These are the best times for the Ford family’s sports properties in Detroit, most notably the Lions, who enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

The restoration and reopening of an abandoned train station in Detroit wasn’t merely another construction project.

The $950 million revival, financed by Ford Motor Co., symbolizes the resurgence of the Motor City, which is growing for the first time since the 1950s. The Ford family turned the station, once a symbol of the city’s plight, into a new tech campus for the auto giant.

The mixed-used development comes amid a high moment for the family’s Detroit Lions, who have reached the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-1995 and are pushing for their first Super Bowl appearance ever (though they won the NFL championship in 1957). The team plays the Washington Commanders on Saturday.

“I was two years old the last time the Lions did (really) well and that was 1957,” Leon LaBrecque, a tax attorney and strategic consultant for Ford Motor Co., said in a phone interview. “The enthusiasm and the vibrancy of the city is paralleled by [both] our economic and sports recovery.”

The storied franchise’s return to relevance under head coach Dan Campbell has been one of the league’s best stories this season. Quarterback Jared Goff and the Lions won their second straight division title, earned the No. 1 seed in the NFL and are betting odds favorites to reach the Super Bowl—a fact all but unimaginable three seasons ago when they turned in a three-win campaign.

While the family has controlled the Lions since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination (the team is currently led by principal owner Shelia Ford Hamp), its core business is based in the auto industry; Ford Hamp’s great grandfather, Henry, founded the automaker in 1903.

Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook is focused on the next extension of that, which is the manufacturer’s return to Formula 1 next year through its engine partnership with Austrian outfit Red Bull Racing. (Red Bull’s current engine partnership with Honda expires at the end of this year.)

“Our reputation is on the line,” Rushbrook said a video interview. “We have a lot riding on this, and the spotlight is only going to get brighter 14 months from now. For our future products, we need to take everything that we’re learning from (Formula 1) and apply it to make our cars and trucks even better for customers. Not all our programs touch our pillars of importance, but this one does.”

Ford is reentering Formula 1 for the first time since 2004—that year, it sold the Jaguar racing team to Red Bull, an energy drink firm that also owns MLS’ New York Red Bulls. Led by star driver Max Verstappen, Red Bull has cemented itself as one of the best teams in this modern iteration of Formula 1, a Liberty Media property recently popularized in America thanks to Netflix series Drive to Survive. The first season of the sports docuseries aired in 2019, and F1’s total audience has ballooned in size since.

Ford, which is set to be Formula 1’s only American manufacturer next season, wasn’t previously interested in returning to F1 but several factors impacted the mindset change. The upcoming rules shake-up, which include revised aerodynamics regulations and new power units, coupled with the growing American fan base, made Ford reconsider its mindset on F1.

Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell applauded F1’s global ambitions and fan engagement tactics during Liberty Media’s investor day in November.

Rushbrook, who was tasked by Ford CEO Jim Farley to lead the Formula 1 arm, is focused on the new chapter but in the meantime, he can’t deny the palpable energy coming from Ford’s other sports property. He said working alongside general manager Will Ford III, the son of executive chairman Bill Ford, helps him get a broader sense of the family’s sports passion.

“They want to win in motorsports and also with the Detroit Lions,” Rushbrook said. “The success that the team has had recently can be [felt] from the family, and Ford employees who are rallying behind the team. There’s been some not so optimistic years but feeling this energy now is pretty cool.”

Despite the Lions’ turnaround and the Formula 1 reinstall, analysts have raised concerns about Ford’s future stock performance, especially during ongoing turbulence in the car industry. Ford nonetheless continues to see strong results in certain business areas. The General Motors rival recently reported that its full-year sales notched its best mark since 2019 with more than 2 million vehicles sold.

The Ford family retains control of Ford Motor Co. as the biggest holder of Class B shares, which hold voting powers. But the special shares only account for 2% of outstanding stock, even though it gives them 40% of voting power. That equates to less than a billion of the total $38 billion market cap at Ford, which pales in comparison to the worth of the Lions, which were valued at $4.9 billion in Sportico’s most recent NFL valuations.

The mood remains upbeat in Detroit, however. The Ford family typically takes a low-profile approach in football circles, unlike other club owners, such as Jerry Jones in Dallas, who regularly make headlines. But the upturn of their sports properties is splashy and noteworthy as the city experiences revitalization.

“Detroit has experienced a lot of problems but also a lot of rebirth too,” LaBrecque, who worked on the city’s 2013 bankruptcy, said. “And the Ford fami

Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) celebrates after scoring during Detroit Lions vs Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field in Detroit on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Josh Boland | MLive.com

David Montgomery missed the last three weeks of the NFL season with an MCL injury, coinciding with the emergence of his backfield teammate Jahmyr Gibbs as a “solo act.” The situation raised questions about Montgomery’s role upon his return to the Detroit Lions’ lineup.

Following Tuesday’s practice, the sixth-year running back addressed those questions — and then some.

Montgomery spoke with reporters for the first time since suffering the injury in a Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field. Although it was just a walkthrough, Montgomery returned to practice, expressing how refreshing it was to be in a position to help his team again.

While speaking, he also addressed early reporting about his injury status.

“I think the speculations that I was getting surgery or that (it) was kind of the end-all-be-all, nobody really ever knew. So when it got put out, I didn’t know that I was getting surgery until the media told me, so it was news to me,” Montgomery said. “But I’m always pretty confident in who I am and how I prepare. I mean, I know who my God is too, so it ain’t really too much or anything that I know that I can’t overcome when I know who is the head of my life.

“So I continue to give God the praise and ensure myself that I’m doing everything in his name and I’m where I’m supposed to be because I’m supposed to be here. It’s never been up to me. It’ll never be up to me, but it’s his way, so it’ll be his way.”

With Montgomery sidelined after starting the first 15 games of the season, Gibbs stepped in as the Lions’ primary bell cow, delivering a breakout performance in nearly outing to close the regular season.

Over those three games, Gibbs amassed 365 rushing yards and five touchdowns while catching 13 passes for 122 yards and another touchdown. He was a key factor in the Lions’ Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings, scoring all of the team’s touchdowns and bringing his season total to a league-best 20.

For most of the past two seasons, the Lions have leaned on Montgomery and Gibbs as their two-headed rushing attack.

However, with Gibbs showcasing his full potential to close the season, Montgomery appears willing to embrace a complementary role.

“I mean, he a dog. He’s evident enough,” Montgomery said. “Jah is special, he’s generational talent, and I didn’t expect anything less from him. So Jah’s going to roll. I’m going to just kind of, whatever he needs from me, I’m going to make sure he has. But this kind of his show.”

On Saturday, the Lions will host the Washington Commanders at Ford Field in a divisional-round matchup to determine who advances to the NFC Championship.

While Gibbs has been outstanding, Montgomery’s return could ease his workload. Montgomery shared that he is not on a “pitch count” and no extra precautions will be taken, as he is ready to contribute fully.

“It was just lock in, kind of put the horse blinders on and silence the noise of the world and just kind of attack it every day, no matter what the day looks like,” Montgomery said of his mindset after being cleared to play. “As long as I get an opportunity to wake up every day, no matter how the day before looked, I got (a chance) to change.

“So I kind of looked at it that way and put my best foot forward every chance that I got. Like I said, God put me here for something here now.”

Montgomery explained that his rehab focused on strengthening his knee and breaking down scar tissue, describing the process as “pretty physical (and) pretty strenuous.”

As he prepares to return against the Commanders, Montgomery, known as the Lions’ “tone setter,” said his main goal is simply to play football.

“I try to respect the game as much as I can. I know this game saved my life in a lot of ways,” Montgomery said. “So, I mean, it’s only my job to try to give back to this game that’s taken me farther than I could ever imagine. So it’s cool that people see me as a tone setter, but it is just my respect for the game.”

