LIONS PRESIDENT & CEO ROD WOOD QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM)

March 31, 2021
Lions President & CEO Rod Wood Opening Statement: “Good afternoon, everybody. I’m going to wrap up the League meetings that we just went through the last two days. This is the second year in a row that the meetings have been virtual, so we weren’t in the exotic locales of Arizona or Florida. Some of you have been there in the past with me, so we’ve sometimes done this on a back porch some place. But we’re in the Zoom world, so we’ll continue with the Zoom press conference.
“The meetings were conducted over two days. Three per team were allowed to attend, so in addition to me, Sheila (Ford) Hamp was on for the entire call and given the nature of this agenda, I had Mike Disner join us because we had a lot of discussion around League economics and salary cap issues. In future meetings, it will be Sheila and I and we might add somebody based upon the agenda, but Mike was on this call.
“Obviously, you’re well aware of the release yesterday about the 17-game schedule. Seventeen regular season games, three preseason. For us, that means we’ll be playing a 17th game in Denver versus the Broncos this year, and next year would have an extra home game during the regular season and alternating thereafter.
“Offseason program, which with us having a new coach this year, would have started next week in a normal year, but given the COVID-19 restrictions that we’re still operating under, everybody’s offseason program is going to start on April 19th. We’re still waiting for some of the direction on what the offseason program will look like in terms of COVID-19 protocols, testing and virtual meetings, etc. That’s still being negotiated between the League and the union, so more to follow on that.
“As you’re probably also aware, there weren’t any new playing rules or bylaws voted on at this meeting. Typically, this is the meeting where those kinds of things are presented. There’s going to be a discussion around playing rules in subsequent meetings in April, so stay tuned for that.
“The media deals, which have been largely talked about in the press, were approved yesterday. Significant changes to how the game is going to be presented and how many games are going to be presented. Happy to take questions on that.
“I’m still working very closely with the state and the mayor’s office trying to bring as many fans back this fall to our games. Happy to talk about some of that as we get into this.
“Lastly, before I take any questions, pretty substantial change on how the international games are going to be scheduled going forward. In previous years, the host team in the international series had either been awarded a Super Bowl in their city or had been one of the teams that was relocating to a new market. Going forward, I think beginning in 2022, maybe 2023, depending on how things fall, every team will be hosting a neutral site game once every eight years in one of the international markets, which are London, Mexico and Germany, with potential to expand into some other markets later on.
“With that, those were some of the highlights of the meeting. Happy to take a few questions.”  
On if he senses anything in-person will occur this offseason: “I do. I think the hope is that by the time we would get to mini-camp and the later stages of OTAs, it might start to feel more normal like it would have been in prior years. But between now and then, I think there’s going to be some different protocols and those are still being negotiated. I think we’re getting in the direction of normal, but not quite there yet.”
On his stance on the League’s new policy on international games and if one particular international market has additional benefits: “I don’t really have a great handle on the later question (on) which market might be the one where we have the most fan impact. I think the change that probably makes a little more sense with the extra night game being the game that would be periodically used to host a neutral site game. So even in a year when that might happen, we would still have eight regular season home games at Ford Field. It’s not as if we’re losing a home game that we’ve been accustomed to hosting. If that’s what it takes to make the international markets a success for the whole League, we’ll do our part and participate. It is what it is. I’m not sure when that’ll happen, but we’ll be ready for it when it does.”
On if he anticipates full capacity at Ford Field this fall: “It’s certainly my hope. I’m talking – as I said in the opening comments – to the state. In fact, I had a call with the state between the end of the League meeting and this press conference again today to keep dialogue going. I had a call with the mayor’s office last week. Obviously, we’re trying to do everything we can to help by getting people vaccinated. I think that’s a key step in this. With the FEMA vaccination site at Ford Field, I think we’re doing between 5,000-6,000 vaccines per day there. We’ll be doing everything we can to support – PSAs – to help other people get inspired to get the vaccine to understand how safe it is and how important it is to get back. I think if we can continue on this trend, there’s a pretty good chance we’re going to have large gatherings of fans this fall, whether it’s a full stadium or not. I certainly hope it’s going to be way more than 750 friends and family, that’s for sure.”
On if the Lions will increase ticket prices in 2021: “No changes from last year, which had no changes from the prior year.”
On why the team structured the front office the way it did: “I think we touched on it a little bit, but I’m happy to elaborate more. I think it was something that was important to Sheila (Ford Hamp) and important to me, that we have a team. And by a team, I mean the whole team – the head coach, the general manager, Mike Disner in his role, Chris Spielman as an addition to the staff – working together, and then expanded beyond that to coaching staff and the scouting staff. I can tell you, having sat in meetings during free agency and (I) sat in periodically in some of the Draft meetings, everything that we’ve described that we wanted is what’s happening. There’s great collaboration, there’s great participation. Everybody’s voice is being heard, and I think the results so far on what we’ve done and the results of will come later on will prove that point out. I think Dan (Campbell) and Brad (Holmes) are working amazingly well together for not having really known each other that well prior to the process of hiring both of them. I think it was a big part of what we were looking for when we were hiring those two positions, to find people that we really believed could work together and create that kind of collaborative culture. You never know until it happens, but so far, I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s working out and the culture that we’re creating. It’s still difficult in this COVID-19 world where not everybody’s in the building and a lot of things are occurring via Zoom like this, but it still feels the way we wanted it to feel.”
