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2015 DETROIT LIONS MEDIA GUIDE

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WILLIAM CLAY FORD, JR.<br />

VICE<br />

CHAIRMAN<br />

William Clay Ford, Jr. has made a positive and<br />

lasting impact on the Detroit Lions since assuming<br />

the post of vice chairman in February 1995. He<br />

remains focused on helping his family create a<br />

winner in the present and on ensuring the team’s<br />

success well into the 21st century – both on and<br />

off the field.<br />

Ford shares in his family’s longtime commitment<br />

to the Lions and a burning passion to win. That<br />

passion dates back to 1934 when his father, William<br />

Clay Ford, attended the first Lions’ game ever<br />

played in Detroit as a child. Mr. Ford would later<br />

purchase the team as sole owner in 1963. Now, Ford<br />

Jr.’s mother, Martha Firestone Ford, has assumed<br />

ownership of the team with great pride following<br />

Mr. Ford’s passing on March 9, 2014.<br />

Like his entire family, Ford wants nothing less<br />

than for the Lions to become a premier franchise<br />

in the NFL, and he knows that means delivering a<br />

championship to the fans.<br />

Key examples of Ford’s influence are Ford Field<br />

in downtown Detroit and the team’s headquarters<br />

and practice facility in Allen Park. Both are<br />

considered among the best facilities in all of sports.<br />

Ford’s dedication and commitment to the fans<br />

never was more evident than when he spearheaded<br />

stadium negotiations that led to the 1996 decision<br />

to build Ford Field. Due largely to his perseverance,<br />

the Lions struck a deal with the city of Detroit and<br />

Wayne County that established the foundation to<br />

return to downtown Detroit in 2002.<br />

Along with moving the Lions to downtown<br />

Detroit, Ford has provided a world-class practice<br />

facility to complement the team’s stadium. The<br />

$36 million team headquarters in Allen Park, which<br />

opened in April 2002, provides the ideal training<br />

center for NFL players and coaches.<br />

Ford also played a vital role in Detroit’s bid for<br />

Super Bowl XL. Through his leadership, the Ford<br />

family, the Detroit Lions and Ford Motor Company<br />

were integral in Detroit’s hosting of the premier<br />

event of the NFL in February 2006. Super Bowl XL<br />

exceeded expectations, generating an overall $260<br />

million economic impact, including $100 million in<br />

downtown improvements, $10 million in emerging<br />

business – the most in Super Bowl history – and<br />

$6 million in the NFL/Boys & Girls Club Youth<br />

Education Town, the largest in the country.<br />

In other past roles within the NFL structure, Ford<br />

also has served on the NFL Finance Committee and<br />

NFL Properties Committee.<br />

Now in his 21st season as vice chairman, Ford<br />

has pushed the Lions to take major steps on several<br />

fronts. He strongly supports active community<br />

outreach programs to make people’s lives better.<br />

Several initiatives, such as Detroit Lions Charities,<br />

have served Detroit and the state of Michigan. In<br />

September 2012, the Lions began a new community<br />

initiative – Living for the City – that has reshaped<br />

the club’s aim to improve the lives of Detroiters.<br />

Ford also emphasizes the importance of growing<br />

the game of football. The Detroit Lions Youth<br />

Football program is one of the most extensive<br />

youth sports programs operated by a pro sports<br />

team. This program includes numerous camps and<br />

clinics teaching the game, life-skills, proper safety<br />

practices for players and assists in development<br />

of youth coaches. Through Detroit Lions Charities,<br />

Ford helped develop the Detroit Police Athletic<br />

League youth football program into one of the<br />

largest in the country.<br />

Though football remains a passion for Ford,<br />

his top priority continues to be in serving as Ford<br />

Motor Company executive chairman. His role is a<br />

professional and personal commitment, leading<br />

the company founded by his great-grandfather,<br />

American automotive pioneer Henry Ford. A<br />

member of the board of directors since 1988, Ford<br />

assumed the role of chairman of the board on<br />

January 1, 1999. He also served as chief executive<br />

officer from October 2001 through September<br />

2006. Additionally, he serves as chairman of the<br />

board’s finance committee and is a member of the<br />

sustainability committee.<br />

Among his many outside leadership roles,<br />

Ford serves on the Board of Trustees of The<br />

Henry Ford and Henry Ford Health System. He is<br />

also chairman of Detroit Economic Club and the<br />

New Michigan Initiative Committee of Business<br />

Leaders for Michigan. He also is a founding partner<br />

of Fontinalis Partners, LLC, a Michigan-based<br />

investment firm that acts as a strategic operating<br />

partner to transportation infrastructure technology<br />

companies around the world. From 2005 to <strong>2015</strong>,<br />

Ford also served on the Board of Directors of<br />

eBay Inc.<br />

Ford is the <strong>2015</strong> recipient of the USC Shoah<br />

Foundation’s prestigious “Ambassador for<br />

Humanity” award, which honors individuals who<br />

embody the institute’s values and mission to<br />

promote tolerance and mutual respect. The award<br />

will be presented to him in September <strong>2015</strong> by the<br />

institute’s founder, Hollywood legend Stephen<br />

Spielberg, and will honor Ford for his leadership in<br />

the community and educational outreach.<br />

Born in Detroit in 1957, Ford holds a Bachelor<br />

of Arts from Princeton University and a Master of<br />

Science in management as an Alfred P. Sloan fellow<br />

from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),<br />

an honorary Doctor of Environmental Sciences<br />

and Engineering degree from Koc University, an<br />

honorary doctor of laws degree from the University<br />

of Michigan and an honorary doctor of humane<br />

letters degree from Bradley University. Ford is a<br />

member of the Irish America Hall of Fame.<br />

<strong>DETROIT</strong> <strong>LIONS</strong><br />

EXECUTIVES AND COACHING

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