WILMINGTON, DE - MAY 09: Chairman of the Board William Ford addresses shareholders at the Ford 58th Annual Meeting of Shareholders at the Hotel DuPont on May 9, 2013 in Wilmington, Delaware. Ford Motor Co. has named a new lead independent director of its board, Ellen R. Marram, replacing Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., who stepped down. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)WILMINGTON, DE - MAY 09: Chairman of the Board William Ford addresses shareholders at the Ford 58th Annual Meeting of Shareholders at the Hotel DuPont on May 9, 2013 in Wilmington, Delaware. Ford Motor Co. has named a new lead independent director of its board, Ellen R. Marram, replacing Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., who stepped down. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT – The Detroit Lions will stay in the Ford family, the team announced Monday after longtime owner William Clay Ford Sr. died Sunday of pneumonia at the age of 88.
“Pursuant to long-established succession plans, Mr. Ford’s controlling interest in the Lions passes to Mrs. Martha Ford,” the team stated in a press release. “She and her four children will continue to be involved in the ownership of the franchise, as they have during Mr. Ford’s tenure.”
The Lions also announced that Bill Ford Jr. will continue as vice chairman of the team.
Ford Sr. owned the Detroit franchise for 50 years, a span in which the Lions posted a losing record, made just 10 playoff appearances and recorded only one playoff win.
