Detroit Lions - Remove William Clay Ford Sr

Commissioner Goodell,

We, the fans of the Detroit Lions, along with all fans of the NFL, request that the NFL take action and either remove William Clay Ford Sr. from being owner of the Detroit Lions, or force him to sell the team at fair market value.

Precedents have already been set for this problem by the NBA commissioner. Commissioner David Stern took the New York Nicks owner James Dolan and all but forced him to hire respected basketball executive Donnie Walsh. Half a season later the franchise has been stabilized.

The facts below will clearly demonstrate that Mr. Ford Sr. has run this team in a way that is detrimental to the Detroit Lions and the NFL.

1. Before William Clay Ford Sr. became owner of the Detroit Lions they had a winning record, 179 - 163. Since William Clay Ford Sr. has become owner they have a losing record of 282-391-13.

2. The Detroit Lions, under William Clay Ford Sr.'s ownership, have become the only NFL team to go 0-16 for a season.

3. In Ford Sr.'s 45 years as owner, the Lions have won just a single playoff game.

4. Only one of the 14 Lions head coach hired by Ford Sr. have been a head coach in the NFL again, proving that either he cannot hire talent that is NFL material or that the team is so bad that the NFL refuses to touch them ever again.

5. Detroit's Thanksgiving game tradition dates back to 1934, and the tradition is older than 24 current NFL franchises. Yet, news media outlets and NFL fans are screaming to take away Detroit's right to play on Thanksgiving. This would break one of the longest standing NFL traditions.

6. Lions fans have had enough, and as of Oct 26th 2008, the Lions failed to sell out their stadium. This continued for the remaining 10 games. This not only affects revenue sharing throughout the NFL, but also the TV network losing advertising revenue.

7. After going 0-16, Mr. Ford Sr. has announced that he will keep Mayhew as GM. Mr. Mayhew has no experience as a GM just like Matt Millen, who drove the team to a record low 31-84 during his tenure.

8. With no GM experience, Mr. Ford Sr. hired Matt Millen as GM and made him the games highest paid GM in the NFL. After the Lions finished 16-48 under Millen, Mr. Ford Sr. did not fire Millen, he gave him a 5 year contract extension. The only reason Millen was fired in 2008 was that William Clay Ford Jr. spoke to the media and stated that "Millen should leave the team, but he didn’t have the authority to make such a significant change". It took media pressure from his own family to make the logical decision that should have been made long ago.

William Clay Ford Sr. has done more damage to the NFL brand than Michael Vick, Adam "Pacman" Jones and Travis Henry could ever dream. This is the worst run franchise in the league and the biggest black eye for the NFL. Ford Sr.'s actions have had a far greater impact on the league than one player's dog fighting ring.

Mr. Goodell, if you are really so concerned about the health and image of the league, it's time you hold owners as accountable as young players in strip clubs.