Words cannot describe how angry I felt after reading this:
Prior to Sunday's Lions-Saints game, Ford said that he will hire another person to join the team's football operations but that person might not fill the typical general manager role. Ford said the new hire might not have total control over all personnel matters and that those decisions could be done by committee.
"It depends. I don't know about the odds (of hiring a GM with total authority),'' Ford said. "Let's see who's available and what experience they have and see if they fit in any of our slots.''
Ford said that regardless of who he hires, he also wants both Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand to stay with the organization -- possibly in the positions they currently hold.
"I don't want to delineate positions to exactly where 'This is you' and "This is me.' I want to leave some latitude,'' Ford said. "When we get a good person, I want Martin in on that, I want his opinion.''
Ford said the team would begin to interview candidates at the end of the regular season and the process will involve a three-man panel.
"Lewand, Martin and me,'' said Ford, adding he wanted to have some decisions made within three weeks after the end of the season.
Dear NFL,
Please strip William Clay Ford of the right to own the Detroit Lions. He showed he is incompetent beyond belief by keeping Matt Millen around until this season, and now he is about to ensure that this organization never gets any better. Not only is he keeping two people from the Millen era around, but he is also going to let them help decide who will be hired to join this "committee" of decision-makers.
I really don't care if Mayhew might be a decent GM someday; I don't want him with the Lions simply because everyone needs to go. The same goes for Lewand. Any remains of the Millen era need to be eliminated. Keeping both Mayhew and Lewand around is ensuring that little positive change will happen. No good general managers will want to work for a team if they don't have control over everything. In some situations a committee can work, but not when you are outnumbered from the beginning.
I honestly don't even know what I will do if Lewand and Mayhew stay and things are decided by a committee. William Clay Ford clearly has no idea how to run a football team. Well, he does know how to run one into the ground, because that's exactly what is happening right now and will continue to happen in the future.
If the scenario that Ford described plays out, I may have to consider giving up on the Lions for good. It would be hard to stop being a fan after all these years, but at this point there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Each and every year there has been hope that things would get better. However, if barely anything in the front office changes, that light will be turned off for good.
NFL, please step in and do something before this incompetent, pathetic excuse for an owner makes sure that nothing will get better for years to come.
Thanks,
Sean Yuille