Sports
Washington Football Team Appoints Martin Mayhew General Manager
Mayhew won a Super Bowl title with the team as a starting cornerback and formerly served as a general manager for eight years in Detroit.
ASHBURN, VA — The Washington Football Team has named Martin Mayhew as its general manager, the team announced Friday, welcoming back someone who is familiar with what it is like to win a championship with the franchise.
Mayhew spent the past four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and worked most recently as the team’s director of player personnel. Mayhew, who worked previously with the New York Giants and Detroit Lions, has experience as an NFL general manager having worked in the role for eight seasons with the Lions.
Mayhew played for Washington from 1989-92 and started for the team at cornerback in Super Bowl XXVI. The team announced Friday that Mayhew will report to coach Ron Rivera.
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"Martin is a proven general manager who will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the organization," Ron Rivera said in a statement issued by the team Friday. "He will be an integral part of running the daily football operations and will allow me the opportunity to focus more on coaching. He impressed both myself and Mr. (Dan) Snyder during the interview process and we both believe he will be a tremendous fit here. He is a man of high character and integrity and was part of the rich history and tradition of this great franchise.”
Mayhew took over as the general manager in Detroit following a winless season and oversaw the reconstruction of a roster that won 10 games in 2011 and 11 wins in 2014.
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Mayhew, 55, is one of six candidates who interviewed for the general manager’s role after the franchise moved to a model in which Rivera served as the head of the front office. According to a Washington Post report, Rivera will maintain his role as the team’s top decision-maker but said when he was hired last year that he wanted to build a front office structured around collaboration.
Mayhew is the third Black general manager hired in the league this season and, according to reports, makes Washington the first team to have minorities serving as coach, general manager and team president.
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