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Michigan football: Sights, sounds & more from Grand Rapids trip

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•07/23/22•

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Michigan football
Michigan football visited the Gerald R. Ford museum in Grand Rapids Friday.

Michigan football stopped in Grand Rapids to visit the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, honoring the 38th United States President — and one of The Wolverine Magazine‘s first subscribers.

Mr. Ford filled out the order form himself, in fact, signing it and sending it in back in 1989.

His nephew, Greg Ford (his father, Jim, was the youngest of the four Ford brothers), was there to greet the Michigan players and answer questions. He smiled when we told him of the President filling out the form himself.

“That’s who he was. Uncle Jerry wouldn’t have had anyone else fill it out for him,” he said, noting he was making his own breakfast every morning even when he was President of the United States.

A “man of integrity” was how he’s been described, and the stories backed it up. When approached by someone in the twilight of his life for the one piece of advice he’d give someone running for office, the president didn’t hesitate.

“He said, ‘make other peoples’ problems your problems,'” Greg Ford said.

That was Gerald Ford.

Michigan elite on hand to greet Jim Harbaugh and his team

Former Michigan interim A.D. Jim Hackett, a long time Grand Rapids resident and CEO of Steelcase for several years (and later Ford Motor Company), talked of his experience coming from U-M out of central Ohio. He went strictly for academics, he said, but loved Bo Schembechler.

Though he played primarily on the demo team, Hackett said he got into a few games and took pride in the fact that he never missed a practice — not one — in his time at Michigan. He loved U-M so much that he didn’t hesitate to take over as interim A.D. following David Brandon’s ouster.

He was all in on Harbaugh as his coach, and Harbaugh said Hackett was the only one he talked to.

“You had me at hello,” Harbaugh told him while Hackett was addressing the team.

Alongside Hackett, former Michigan great Wayman Britt spoke of his 1976 national runner-up basketball team and how U-M helped him become Kent County’s first African-American county administrator. He’s since written a book called Fulfilling the Dream: My Path to Leadership and Finding Purpose Through Serving Others.

When the team broke up into groups, Britt was the one assigned to telling the story of President Ford and Willis Ward. Buzz Thomas, Ward’s grandson, addressed the team via video and told the story of how Ford threatened to sit out a 1934 game with Georgia Tech when Tech refused to play Michigan if Ward — the second African-American letterman in school history — was allowed to suit up.

Ward convinced him to play, Thomas noted, and the two remained great friends. Thomas noted Ford was there by his Ward’s side in the 1940s during his grandfather’s unsuccessful run for office, and noted that video from the 1970s shows Ward with Ford supporting him during his run another term President of the United States.

There’s a display at the Ford Museum outlining the special friendship and its importance to Ford, featuring both players’ jerseys.

The number ‘4’ on Ford’s jersey was pointed at his teammate’s as if to indicate, “I’ve got your back.” When Michigan rejoined with Nike — which was met with a standing ovation when Hackett brought it up to the team in 2015 — he made sure the Nos. 4 on the jerseys had the same design.

Nike founder Phil Knight, in fact, got choked up when he heard the reasoning, Hackett noted.

Britt did an outstanding job with the story and its significance in today’s world climate. His words seemed to captivate every Michigan player from each group.

“I pray to God we don’t let it go because of what it means to us as men,” he said.

A learning experience

Harbaugh has said he believes his job as coach is to educate in addition to leading them on the field — making “the world their classroom.” It was clear when we followed the team to Paris and Normandy how much it meant to so many of the players. It truly was a hands-on learning experience.

The 2022 team, too, was all in Friday. They took pictures with next to some of the museum’s artifacts, including Ford’s response to a letter from late actor Paul Newman opposing Ford’s pardon of former President Richard Nixon.

Senior quarterback Cade McNamara listened intently when one museum employee told a story of Ford’s dedication to fitness outside a replica of Ford’s Oval Office. When doctors told the 92-year-old President he probably shouldn’t swim his daily laps anymore due to declining health, he said, that was the beginning of the end for Ford.

“Once an athlete, always an athlete,” he said while McNamara nodded.

Harbaugh recounted the time as a young boy that he caddied for then Michigan coach Bo Schembechler in a tournament in which Ford also played. He had no clue what he was doing, he admitted. He was thrilled, though, to be on the course with them while secret servicemen with “tommy guns, I called them back then” were staked out in trees.

The Michigan team worked out on the field at East Grand Rapids High Saturday morning before preparing for a beach day on Lake Michigan.

On Friday morning, they toured the Capitol building in Lansing, posing with the Big Ten title trophy, before headed to G.R.

All in all, it was another memorable experience for the guys in maize and blue.

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