Martin Mayhew

Last updated

Martin Mayhew
Martin Mayhew at Washington Charity Golf Classic 2021.jpg
Mayhew in 2021
Washington Commanders
Position:Senior personnel executive
Personal information
Born: (1965-10-08) October 8, 1965 (age 59)
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Height:5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight:172 lb (78 kg)
Career information
High school: Florida (Tallahassee, Florida)
College: Florida State (1983–1987)
NFL draft: 1988  / round: 10 / pick: 262
Career history
As a player:
As an executive:
Executive profile at Pro Football Reference
As an administrator:
  • NFL (2000)
    Labor operations and legal intern
  • XFL (2000–2001)
    Director of football administration
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:118
Tackles:618
Interceptions:21
Forced fumbles:5
Touchdowns:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Martin Mayhew (born October 8, 1965) is an American professional football executive and former cornerback who is a senior personnel executive for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles prior to being selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 10th round of the 1988 NFL draft. Mayhew sat out his rookie season due to a wrist injury and joined the Washington Redskins a year later, with whom he won Super Bowl XXVI with, and later played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring following the 1996 season.

Contents

Following his playing career, Mayhew graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2000. He worked as an administrator for the XFL the same year before joining the Detroit Lions in 2001, where he worked as an assistant executive prior to being promoted to general manager (GM) in 2008. He remained in that role until 2015 and had senior executive stints with the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. Mayhew served as Commanders GM from 2021 to 2023 before being reassigned as a senior personnel executive in 2024.

Early life and college

Mayhew was born on October 8, 1965, in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended Florida High School prior to enrolling a year early at Florida State University in 1983, where he played 33 career games at cornerback for the Florida State Seminoles football team opposite future Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. [1] [2] He was also a member of their track and field team. He was named an Academic All-America in 1985 and was also included on the All-South Independent second-team. [3] He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management in 1987. [1]

Professional career

Player

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightHand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 8+1⁄2 in
(1.74 m)		172 lb
(78 kg)		8+1⁄2 in
(0.22 m)		4.47 s1.60 s2.63 s4.42 s34 in
(0.86 m)		9 ft 3 in
(2.82 m)		7 reps
All values from the 1988 NFL Combine [4]

Mayhew was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the tenth round (262nd overall) of the 1988 NFL draft. [1] He suffered a wrist injury during his rookie year and was placed on injured reserve before he could make any game appearances with them. [1] [5] He left in free agency the following year and signed with the Washington Redskins, where he started for them over the next four seasons including in their Super Bowl XXVI win at the end of the 1991 season. [1]

In 1993, he signed a four-year $5.5 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. [2] He was offered a new contract by them during the 1997 offseason but declined it and subsequently retired, citing the lack of competitive compensation, the recent birth of his child, and his desire to finish his law degree that he started while living in Washington. [5] He finished his career playing in 118 games with 473 tackles, 21 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and a sack. [6]

Executive

Mayhew interned for nine months within the Redskins' personnel department in 1999, where he assisted in scouting players for the team leading up to the 2000 NFL draft. [7] The following year, he worked as a labor operations and legal intern for the NFL league office, [7] and was also the director of football administration for the XFL until it folded after its lone season in 2001. [8] [9] That same year, Mayhew was hired by the Detroit Lions as their senior director of football administration by Matt Millen before being promoted to assistant general manager in October 2004. [1] [10] He became the team's general manager upon the firing of Millen in September 2008 and retained that role for eight seasons until being fired following a 1–7 start to the 2015 season. [11] [12]

Mayhew spent the 2016 season with the New York Giants as their director of football operations before joining the San Francisco 49ers as a senior personnel executive the following year. [13] [14] He was promoted to their vice president of player personnel in 2019. [15] Mayhew was hired as general manager of the Washington Commanders in January 2021. [16] He served in an advisory role to head coach Ron Rivera, who had final say in football matters. [17] In January 2024, he was replaced at general manager by Adam Peters but remained with the team as a senior personnel executive and advisor. [17]

Personal life

Following his time at Florida State, Mayhew briefly worked at a First Union bank in Charlotte. [18] He attended night classes at Georgetown University Law Center during his time with the Redskins in the early 1990s but had to drop out when he left for the Buccaneers in 1993. [19] He re-enrolled there following his retirement as a player in 1997 and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 2000. [2] [8] [19] Mayhew is a member of The Florida Bar and has also served as a board member of the Henry Ford Museum and Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL). [7] [20]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Meinke, Kyle (April 29, 2015). "The evolution of Detroit Lions GM Martin Mayhew". MLive.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Justice, Richard (January 22, 2021). "New Washington GM Martin Mayhew was a Joe Gibbs archetype, starting with relentless decency". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Martin Mayhew". nolefan.org. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Martin Mayhew, Combine Results, CB - Florida State". nflcombineresults.com. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Hooper, Ernest (June 26, 1997). "Mayhew retires". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Martin Mayhew - General Manager". WashingtonFootball.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 "Lions 2013 Media Guide" (PDR). inba.info. Detroit Lions. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Stackpole, Kyle. "5 Things To Know About Washington General Manager Martin Mayhew". WashingtonFootball.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  9. ↑ Jhabvala, Nicki; Maske, Mark. "Washington working to hire 49ers executive Martin Mayhew to a front-office role". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ Scott, Jelani. "Washington hires Martin Mayhew as GM, appoints Marty Hurney to high-ranking front office role". NFL.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  11. ↑ Battista, Judy (September 24, 2008). "Fed Up With Failure, the Lions Fire Millen". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  12. ↑ Monarrez, Carlos; Walsh, Tom (November 5, 2015). "Lions fire GM Mayhew, president Lewand". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  13. ↑ Raanan, Jordan (February 12, 2016). "Martin Mayhew: 5 things we didn't know about Giants' new front office member". NJ.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  14. ↑ Daniels, Tim (February 9, 2017). "Martin Mayhew Named 49ers Senior Personnel Executive: Latest Details, Reaction". www.bleacherreport.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  15. ↑ Sports, NBC (January 24, 2019). "49ers promote Martin Mayhew to vice president of player personnel". www.nbcsports.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  16. ↑ Jhabvala, Nicki. "Washington overhauls front office, naming Martin Mayhew as GM, Marty Hurney as executive VP". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  17. 1 2 Manning, Bryan (January 31, 2024). "Martin Mayhew to remain with the Commanders". Commanders Wire. USA Today. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  18. ↑ Fortier, Sam. "New GM Martin Mayhew once again returns to Washington with unfinished business". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  19. 1 2 Cohn, Grace (June 11, 2020). "Martin Mayhew: Former NFL Player, Georgetown Law Graduate, NFL Executive". thehoya.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  20. ↑ Henry, Jim (January 22, 2021). "Former Florida High, FSU star Mayhew named GM of Washington Football Team". Tallahassee Democrat. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
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