Are the Fords the Worst Owners in NFL History?
I know this article won't get me free season tickets anytime soon. The real question is: would I even go to a season of Lions games if I had free tickets? I am guessing by week 5 I would be looking for someone to take the tickets.
I seriously wonder if the Lions are cursed? In 1957, back before it was called the Super Bowl, Quarterback Bobby Layne lead Detroit to their final NFL Championship game. The NFL's best teams were the Lions and the Cleveland Browns. Almost laughable now. Bobby Layne lead the Lions to 3 Championships and after 2 games in 1958 they traded him to Pittsburgh. After he got word of the trade, he was leaving the Lions locker room for the final time. He stopped and told the idiots who traded him, "you won't win another Championship for 50 years." It's been 63.
The Lions got a new owner yesterday with a familiar name. 94 year-old Martha Firestone Ford stepped down handing the team to her daughter Sheila Ford Hamp. She is now the team owner and chairman.
Are the Fords the worst owners in NFL history? For people from Michigan, YES! Is it even close? Look, there have been some terrible people who owned teams but I am speaking of the futility allowed. Even the other worst owner in the NFL, Daniel Snyder of the Washington Redskins at least gives the perception like he gives a crap, even though he needs to get out of the way. Really though, Snyder or the Fords? Who is worse?
The ONLY teams who have never been to a Super Bowl are The Browns, Jaguars and Texans. All expansion teams. With the exception of Jacksonville, all those teams have more hope than the Lions.
Sheila Ford Hamp has a chance to do what her mom and dad couldn't do and I hope she does. Hey, she played varsity tennis at Yale where she majored in early childhood education... She did serve on the Super Bowl committee. So, she knows what it looks like.