Word: forde
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Then again, most fathers don't own an NFL franchise. After Ford Sr. bought the Detroit Lions, Junior was deeply impressed by the beating his father took in the local papers when the team went downhill. After all, football matters. "There were days when I was a kid when the local columnists would just rip into my father, and I'd just cry," says Ford. "But it also taught me not to believe in your own press, because once you do, the house of cards just falls...
...most accounts, Ford fought for almost everything he has at the company. When Bill and his cousin Edsel were appointed to the board in 1988, he fought off demands that he stop dealing with environmental groups. CEO Don Petersen refused to let either Ford serve on any board committees. Even when he was named chairman, Ford was taunted as "Prince William" by outgoing chief executive Trotman. "I had to decide whether to get in the dirt and wrestle or walk away," Ford recalls. He chose to rumble. "I'm a very competitive person, and it made me mad. I wasn...
...also burnished his public image as co-owner and manager, with his father, of the Lions. When his father ceded him control of the team in 1996, Ford reorganized the team management and won a battle with the other NFL owners to keep the Lions' lock on the annual Thanksgiving game. The Lions are still mediocre, but Ford raised about $200 million to build a new stadium downtown, then persuaded his fellow owners to bring the 2006 Super Bowl to Detroit...
Last year Ford learned a lesson about the limits of soft and fuzzy when the Firestone crisis engulfed the company. Ford instinctively wanted the company to get out in front of the issue. Were there problems with the Explorer? "That was the first question I asked," he says. Some evidence showed the Explorer was safer than other SUVs. But Ford execs didn't have time for a full investigation when lawyers, Congress and the media were rolling out damaging allegations daily...
...late as September, Ford asked the board to allow him to be more visible on the Firestone issue, but it was decided that Nasser should take the heat. And he did. Nasser appeared on television ads, did interviews and charged down to Washington to beat back Congress. Everywhere he went, he blamed Firestone. Ford would stay in the background, in part to preserve his image. In the event that there was real evidence of wrongdoing on Ford Motor's part, then the credible Ford could step up and fess up. He is still being held in reserve on this issue...