On how different ownership’s role is with this regime and the importance of that: “I know there was a lot made about Sheila (Ford Hamp) sitting in on some of those meetings, and I think it’s important to make sure you guys understand that she was sitting in because she was invited to sit in and I was invited to sit in by Dan (Campbell) and Brad (Holmes). That’s part of the culture; they want us around, and they want us to be aware of what’s going on. I’m not saying that that wasn’t the case before, but it wasn’t a seat change from her seat to want to drop in on things; she was invited to participate. I think that’s a good way of building the culture that we wanted. I think everybody wants to be heard, everybody wants to be included, and that starts at the top with Sheila, all the way down.”
On if the team is considering any uniform alterations since they’re nearing the five-year period to do so: “Given some thoughts to that. You’re right, we’re coming up on the window of when we could make some changes. I haven’t really gone into the design phase yet, but that’s certainly something that once the window opens up, we’ll probably take a step back and look at the current roster that we have and the changes we want to make. Do we continue with the color rush, etc. It’s on my mind, but nothing official.”
On if there is any thought process behind making sure new player acquisitions come in with the right mindset that reflects the desired organizational culture: “Certainly, everything that we’re doing in evaluating the players is beyond the field stuff, and there’s the character part, who they are as a player, how much they love football, and I think it’s kind of proven out with the free agency players that we’ve brought in and make that the culture that we’re trying to build. And I would say having talked to a lot of the guys after they were here, they’re here because of our coaching staff. Dan Campbell is somebody that people want to play for, and the rest of the coaching staff are coaches that the players want to play for. So, I think that will continue into the Draft, obviously in the Draft the players don’t have as much of a choice, but I think once they’re here, they’re going to fit the culture, and they’re going to be excited by the coaching staff that we have. I know Jeff Okudah, just as an example, he was in the building today. He’s in on a regular basis and I think he feels energized about the new coaching staff as well as a number of the other players, too.”
On the plan for getting players vaccinated: “It’s something that we’re certainly going to focus on once the players get back in the building and together with the Player’s Association, doing everything we can to educate them on why it’s important and the safety measures that are in place with the vaccines. Hopefully that will start in earnest when they’re back in the building on the 19th of April, but certainly the goal is to encourage them to get vaccinated. It’s not going to be required, though. It’s a personal choice, but we’ll do everything we can to encourage them.”
On if there is still hope for getting some extra days on the offseason calendar for the new coaching staff: “There’s an opportunity that there might be some expanded days at the tail end of minicamp for new coaches. Not decided yet, not decided whether we would take advantage of it if it’s available.”
On where the organization stands in regard to NFL Draft host bidding: “The Draft, we’re still very much in the mix, obviously there’s been a rescheduling of the Draft – what happened last year, Vegas is going to get slotted back in the future. This year’s draft is going to be Cleveland. We saw a lot about that in the last couple days with fairly large in-person gatherings, socially distanced, but given that it’s outside, there’s going to be a number of people in the inner circle, close to the stage, that have been vaccinated fully. Each team can be able to invite some people to participate in that. We’re hoping to be a serious contender for the 2024 Draft, and we’re still in the mix for that, and hopefully we can bring that to Detroit and by then everything is fully reopened and we can have hundreds of thousands of people downtown enjoying the Draft in Detroit. Look forward to continuing to try and win that kind of thing for the city and for the team as well.”
On if the organization’s culture was as toxic during the past regime as speculated and where things currently stand with the team’s relationship with former Lions Hall of Fame WR Calvin Johnson Jr.: “I’m not going to comment on the perception of the prior culture and whatever it’s labeled. I just know that going through that experience informed us on what the culture (is) we wanted. I’ll put it that way and how we pursued the candidates that we ended up hiring for our head coach and general manager. On the Hall of Fame, we’re working actively with Calvin and his team on celebrations at the Hall of Fame and continuing to have conversations with him. I know he’s mentioned publicly that he’s connected with Sheila (Ford Hamp), and that’s a positive step. So, we’ll continue to celebrate with him, and I think the relationship is headed in the right direction.”
On how the efforts are going with Ford Field being a FEMA site for vaccinations: “It’s going well. I know a number of our people have been working there and supporting the process. I know it’s running very efficiently. We hear comments from those that have been vaccinated, they’re in and out quickly. I think we hit a high-water mark of 5,800 in one day. I think the goal was to get to 5,000, so we’ve already exceeded that. We’ll see how it goes for the next several weeks. We’ll continue to support it if we were asked. We would certainly consider even extending it beyond the current term to continue to support the vaccines in the marketplace. As I said, we’ll also do everything we can to help educate the public on why it’s the right thing to do, to get the shot as soon as you’re available and it’s available to you, and I would encourage all of you guys if you haven’t. I’ve been vaccinated. I survived and I certainly look forward to a better future because of it and getting things back reopened.”