Getty Martha Ford and Jerry Jones.
The Detroit Lions have been a mess during the 2019 season, and their lack of results is beginning to push more than a few folks over the edge.
Thus far, Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn haven’t been nearly consistent enough in their tenures in order to help Detroit do any serious winning. As a result, plenty of folks are growing restless with the team as well as owner Martha Ford to find a way to negate all the losing.
Recently, after Detroit lost to the Dallas Cowboys 35-27 and was embarrassed in their own stadium, Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press called for Ford to do something dramatic and sell the team. Seidel’s basis? The Lions have been stuck in neutral for too long, and it’s time for Ford to step up and make some changes or realize she must change things herself.
Here’s a look at what he wrote about why he believes this to be the case:
“For years, I’ve heard fans blame Lions ownership for the failures. And I’ve never bought it. But I’m starting to come around to that line of thinking. The owner sets the tone. The owner makes the mandate for the entire organization. The owner has to make sure the right people are running the show. The owner has to make sure that mediocrity is not acceptable.
So it’s on you, Martha. Give the fans some hope that things, one day, might change.
Draw a line in the turf. Demand improvement. And fire these guys if you don’t see serious improvement soon. Which means beating Washington next week isn’t enough.
If you can’t do that?
Sell the freakin’ team.”
This is hardly the first time that the Fords are being blamed for the downfall of their football franchise. In fact, it’s a common occurrence in the city. To say the Fords should sell the Lions is almost akin to breathing for most Detroiters.
Martha Ford’s Ownership of Lions
Ever since her husband William Clay Ford passed away in 2014, Ford, 94, has been the primary owner of the Lions. The team has been in the family since 1963, and most fans would admit that through the years, there hasn’t been a ton of good that has played out while the Fords have been primary owners. The Lions have just one playoff win in that span, and haven’t won a division title since 1994. Misery has been the most common emotion associated with the Lions during the family’s tenure as owners.
Since taking over from her husband, however, Ford has shown more of a propensity to shake things up rather let things sit. She hired Quinn from outside the organization a few years back. She also allowed the team to be aggressive in their pursuit of Patricia. She’s allowed the team to spend to lure free agents to town and keep their own stars. Mr. Ford was more inclined to sit back and let his trusted associates run the show however they saw fit for however long. Ford maintains her drive is strong to be able to win, and her ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl. At her advancing age, that might be difficult unless the Lions get things right in a major hurry.
Why Martha Ford Won’t Sell the Lions
Like it or not, the Lions are a family business for the Ford crew. Selling the team before Ford passes away stands almost no chance of happening. Even so, whenever Mrs. Ford passes away, the team is likely to be passed down through the generations again to a new breed of Ford relatives. In all likelihood Martha’s daughters or her son William Clay Ford Jr. will take over as new owners. In the past, Ford Jr. has preferred to operate behind the scenes, which could mean the Lions may be set to be taken over by the next generation of Ford females.
Lions fans like to cling to hopes the Ford family will sell out, but the Lions are a Detroit product owned by a Detroit family that played a direct hand in the rise of the city. It’s impossible to see that changing in the short term, no matter how frustrated folks might be with what’s transpired with the team whether now or through the decades.
It might be a letdown to some, but it’s simply the fact. No matter how many folks might scream and plead for the team to change hands, it’s not likely to happen.
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