04/25/24
March 09, 2014
Detroit Lions Owner William Clay Ford Dies: William Clay Ford, who once steered a car from his grandfather Henry Ford's lap but never got the chance to run the family business, died on Sunday at his home in Grosse Pointe, Mich., of pneumonia. He was 88. Ford, who also was the longtime owner of the Detroit Lions football team, represented the automaker's last direct link to the days when the company belonged entirely to the Ford family. Ford bought control of the Lions in 1964 for $6 million, the largest cash price then paid for a sports team. The team has never gone to a Super Bowl.
No, I think Alan Rickman has more than one lifetime playoff win.
Buuut seriously: I'm torn between sadness at the death of anyone and notreallycaringness at the death of someone who had a pretty good run (nearly 89 years, and I suspect I suffered more in any given year of my life so far than he did ever) and turned a four-time NFL champion into the poster team for futility in the post-merger era.
I didn't dislike Wm. Clay Ford Sr., but I never found much to love about him.
Still: .
posted by Etrigan at 07:14 AM on March 10, 2014
This is the man who let Matt Millen be a GM for seven years. Like Etrigan, I have never found much to love about him.
He was, from everything I have seen, a very nice man and he will be missed. I just will not miss him as the owner of my football team.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 08:02 AM on March 10, 2014
It's a shame he never got to hoist the Lombardi. The closest the Lions came was in 1991 under Wayne Fontes, when they stomped Dallas 38-6 in a divisional game and then lost 41-10 to Washington in the NFC Championship.
posted by rcade at 12:07 PM on March 10, 2014
The Detroit News has several articles about William Clay Ford worth reading.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 03:39 PM on March 10, 2014
Bill Clay?