Len Ford American football player

Leonard Guy Ford, Jr. (February 18, 1926 – March 14, 1972) was an American football defensive end. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976. He played two years for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference. When the AAFC disbanded in 1949, only three teams from the league - the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts - were merged into the NFL. Ford was selected by the Browns out of a special draft pool created for teamless former AAFC players. In Cleveland, he became a ferocious defensive player for a very strong Browns team that dominated the NFL during the 1950s, playing in five championship games and winning three. Ford played for the Browns through 1957 and then spent one year with the Green Bay Packers before retiring. He played college football for one year at Morgan State University before transferring to the University of Michigan.