A week dominated by front office news in the NFC North has overshadowed the performance of another division executive. Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew is a private and behind-the-scenes operator, and he doesn't generate much national attention. But can anyone argue with the job he's done in overhauling the team over the past three years?

That's the topic of my portion on this week's NFC 411 video. I'm batting cleanup below.

Mayhew rarely conducts interviews, and I don't think many of us know much more about him now than we did three years ago when the Lions made him the permanent replacement to Matt Millen. That's where this blog post from Richard Justice, then of the Houston Chronicle, comes in.

Justice covered Mayhew's playing career with the Washington Redskins. He recalls how Mayhew finished a 1992 game despite a broken arm, describes the balance he struck as an NFL player by day and a law student by night and tells how Mayhew fought a perception as the Redskins' "vulnerable" cornerback opposite Darrell Green. It's worth your time.