My NFL Forums | NFL Forums & Blogs

Ford is NFL's worst, but he has never left Detroit in limbo

SI.com ranked William Clay Ford ahead of Al Davis in terms of NFL owners. C’mon, now. Is that possible?

Big picture people. Big picture!

Over the past few years, Davis has been horrid. He’s turned the Raiders — once one of the prestige franchises in football — into a punch line. The Raiders make news on ESPN and Fox Sports because of absurdity. The Lions are so bad that they barely warrant a mention on any of the national shows, except when they fired Millen or finished off the 0-16.

But you have to factor in two things with Davis that make him an easy target at No. 1. First, nobody likes him. He’s become the Marge Schott of the NFL except for the fact that he actually understands the sport in and has, to the best of my knowledge, never made horribly racist comments. So when the talking heads have a chance to pile on Davis, they pile on. Their pick of Darius Heyward-Bey wasn’t just a reach, it somehow became an indictment of how disconnected Davis is from reality. Can’t we just consider it a questionable pick? Is it really a reflection of all things that are bad about Davis? Let’s not forget that six years ago he was in the Super Bowl.

As for William Clay Ford, do I really need to revisit his resume? We all know the numbers. We all know the history. He deserves to be at the bottom.

The one thing that I will say in his defense is something I’ve said before. The Lions are the Detroit Lions, and they always will be. They’ll never move to LA … or to Indianapolis. I give Ford credit for never holding that over the city the way Davis did to Oakland. I grew up an Oakland Raiders fan out in the Bay Area, and when he yanked that team out of the city, it was a crime. I’ve never forgiven him, just as I know that Browns fans have not forgiven Modell and Colts fans haven’t let Irsay off the hook. We all get that sports is a business, but the only reason it works as a business is the passion of the fans. To spit on that passion by moving a team is deplorable.

So while the record puts Ford dead last, I’ll always move him up a few spots over owners, like Davis, who have held their fan base hostage. And in Davis’ case, did it twice.

By JAMIE SAMUELSEN