Five Thoughts on Detroit Lions Firing GM and President

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Martha Ford is indeed in charge

Just yesterday I opined that Martha Ford was not the problem with the team. That met with considerable blowback, if my social media feeds are to be trusted. The 90-year-old widow proved she was not her late husband. William Clay Ford Sr. was loyal to a fault even in the face of obvious dysfunction to his businesses. Not so with the new boss.

Just last week she forced the hand in axing half the offensive staff just as the team was about to depart for London. Those moves were a surprise. Thursday’s major move proves she’s not just whistling Dixie in her advanced age. She is plugged in, she is more decisive and swift than her husband, and she is not going to take it any longer.

It goes deeper. Ever since Mr. Ford passed away in March of 2014, the general presumption from most fans (myself included, and I am proudly a Lions fan) was that his son Bill Ford Jr. would become even more hands-on with the team. He was the man who brought Lewand into the fold and worked quite closely with the deposed President. The son took after his father; he was the primary reason Lewand and Mayhew were not only retained but promoted from the regrettable train wreck that was the Matt Millen era.

Mrs. Ford parting with Lewand is a clear sign that Junior is definitively not involved in running the Lions. Whether that is a positive or a negative remains to be seen.