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Dan Orlovsky Issues Warning to Detroit Lions Ahead of Playoff Game vs. Commanders

Detroit Lions fans got surprising news on Sunday as the Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road, punching their ticket to Ford Field for Saturday night’s Divisional Playoff game at 8 p.m. ET.

The sixth-seeded Commanders threw a wrench in Lions coach Dan Campbell’s prediction that Detroit would take on the Vikings for a second straight game, and now the Lions must prepare for a team that few saw on their radar screen heading into this weekend.

On Monday, a former Detroit Lions quarterback, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, issued a warning for the Detroit faithful ahead of Saturday’s game.

Jayden Daniels (right) celebrates with Terry McLaurin after Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay in Tampa. © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Jayden Daniels (right) celebrates with Terry McLaurin after Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay in Tampa. © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Orlovsky declared Washington a new choice destination for NFL players on his X account while extolling the talents of Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels.

“Everyone wants to play in Washington now,” Orlovsky said. “And Detroit will have their hands full Saturday night.”

The former Connecticut Huskies star said that the Daniels’ recent success is all the more impressive considering he doesn’t have the same talent around him that other top quarterbacks in the National Football League have.

“He’s doing it really with a below average offensive line and Terry McLaurin,” Orlovsky said. “Could you imagine if Jayden Daniels had what other quarterbacks in that conference have when it comes to the perimeter players?”

“This is about a young man that has taken advantage of a situation, and strictly because he’s got all the necessary attributes of what it takes to play at that position at a high level, has us going, ‘Can Washington go to Detroit and upset the Detroit Lions?’”

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The most popular chant in Detroit got its start in the last row at Ford Field

Jared Kilpatrick wanted to do something special for his family, and when he surprised them with tickets to last year’s playoff game at Ford Field between the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams, he had no idea how memorable it would become.

A year ago Tuesday, the Lions beat the Rams for their first postseason victory in 32 years. It was an electric atmosphere, with many of the 66,367 fans in attendance cramming into Ford Field more than an hour before the game.

In the 12 months since, the chant has become ubiquitous, showing up at random times in random places. Airports. Grocery stores. Hockey games across the state. NFL games in other states. Soccer games in other countries.

This is the story of how the chant came to be, or one family’s version of it, at least.

Tyler Kilpatrick, Jared’s younger brother, admits “there’s probably a hundred or so guys in Detroit that” can make a similar claim, and everyone in the Kilpatrick family acknowledges there’s no real way to prove they first put rhythm to yelling out Goff’s name.

But high atop the rafters that night, in Row 21, Seats 6-11, at the very top of Section 322, Tyler and another Kilpatrick brother, Collin, saw Goff’s image appear on the video board as the Lions quarterback stood in the tunnel waiting to run out for pregame warmups. He started chanting Goff’s name.

“Every family I think has a little family lore and this gets to be ours,” Jared said.

Should Lions QB Jared Goff be an MVP candidate?

After another incredible week, it seems impossible to not put Jared Goff in the MVP conversation.

The Lions were well on their way to winning 12 games and their first division title in two decades last fall when Jared decided he was going to splurge on tickets for the Lions’ first ever playoff game at Ford Field.

Jared is an emergency room doctor at Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo and assistant professor at Western Michigan’s Stryker School of Medicine. The hospital pays overtime every six months, and knowing he had that bonus check coming in January, he earmarked it for tickets.

The oldest of four brothers in a sports-crazed family, some of Jared’s fondest memories come from ballfields. He played basketball, soccer and ran track growing up, and played soccer and ran track in college at Alma. Tyler played football at Rochester Adams and lacrosse at Albion, and currently coaches lacrosse at Stoney Creek. Collin plays lacrosse at DePauw University in Indiana. Their other brother, Austin, swam and played soccer in high school.

When they were young, they’d go to Pistons games or Lions training camp practices. And always, they’d watch the Lions on TV.

