The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday morning that team owner, Martha Firestone Ford, is stepping down as owner of the team. Her daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp, will succeed her as the team’s principal owner and team chairman.
“It has been a great honor for our family to be associated with the Lions and with the National Football League,” Martha Ford said in a written statement. “I am gratified that this family tradition, which my husband and I began almost six decades ago, will continue under Sheila’s guiding hand. It is clear to me that Sheila will provide superb leadership and is fully committed to competitive excellence and community involvement.