Contrary to the perception that the Detroit Lions' new logo is in response to their winless 2008 season, team president Tom Lewand said that they were working on the re-design since before last year's NFL draft."It's been in development for over a year," Lewand told Matt Shepard on WDFN-AM. "We've been working on it with designers, and coming up with different iterations. And it was something we didn't finalize until November of last year. But, in various stages, like I said, we've been working on it for over a year."
That would mean the logo was initially discussed before former president and general manager Matt Millen was fired, and before the Lions 0-16 season began.
Listen to the whole interview to hear Lewand talk about how Martin Mayhew – in his first draft as general manager – has changed the Lions' preparation so that everyone feels involved with the picks: