Bill Ford Jr.'s reduced role with the Detroit Lions has cost the team its last representative on one of the NFL's important committees.
Ford had been one of eight members of the NFL's prestigious broadcasting committee since 2013. The group helped negotiate television rights fees and included some of the league's most influential owners, including Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.
A Lions spokesperson said he did not know when Ford gave up his position nor why. The NFL does not make that information available publicly.
Ford, who was on the broadcasting committee at this time last year, said last fall that he no longer was involved in day-to-day operations of the Lions.