Lions Owner & Chair WILLIAM CLAY FORD will be remembered as a "significant philanthropist, a family man and as an ardent Lions fan, who was loyal, extremely loyal, to his employees and his city," according to a front-page piece by Priddle, Laitner, Higgins & Birkett of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Ford died yesterday of pneumonia at the age of 88. While Ford worked as an exec at Ford Motor Co., his legacy "is firmly linked to the Lions, for better or worse." Already the Lions' team President and a Ford Motor Co. exec in the early '60s, Ford bought the Lions for $6M in the fall of '63 and "ran the organization for the past 50 years." Forbes "listed the team’s value last year" at $900M. As Lions Owner, Ford was known as "a generous man to players and employees but often loyal to a fault." Former players "swear by Ford’s kindness and save their harshest words for some of the managers he employed." He helped Detroit "keep its Thanksgiving game tradition and brought two Super Bowls to the city." The Lions yesterday said that details of ownership succession "would be discussed at a future time" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/10). In Detroit, Dave Birkett notes the Lions "made just 10 postseason appearances and won one playoff game in Ford’s tenure, and while he had a dubious relationship with his fan base, he was known within the organization and around the league as a man of great generosity and undying loyalty." Ford "stayed mostly out of the public eye in recent years as his health grew increasingly frail" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/10).
A PIGSKIN PIONEER: In Detroit, Drew Sharp in a front-page piece writes there "wasn’t one critic of Ford’s ownership who really knew him who didn’t speak highly of the man himself." He treated employees "as if they were his family, as loyal as you wished your employer would be." Ford was "wrongly perceived by fans as an aloof aristocrat." However, if not for Ford and his "high regard across the NFL, Detroit doesn’t host two Super Bowls." There also was "no guarantee the franchise would have stayed in Detroit" if not for Ford buying the team. He was "instrumental in the proliferation" of the NFL's national TV package in the early '60s. Ford Motor Co. "became one of the early significant sponsors of NFL coverage, helping the league achieve an initial network TV footing that created the most powerful entertainment entity in the nation" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/10). FOXSPORTS.com's Dave Dye wrote Ford "was considered the villain to Lions fans -- the one who drew the most rage for the hometown team's constant failures -- because he was the one constant." However, through everything, one thing "was clear: Ford was tremendously respected around the league." He is "largely responsible for the Lions keeping their traditional Thanksgiving game, even when many believed it was time to rotate it to different cities each year." Those who knew him "had great admiration for all that he and his family accomplished" (FOXSPORTS.com, 3/9).
OLD SCHOOL APPROACH: NFL Network's Steve Wyche said Ford was an "old-guard owner that wasn't flamboyant, wasn't in front of the microphone, probably would be hard to pick out of line-up of owners to a lot of people." But Wyche said people "wanted to play for him and win for him," a trait that "goes to show his impact" ("NFL AM," NFL Network, 3/10). In Detroit, Mike O’Hara writes Ford "was not a reclusive man or anti-social," but he "simply felt that the spotlight should be on his football team -- players, coaches and front office." His job as owner "was to support the franchise, and he did just that in terms of the resources he provided." He was an owner "whose presence was welcomed, not dreaded" (DETROIT NEWS, 3/10). ESPN's Stuart Scott said, "A lot will be written about how in 50 years of owning the Detroit Lions, William Clay Ford's team only won one playoff game. But longevity and respect have to count for something" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 3/10).
HIS EFFORT TO HELP REBUILD DETROIT: In N.Y., Douglas Martin notes Ford came "under sharp criticism from Detroit leaders when, in 1975, he decided to abandon the city and move the Lions from Tiger Stadium in Detroit to the new Silverdome, in Pontiac, a Detroit suburb." Ford and his son, Lions Vice Chair BILL FORD JR., in '02 "moved the team back to Detroit, to Ford Field, a newly built 65,000-seat indoor stadium" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/10). THE MMQB's Peter King writes it made "little financial sense" for the Fords to move the Lions back to downtown, but they "were determined to put a stake in the ground and try to help re-energize Detroit." King: "I hope when people think of the elder Ford, they think of his efforts to return Detroit to greatness" (MMQB.SI.com, 3/10). In Detroit, Guillen & Higgins write, "Without the Lions’ and Ford’s commitment to downtown, the resurgence of the business district may not have happened" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/10).
LOYAL TO A FAULT: ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein wrote Ford throughout his tenure "showed extreme patience with his employees, from the coaches to the general managers." That loyalty, "while well meaning, also came with a fault." In "many ways, that loyalty hurt" the Lions as a franchise (ESPN.com, 3/9). MLIVE.com's Kyle Meinke notes those closest to Ford "vow that he cared deeply about bringing a winner to Detroit, even if many of his decisions had the opposite effect." Ford's "downfall ... was the very quality that endeared him to so many: Fierce loyalty, perhaps to a fault." He "made poor hires, and was among the last to acknowledge -- or at least rectify -- his missteps" (MLIVE.com, 3/10). YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Adelson wrote there "isn't much good to say about the Lions under his stewardship." The team's decisions "ranged from unfortunate to baffling to downright maddening." Yet the "long list of errors made under Ford's football watch can mostly be traced to his loyalty." He "loved the team and its employees like an ardent fan, and that was at times a curse" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/9). In Detroit, Bob Wojnowski in a front-page piece writes Ford "wanted to win but wasn’t interested in destroying relationships to do it." If loyalty "to a fault meant he didn’t want to win as badly as others, it was a badge he was willing to wear" (DETROIT NEWS, 3/10). Also in Detroit, Jerry Green writes under the header, "William Clay Ford Hated Firing Lions Coaches, But He Had To Do It" (DETROIT NEWS, 3/10).
DETROIT IN HIS BLOOD: In Detroit, Jeff Seidel writes some owners "meddle with their coaches or front office," and some owners "threaten to move a team or to sell." But Ford "never did." Of course he "made several mistakes in owning the Lions," but he "kept trying to find the answer" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/10). Lions C DOMINIC RAIOLA said that the notion "perpetuated by frustrated fans that Ford didn’t care about winning was deeply mistaken." Raiola: "That’s totally far from what he wanted. He was there every Sunday." In Detroit, Carlos Monarrez notes the blame "increasingly mounted on Ford, and Raiola understood this." But he also "knew the team’s failures weren’t for lack of desire or effort from the man who owned the team" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/10). Also in Detroit, Josh Katzenstein notes former players see Ford as an owner "who was involved, but not too involved" (DETROIT NEWS, 3/10). The AP's Larry Lage wrote Ford "seemed to lead the Lions with a light touch, leaving most decisions up to administrators such as RUSS THOMAS, CHUCK SCHMIDT, MATT MILLEN" and current GM MARTIN MAYHEW (AP, 3/9).
