Lions Have Fired President Tom Lewand And GM Martin Mayhew
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
The Lions have fired general manager Martin Mayhew and team president Tom Lewand. Team owner Martha Ford made the following statement during a news conference Thursday afternoon. She did not take questions.
"I am glad to be able to be here and give you a statement about leadership changes our family has made today at the Lions. Earlier today we informed Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew that they have been relieved of their responsibilities with the team. We thank them both for their many years of service to the team and to our family. We are very disappointed with the results of this season so far and believe a change in leadership was necessary. On an interim basis Sheldon White is the acting general manager and will report directly to me. On the business side, Allison Maki will be the interim COO and also will report directly to me. I have informed Coach Caldwell of our decision. Also, no changes are being made to our coaching staff. As of today we are beginning a national search for the best leadership to manage our team going forward. I want to assure our fans that we intend to identify and hire the very best leadership in order to produce a consistently winning football team. Our fans deserve a winning football team and we will do everything possible to make it a reality. I also want to make clear that we have no intention of giving up on the season. We expect our team to compete and improve and win. Thank you for your time today."
Maki had previously served as the team's CFO, and White had been the Lions' vice president of pro personnel. Neither were made available to reporters on Thursday, although team spokesman Bill Keenist said White would be available "sometime next week." Whether or not Maki would take questions then as well, Keenist said, had not been determined.
ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport were the first to report the news, with Rapoport saying the situation was a "total wipeout."
Detroit is coming off its worst loss of the season, 45-10 against the Chiefs in London. Before they flew to England, the Lions fired three from their offensive staff, but to little avail.
Mayhew spoke to reporters while in London, and notoriously said the team would be "buyers" at the NFL trade deadline, which passed on Tuesday with Detroit making zero trades.
The Lions are 1-7 through eight games this season. Their defense, which was No. 2 in the league last season, has taken a major tumble and is 27th in the NFL now.
The offense hasn't fared much better, with Matthew Stafford constantly taking punishment, and the run game hanging out at the very bottom of the NFL's rankings.
Fans have been clamoring for management changes for a large part of the season, but Lions wide receiver Golden Tate, for one, seemed surprised by the news:
