Martin Mayhew (born October 8, 1965) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

executive who is the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). A former

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

, Mayhew played college football at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

prior to being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the tenth round of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

. He sat out his rookie season due to a wrist injury and joined the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

a year later, with whom he won Super Bowl XXVI with, and later played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

before retiring following the 1996 season. Following his playing career, he graduated from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

with a Juris Doctor degree in 2000. He then worked as an administrator for the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

before joining the Detroit Lions in 2001, where he worked as an assistant executive prior to being promoted to general manager in 2008. He remained in that role until 2015 and later had executive stints with the New York Giants and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the late 2010s before joining Washington as their general manager in 2021.

Early life and college

Mayhew was born on October 8, 1965 in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended

Florida High School Florida State University School (FSUS) is a laboratory school located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is sponsored by Florida State University and works in close collaboration with the Florida State University College of Education. T ...

prior to enrolling a year early at Florida State University in 1983, where he played 33 career games at

for the

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Col ...

team opposite future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

r Deion Sanders. 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. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in business management in 1987.

Professional career

Player

Mayhew was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the tenth round (262nd overall) of the

. He suffered a wrist injury during his rookie year and was placed on injured reserve before he could make any game appearances with them. He left in

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

the following year and signed with the

, where he started for them over the next four seasons including in their Super Bowl XXVI win at the end of the 1991 season. In 1993, he signed a four-year $5.5 million contract with the

. 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. He finished his career playing in 118 games with 473 tackles, 21 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and a sack.

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 The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. The following year, he worked as a labor operations and legal intern for the NFL league office, and was also the director of football administration for the

until it folded after its lone season in 2001. That same year, Mayhew was hired by the Detroit Lions as their senior director of football administration by

Matt Millen Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is a former American football linebacker and executive. Millen played 12 years in the National Football League for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins, ...

before being promoted to assistant

in October 2004. 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. Mayhew spent the 2016 season with the New York Giants as their director of football operations before joining the

as a senior personnel executive the following year. He was promoted to their vice president of player personnel in 2019. In January 2021, Mayhew was hired as the general manager of the

Personal life

Following his time at Florida State, Mayhew briefly worked at a

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

bank in Charlotte. He attended night classes at

during his time with the Redskins in the early 1990s but had to drop out when he left for the Buccaneers in 1993. He re-enrolled there following his retirement as a player in 1997 and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 2000. Mayhew is a member of

The Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated bar association for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States. Its duties include the regulation and discipline of attorneys. The Florida Bar is also responsible for the governi ...

and has also served as a board member of the

Henry Ford Museum The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...

and Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL).

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayhew, Martin 1965 births 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American players of American football African-American sports executives and administrators American football cornerbacks Detroit Lions executives Florida State Seminoles football players Georgetown University Law Center alumni Living people National Football League general managers New York Giants executives Players of American football from Tallahassee, Florida San Francisco 49ers executives Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Washington Commanders executives Washington Football Team executives Washington Redskins players