49ers Hire Former Lions GM Martin Mayhew; Twitter Reacts

By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid

Martin Mayhew, former general manager of the Lions, has landed a new front-office job in the NFL.

The 49ers on Thursday named Mayhew a senior personnel executive, according to Adam Schefter.

Mayhew served as Lions GM from 2008 to 2015, during which time the team went 47-81. He was fired midway through the 2015 season after a 1-7 start.

The 49ers are in the midst of a front-office makeover, having named John Lynch their new GM last month. Lynch and Mayhew were teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for four seasons in the mid '90s.

San Francisco's hiring of Lynch drew comparisons to the Lions' hiring of Matt Millen in 2001. Both former players and broadcasters, neither Lynch more Millen had any executive experience before taking over in the front office of their respective teams.

The experiment backfired for the Lions. Time will tell how things pan out for the 49ers.

The 49ers endured a heavy dose of Twitter mockery for hiring Lynch and are swallowing more of the same in the wake of the Mayhew hire. A quick glance at the comment section beneath Schefter's tweet paints a pretty clear picture of scorn.

For example:

• "lmao!!!!!!! Have fun with that one. Maybe he'll re-unite with good ol Matt Millen? Xoxo signed the whole city of Detroit."
• "Why would anyone hire a 'Lions' executive? Jeeze."
• "good luck 49ers! Heard Matt Millen and Marty Monhinweg are also under consideration. #worststaffever"
• "49ers keep making that grave deeper. Smh."
• "What could possibly go wrong?"
• "RIP"

For Mayhew, this is clearly a chance for redemption.

In:
• NFL
• San Francisco 49ers