Lions owner William Clay Ford has released a statement on Tom Lewand's arrest, making it clear that Lewand is going nowhere and has his full support.
"Tom made a very serious mistake and he appropriately owned up to that mistake," owner William Clay Ford Sr. said in a statement. "As he continues to seek professional assistance for this problem, the Lions will support and help him in any way possible. I continue to have full confidence that Tom will positively lead our organization as he has since assuming his current role of team president. He has all my support."
I would hope Lewand is disciplined in some form, but this statement certainly doesn't make it sound like there will be any punishment. It's tough to say too much about this situation in that regard because we don't know many details of Lewand's problem, but a DUI should not go unpunished in my opinion.
Jim Schwartz also released a brief statement on Lewand:
"Tom's leadership was very instrumental in my decision to become head coach of the Detroit Lions," Schwartz said. "I fully support his commitment to recovery."
One thing is obvious: Lewand has a problem that he has been battling for some time now. As some of you have suggested, I too think he should take a leave of absence to properly deal with this problem, but again, that's just my personal opinion based on the few details we have.