RIP William Clay Ford Sr.

The thing about the Fords, and local reporters know this, is they don't talk to anyone.
So nobody ever knows WTF they are thinking.
That can be worse than a loose-lipped owner like Jones.
The coolness has not helped Sr.'s public perception.

 

During the whole "Fire Millen" period, one of the beat writers said, and to be fair, he might have been joking... "Until the signs showed up at the games, I don't think ownership had any idea how much people hated him."

 

I remember when they signed Scott Mitchell, Junior talked about "driving success throughout the organization."
He has been very fond of telling stories about how he was wrapped in swaddling clothes when his parents took him to Tiger Stadium for Lions games as a baby.
Always been interesting to me how the utter decrepitude of the Lions dovetailed with that of Ford Motor.

 

Perceptive take, 3OF. I've got a book on the Ford Motor Company and the family. Cannot remember the author's name but he's a Brit. Heck of a read.

Your opine above made me think if Henry Ford II had bought the Lions, the franchise's fortunes might have been a lot better ... or just as bad. Ford II was more ruthless than his youngest brother but it seems the 60s (other than the Mustang) and 70s were really rough times for the company under his watch. Of course, Iaccoca generally gets credited for the Mustang. But the aforementioned ruthlessness might have benefited the Lions in a positive way. But II was a much more erratic personality than Clay Sr.

Nevertheless, RIP to Mr. Ford. Overcame alcoholism and seemed to conduct himself with a fair amount of class.

 

Liut, I think he was a kind-hearted man who meant well.
Matt Millen said this on A Football Life- the Fords were unswervingly loyal.
They believed in their hires, and soundness of their decision-making.
If anything he gave his people too much rope, going back to Fontes.
Reflected again with Schwartz.
That is the organizational sickness.

 

Well stated, and I agree based largely on what I read in the book and have elsewhere. The book dealt very little with William Clay and his Lions. What I came away with was a just a healthy respect for the man, particularly in comparison to his oldest brother.

 

As insane as it sounds, I think that loyalty, even as misplaced as it has been at times, has kept the Lions from being seen as a trainwreck of a franchise the way others have. Detroit's overall record over the last 20 years is probably worst or second-worst in the NFL, but they're not looked at the way the Raiders, Browns and perhaps the Dolphins are...

 

We have discussed this before, but I am astounded at how quickly the Dolphins went from the picture of stability to a no-class organization, almost overnight.
They are a straight-up joke.
Clay Ford came from corporate royalty and might have not been a self-made man, but he had a gravitas many of his peers don't.
Not many owners have freighters named for them in their 30s.

 

The book mentioned earlier is Ford: The Men and the Machine by Robert Lacey.

In retrospect, William Clay was much like his father, Edsel. Henry II's personality was much closer to his grandfather's.

 

It is an amazing story, the history of the company.
A quintessentially American success story.
Looks like a good pull.

 

Yeah, I think the bullying scandal put the spotlight on the Dolphins, but that franchise has been horrible for more than a decade.

 

The Lions announced today that Mrs. Ford would become the majority owner, with Bill Jr. remaining as vice chairman.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2014/03/william_clay_ford_passes_major.html