“That’s kind of what we always did growing up was a bunch of sports, especially with my dad,” Jared said. “He’s been a big Lions fan and Detroit sports fan his whole life and definitely brought that on me and all three of my brothers.”

Austin lives in New York and couldn’t make the game on short notice, so Jared bought six tickets: One for him and his fiancée, Jess Harris, one for each of his parents, Jan and Mike, and one for Tyler and Collin. He called Tyler the day after Michigan’s national championship game win over Washington to surprise him with the news, and told Collin a couple days after he returned to school at DePauw.

With no car on campus, Collin took a bus back to Michigan that weekend for what became a 14-hour odyssey. A 30-minute bus stop in Dayton, Ohio, turned into a seven-hour layover for reasons Collin still can’t explain, and he got to his parents’ home in Rochester Hills somewhere around 2 a.m.

On the day of the game, the family went for an early lunch at Renshaw Lounge in Clawson, then for drinks at McShane’s Irish Pub in Detroit. They cheered for the hated Packers to beat the Cowboys in the day’s afternoon game, so the Lions would have another home playoff game in the divisional round, then hopped the bar’s first shuttle to Ford Field.

Tyler and Collin went for drinks. The rest of the group got in line to have their faces painted. The brothers opted for the Aidan Hutchinson eye black look. And by the time they reconvened at their seats, it was still 90 or so minutes until gametime and the stadium felt two-thirds full.

“There’s so many people in the stadium already that Tyler and Collin are already starting to start chants and start yelling and booing and cheering as people came out,” Jared recalled. “They were trying to start chanting everything.”

Mother knows best: ‘Say something positive’

Tyler’s devotion to the Lions runs deep.

He doesn’t have season tickets, but he and his friends travel to a road game or two every year. He wears a Joey Harrington jersey to games and a fur Lions hat on his head.

Jess, his soon-to-be sister-in-law, describes him as a “super passionate Lions fan who looks like a Bills fan that goes through flaming tables.”

“And if you ever met Tyler and Collin in person, they’re like 10 years apart and share a brain,” Jan said.

When the Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Rams in January 2021 at the start of their rebuild, Jan said the move nearly brought Collin to tears. A few months later, Tyler bought his brother a new Lions jersey as a high school graduation present, one with Goff’s name and No. 16 on back.

Last year’s playoff game marked Stafford’s first trip to Ford Field since the trade. The Lions acquired Goff and three draft picks in the deal, used those picks to build the nucleus of their roster, and the theatre of two quarterbacks competing against their old teams for the right to advance in the playoffs added to the drama of the night.

Tyler and Collin felt the energy as soon as they got to their seats. They started chanting about Stafford — “STAF-FORD SUCKS!” and “GO HOME, STAF-FORD!” — and things devolved from there.

“There was probably a list of 10 of them. I don’t remember all them and probably some of them you shouldn’t write,” Tyler said. “I think there was a debate that week of like, ‘Are they going to welcome Stafford?’ And again, it was nothing against Stafford, but it was, ‘Welcome him? No, it was a playoff game.’ It was the first home playoff game in my life, so it was, ‘No, you’re not welcome here wearing other colors.’”

A group of fans a row or two in front of the Kilpatricks joined in the chants, but none took off.

Until Jan slugged Tyler on his arm and told him to be more positive.

“They were taunting Matthew Stafford. And I’m like, ‘You guys be nice,’ ” she said. “I’m a social worker. I think everybody should be nice. I’m like, ‘We need good karma. Say something positive.’”

When Goff’s image flashed across the video board, they did.

“Initially it took off in our section and you could hear it everywhere,” Tyler said. “Maybe this is just me being a dumb sports fan, right? But anytime you can start a chant anywhere like that, you’re like, ‘Oh, I started that. That’s cool’. Which at that point is what we thought it was.”

‘A new meaning’

One chant became two, and two became a hundred, and by the end of the night, the chant was incessant.

