The 2025 Detroit Lions are On the Clock!

Apr 15, 2025

After a season we won’t soon forget, Detroit Lions fever is at record highs. Anticipation for the 2025 season is fueled by the always-anticipated NFL Draft. What does the team need, who should they draft and what can we anticipate for the 2025 season?

A panel of Lions beat writers will debate these items in an interactive multimedia conversation with the audience weighing in.
 
To get us started, Lions Team President Rod Wood will review last season and look ahead to 2025.
 
Presented in partnership with the Detroit Economic Club (DEC) and Detroit PBS.

Rod Wood is an American businessman and football executive. He is currently the president for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.

As Detroit Lions Team President and CEO, Rod Wood oversees all football and business operations of the Lions organization and reports directly to Principal Owner and Chair Sheila Ford Hamp. He was originally appointed Team President on Nov. 19, 2015.

Brad Galli, a Detroit native, anchors Sports on 7 News Detroit at 5, 6, and 11 p.m. on WXYZ, and at 10 p.m. on WMYD.

Brad was born and raised in Metro Detroit and joined the sports department at WXYZ in 2011. He has been inside NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, and NCAA locker rooms, interviewing top athletes and coaches at the professional, Olympic, collegiate, and amateur level.

Brad closely covered Michigan's 2023 national championship, the Tigers in the World Series, the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and both Michigan State and Michigan's respective runs to Final Four and national championship games. He has anchored WXYZ's coverage of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the PGA Tour's first event in the city of Detroit. He also served as host of the Red Wings pregame and postgame shows in 2024 for Scripps Sports.

He was named Michigan Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association in 2018 and 2021, and was a finalist for the award in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023.

Brad earned two Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Michigan chapter. He won in 2016 for Excellence in Sports Anchoring, and captured his first Emmy in 2014 for Excellence in Sports Reporting. Brad was also nominated for Michigan Emmy awards in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2020.

He was honored Michigan Association of Broadcasters with the Best Sports award in 2023, and has repeatedly been voted Best Sportscaster by Hour Detroit readers.

Brad has also worked at WXYZ as a news anchor, working as the co-anchor of the 4 p.m. newscast, The Now Detroit, from 2014-15. He regularly contributes to WXYZ's special programming, including the North American International Auto Show and Woodward Dream Cruise specials.

He has continued to interview Hollywood stars on WXYZ when big events and big names come to town, chatting with celebrities like Mark Wahlberg, Jeff Daniels, Tom Holland, Carl Weathers, the cast of 'Ted Lasso,' Tyler Perry, and Jay Leno.

Brad lives in metro Detroit with his wife, son, and daughter. He attended Brother Rice High School and Marquette University. You can contact Brad by emailing him at [email protected].

Terry Rhadigan is the Vice President of Corporate Giving at General Motors, where he is responsible for enhancing the company’s charitable image and reputation and increasing the engagement of its employees through volunteerism, community relations, heritage, strategic risk management, and operational excellence.

Rhadigan started his General Motors career in 1988, holding various field positions in customer and dealer support before moving to the Chevrolet Marketing Center and the former GM Foundation.

Rhadigan is a Leadership Detroit XIX graduate and an Officer of the Detroit Economic Club. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Automotive Hall of Fame, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Detroit Sports Organizing Commission, Detroit Regional Partnership, and Loyola High School in Detroit.

Rhadigan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University.

Nick Baumgardner is a senior writer/NFL Draft analyst based in Michigan. He co-hosts “One of These Years," a Detroit Lions podcast with Colton Pouncy. He joined The Athletic after stops at the Detroit Free Press, MLive Media Group and other newspapers in Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.

A three-time Michigan Sportswriter of the Year, Birkett has covered the Lions for the Free Press since August of 2010. He was named one of America's top 10 beat writers by APSE in 2017, is a multi-time Michigan AP Award winner and tied for first place in Best Feature Writing category by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2017. A Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, Birkett previously covered the Lions and Michigan and Michigan State football and basketball for The Oakland Press and AnnArbor.com.

Sportswriter for 97.1 The Ticket, covering the Detroit Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, Pistons; football and hoops at MSU and U-M; Boston college grad.