46 Facts About Len Ford

Len Ford played college football for the University of Michigan and professional football for the Los Angeles Dons, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers.

Len Ford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996.

Len Ford 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.

Len 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, where he played for two seasons as an offensive and defensive end.

Len 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.

Len Ford was selected as a first-team All-NFL player five times and played in four Pro Bowls.

Len Ford was one of two defensive ends named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team.

Len Ford was traded to the Packers in 1958, but played there just one season before retiring.

Len Ford worked for the Detroit recreation department from 1963 to 1972.

Len Ford suffered a heart attack and died in 1972 at age 46.

Len Ford's mother, Geraldine, was a Virginia native who worked as a social worker in a settlement house in 1940.

Len Ford had an older sister, Anita, and a younger brother, Claude.

Len Ford left Morgan State and joined the US Navy in 1945, but stayed in the service only briefly as World War II came to an end.

Len Ford wanted to "get a shot at playing in the Rose Bowl one day", he later said.

Len Ford developed a reputation for forcing opponent fumbles with his technique of "punching at the ball".

Len Ford started only one game in 1947, as Bob Mann was the starting left end in eight of Michigan's 10 games.

Len Ford played basketball in the off-season for the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional team in the National Basketball League.

Len Ford did not play basketball at Michigan, the Big Ten Conference having maintained racial segregation of basketball until 1950.

Len Ford bulked up to 260 pounds and quickly became a fixture of Cleveland's defense alongside linebacker Bill Willis and defensive back Warren Lahr.

Len Ford, who had been fighting with Harder throughout the game, punched him following the play, resulting in a penalty, his ejection from the game and a $50 fine.

NFL commissioner Bert Bell withdrew the fine when the damage to Len Ford's face was revealed.

Len Ford started only four regular-season games in 1950 because of the injury.

Browns head coach Paul Brown knew the defense had to tighten, and he called on Len Ford to enter the game.

Len Ford continued to excel as a pass-rusher in 1951, when the Browns again advanced to the NFL Championship Game but lost to the Rams.

Len Ford recovered four fumbles during the season and was named a first-team All-Pro by both the Associated Press and the United Press International.

Len Ford was named to the Pro Bowl, the NFL's all-star game.

Len Ford, meanwhile, extended his run of dominance against opposing offenses in an era before the quarterback sack was a recorded statistic.

Len Ford recovered a career-high five fumbles in 1954, and he was selected as a first-team All-Pro by the AP and UPI for the fourth year in a row.

Len Ford was selected to play in his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl.

Len Ford was selected as a first-team All-Pro by the UPI, the Newspaper Enterprise Association and the New York Daily News.

Len Ford was named a second-team All-Pro by the AP.

Len Ford worked to shed pounds during training camp and worked to train the young defensive players, including Wiggin and Bill Quinlan.

Rookie running back Jim Brown recalled that Len Ford pulled him aside during the 1957 training camp and gave him advice on dealing with the Browns' head coach Paul Brown.

Len Ford was slowed for several weeks during the 1957 season by a severely bruised shoulder, but the Browns, led by Jim Brown, reached the 1957 NFL Championship Game, losing to the Lions.

In 1961, Len Ford sued the Packers in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit to collect the $916.66 plus $10,000 for alleged damage to his reputation caused by the Packers' releasing him.

Len Ford recovered 20 fumbles in his career, an NFL record at the time he retired as a player.

Len Ford was successful in part because of his combination of quickness and size.

In 1969, Len Ford placed second in voting for the greatest defense end in NFL history.

In 1976, Len Ford was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Len Ford was selected for induction by the 27-man media board that had responsibility for selections at that time.

Len Ford was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996.

In 1951, Len Ford married Geraldine Bledsoe Len Ford, who was a lawyer in the 1950s, and in the mid-1960s became the first black woman to serve as a judge in Michigan.

From 1963 until his death, Len Ford worked as the assistant director at Considine Recreation Center, the largest recreation center in Detroit.

Sports writer Chuck Heaton wrote that Len Ford's life was "pretty much down hill" after he retired from professional football.

Len Ford suffered a heart attack in early March 1972 and died the following week at Detroit General Hospital.

Len Ford was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, MD.