Tyler said some fans in Section 322 bought him beers as a thank-you for starting the chant, and Jan said at one point Collin stopped to listen to the rest of the crowd chanting and said in amazement, “Everybody’s doing it.”

“It’s honestly kind of cool that the Jared Goff chant was the one that took off,” Collin said. “It’s kind of like a respectful way to tell Stafford that we got a new guy now. In a way, it’s a bit of a diss, but it’s also very cool for Jared Goff for him to hear that, ‘Hey, we’re on your side. We’re not with this guy who was here for 12 years. We’re with you.’ ”

Goff completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown, and said after the game the chant “made me feel pretty good” and “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that.”

“It was pretty unbelievable,” he said. “The people here are special, man. I’m grateful and I’m grateful for their support and today with the circumstances that were there, it meant a lot and it was special.”

While some fans have tired of it in the past 12 months, the chant is still going strong at Lions games and elsewhere as the Lions wait to learn who they’ll host in the divisional round of this year’s playoffs next week.

Fans serenaded Goff with more chants of his name during last week’s division-clinching win over the Minnesota Vikings, and the Kilpatricks have heard it at various other stops around the state. Jared was at a Grand Rapids Griffins game when the chant broke out. Jess heard it at a Red Wings game.

“I joke with my family all the time that we should have found a way to get royalties on this thing,” Tyler said.

All of the Kilpatricks have told at least someone about the origins of the chant. Most of their friends believe them; it sounds just like Tyler, they say. And for those who don’t, the Kilpatricks are fine with that, too.

The chant, after all, has come to be about more than Goff and Stafford and even the Lions. It’s come to represent Detroit in some ways.

“I definitely think it’s taken on a new meaning,” Jared said. “I watch a bunch of sports shows and everything, and so I was watching (Pat) McAfee a few days ago and he said how it’s been kind of an emblematic resurgence of Jared Goff getting cast off just like Detroit getting cast off. I wouldn’t say that’s ever been the intention of it. We definitely weren’t thinking of that when they were starting it, but I do think it’s kind of embodied a little bit of that.

“And then I think the bigger thing is just embodying how unifying Detroit will get of like, I remember when the Red Wings were really good, the Pistons were really good, of just how much the city has something to cheer for and hope for, they kind of lose their mind. And so I think that’s kind of been what has been most emblematic of how good of a sports town Detroit is. And once you’re one of our guys, you’re kind of one of our guys for forever.”

Or at least until you’re traded to the Rams.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.”

ALPENA — Employees of the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office, including deputies, corrections officers, and staff, are proudly showing their support for the Detroit Lions as the team pushes toward a Super Bowl win.

Sheriff Erik Smith authorized his personnel to wear Detroit Lions hats while on duty, an exception that will remain in place for the duration of the Lions’ playoff run.

The Lions recently clinched the NFC’s top playoff seed with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings, setting a team record with a 15-2 season.

Their first playoff game will be next weekend, with their opponent determined after this weekend’s games.

“We have a lot of dedicated Lions fans here who have endured many tough seasons,” Smith shared. “This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them, so I wanted to give them a chance to celebrate.”

Smith acknowledged that recent budget cuts and potential layoffs have added stress to his department, but he believes small gestures like this help lift spirits.

He compared the Sheriff’s Office to the Lions, both having faced challenges and controversies but continuing to work hard toward success.

“We’re like the Lions, an underdog for years, but we keep pushing forward to do our best,” Smith said. “We’re always striving to succeed.”

A lifelong Lions fan, Smith takes on the role of motivator for his staff, much like Lions coach Dan Campbell.

“I try to be a cheerleader for our department,” Smith said. “Letting them wear Lions hats is just a small thing, but it boosts morale and makes work a little more fun.”

After enduring countless losing seasons, Smith and his team are now savoring the thrill of a possible Super Bowl appearance, something the Lions have never achieved.

When asked how far he