, signing receiver Bill Schroder. That's why there was a Millen Man March in protest in 2005.

Just because you played doesn't mean you can evaluate talent and win a championship. In the NBA, there are only three men who won a championship as a player and a GM: Lakers' Jerry West, the Pistons' Joe Dumars and Boston's Danny Ainge.

Millen was never going to do that in the NFL. He was great about evaluating talent already in the NFL, but couldn't identify players going from college to the pros. But he sounded so convincing on TV. And that's why after his playing career he became on star on the small screen.

Millen worked for CBS and later Fox Sports, where he was apart of the No. 2 broadcast team. Millen also did Monday Night Football on the radio.

In 2001, Millen left broadcast for the Lions. And while he did a terrible job -- the Lions were a woeful 31-97 in his eight-year tenure -- the Lions, not Millen, are mostly to blame.

Owner William Clay Ford should have fired him after three seasons.

Millen, had he been man enough, should have stepped down on his own after five years of making mistake after mistake. Instead, he signed on for another five years, despite not getting any results. Finally, he was fired after an 0-3 start in his eighth year at the helm.

Finally, Millen has made a good decision, returning to TV. ``I am excited about this opportunity and I look forward to working with ESPN and the great group of analysts, commentators and production staff who will be my new teammates,'' said Millen.

Yes or No?

Alex Rodriguez, who returns from injury on Friday, will help turn the Yankees around? No doubt. Without him in the lineup, the Yankees aren't going to win consistently.

Parker's outhouse

Brett Favre. Now, the former quarterback is saying he's staying retired for now and not going to the Vikings. Don't buy it. Stay tuned.

Parker's penthouse

MLB Most never thought that baseball wouldn't suspend big stars for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, but the 50-game suspension of the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez shows it means business.