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Len Ford
Leonard Guy Ford Jr. (February 18, 1926 – March 14, 1972) was an American professional football player who was an offensive and defensive end from 1948 to 1958. He played college football for the University of Michigan and professional football for the Los Angeles Dons, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996.
Ford was an all-city athlete at his high school in Washington, D.C., and attended Morgan State University after graduating in 1944. After a brief stint in the U.S. Navy the following year, he transferred to Michigan, where he played on the Michigan Wolverines football team as an offensive and defensive end. He played for Michigan from 1945 to 1947 and was a member of the undefeated 1947 team that has been selected as the best team in the history of Michigan football.
Ford was passed over in all 32 rounds of the 1948 NFL draft, but was selected by the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC), where he played for two seasons as an offensive and defensive end. After the AAFC dissolved in 1949, Ford played eight seasons as a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns. During those eight seasons, the Browns advanced to the NFL championship game seven times, won three championships, and allowed the fewest points in the NFL six times. Ford was one of the dominant defensive players of his era, having a rare combination of size and speed that helped him disrupt opposing offenses and force fumbles. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player five times and played in four Pro Bowls. He was also one of two defensive ends named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team.
Ford was traded to the Packers in 1958, but played there just one season before retiring. He worked for the Detroit recreation department from 1963 to 1972. He suffered a heart attack and died in 1972 at age 46.
Ford was born in Washington, D.C., in 1926. His father, Leonard G. Ford Sr., was a Virginia native who was employed as a "skilled laborer" by the federal government in 1920 and as a printing operator at the Government Printing Office in 1940. His mother, Geraldine, was also a Virginia native who worked as a social worker in a settlement house in 1940. Ford had an older sister, Anita, and a younger brother, Claude.
As a teenager, Ford attended Armstrong Technical High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball. As a high school athlete, he aspired to play fullback in football, but he later recalled, "I started to grow, and I grew right out of the backfield." He was chosen by local sportswriters as an all-city athlete in all three sports in his senior year, and he served as captain of all three teams for one season each.
After he graduated in 1944, Theodore McIntyre, Ford's high school football coach, suggested he attend Morgan State University, a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland. Ford played for the Morgan State Bears football team for one year under head coach Edward P. Hurt, while also starring as the center on the school's basketball team. The basketball team won its league's championship in 1944. Ford left Morgan State and joined the U.S. Navy in 1945, but stayed in the service only briefly as World War II came to an end.
After the war, Ford transferred to the University of Michigan to play football in a bigger program than Morgan State's. He wanted to "get a shot at playing in the Rose Bowl one day", he later said. While attending Michigan, he was a member of Omega Psi Phi, an all-black fraternity whose membership also included Bob Mann, another Michigan end who went on to play in the NFL.
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Len Ford
Leonard Guy Ford Jr. (February 18, 1926 – March 14, 1972) was an American professional football player who was an offensive and defensive end from 1948 to 1958. He played college football for the University of Michigan and professional football for the Los Angeles Dons, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996.
Ford was an all-city athlete at his high school in Washington, D.C., and attended Morgan State University after graduating in 1944. After a brief stint in the U.S. Navy the following year, he transferred to Michigan, where he played on the Michigan Wolverines football team as an offensive and defensive end. He played for Michigan from 1945 to 1947 and was a member of the undefeated 1947 team that has been selected as the best team in the history of Michigan football.
Ford was passed over in all 32 rounds of the 1948 NFL draft, but was selected by the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC), where he played for two seasons as an offensive and defensive end. After the AAFC dissolved in 1949, Ford played eight seasons as a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns. During those eight seasons, the Browns advanced to the NFL championship game seven times, won three championships, and allowed the fewest points in the NFL six times. Ford was one of the dominant defensive players of his era, having a rare combination of size and speed that helped him disrupt opposing offenses and force fumbles. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player five times and played in four Pro Bowls. He was also one of two defensive ends named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team.
Ford was traded to the Packers in 1958, but played there just one season before retiring. He worked for the Detroit recreation department from 1963 to 1972. He suffered a heart attack and died in 1972 at age 46.
Ford was born in Washington, D.C., in 1926. His father, Leonard G. Ford Sr., was a Virginia native who was employed as a "skilled laborer" by the federal government in 1920 and as a printing operator at the Government Printing Office in 1940. His mother, Geraldine, was also a Virginia native who worked as a social worker in a settlement house in 1940. Ford had an older sister, Anita, and a younger brother, Claude.
As a teenager, Ford attended Armstrong Technical High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball. As a high school athlete, he aspired to play fullback in football, but he later recalled, "I started to grow, and I grew right out of the backfield." He was chosen by local sportswriters as an all-city athlete in all three sports in his senior year, and he served as captain of all three teams for one season each.
After he graduated in 1944, Theodore McIntyre, Ford's high school football coach, suggested he attend Morgan State University, a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland. Ford played for the Morgan State Bears football team for one year under head coach Edward P. Hurt, while also starring as the center on the school's basketball team. The basketball team won its league's championship in 1944. Ford left Morgan State and joined the U.S. Navy in 1945, but stayed in the service only briefly as World War II came to an end.
After the war, Ford transferred to the University of Michigan to play football in a bigger program than Morgan State's. He wanted to "get a shot at playing in the Rose Bowl one day", he later said. While attending Michigan, he was a member of Omega Psi Phi, an all-black fraternity whose membership also included Bob Mann, another Michigan end who went on to play in the NFL.