Tom Kirvan
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
As someone who grew up in Ann Arbor and has been a lifelong University of Michigan football fan, I fondly remember the “good old days” when an end zone ticket cost a mere $2 and a prime seat for a game against archrival Michigan State or Ohio State could be had for just $5.
Now, in this new era of N.I.L. (Name, Image and Likeness), the cost of attending a game is in the triple digits, which doesn’t include the price of parking, food, beverages, and a much-needed seat cushion. Ah, yes, call these the “bad new days” at The Big House, especially considering the near disastrous start to the 2026 season that has pretty much erased my memory of the 2023 national title won by the Wolverines.
After the Wolverines scaled the sport’s highest peak three years ago, the euphoria of U-M’s national championship season quicky soured under the weight of intense NCAA investigations into sign-stealing and recruiting violations. This drama culminated in coaching departures, recruiting penalties, and a severe hit to the program’s reputation.
Now, as the Wolverines struggle to regain their elite status on the gridiron, the university finds itself trapped in an exhausting cycle of damage control and rebuilding.
In light of this turbulence, it might be wise if the powers that be at U-M take a hard look at a chapter in Michigan’s football past. The trip back in time is encapsulated in a 45-minute play written by Dr. Allison Metz, a professor at Grand Valley State University. The play, titled “Victors of Character,” is based on the 2016 documentary “Black and Blue,” a film that tells the back-story of the Michigan-Georgia Tech football game in 1934.
The 1934 U-M team included two notable players, one white and one black, two men who would go on to legal distinction following graduation. Their names: Gerald Ford and Willis Ward.
Ford, of course, was destined to attend Yale Law School after earning his bachelor’s degree from U-M. It would serve as his launch pad for a long career in Congress and then as Vice President and President of the United States.
Ward, who obtained his juris doctor degree from the former Detroit College of Law in 1939, eventually became a high-ranking executive at Ford Motor Co., helping expand employment opportunities for African American workers. In 1973, he was appointed by then-Governor William Milliken to the Wayne County Probate Court, becoming the first African American to serve on the probate bench in the county.
But in 1934, Ford and Ward were teammates as the Wolverines prepared to play Georgia Tech, a school based in Atlanta. Ford was a star center on the U-M team, while Ward was a standout split end who also excelled as a sprinter on the Michigan track team.
The Yellow Jackets, an all-white squad, agreed to play the Wolverines in Ann Arbor that season on the condition that U-M would not suit up Ward, the team’s only African American player.
According to Metz, “many of Ward’s teammates were outraged when athletic officials at the University of Michigan agreed to the demand. The most outraged Wolverine was Ward’s roommate, a lineman from Grand Rapids named Gerald Ford.”
The future president threatened to quit the team in response to Ward’s benching, but changed his mind at the urging of his teammate. In response, Ford reportedly played one of his finest games as a Wolverine, helping the Maize and Blue to a 9-2 win over Georgia Tech.
Retired Detroit attorney Fritz Damm, a U-M letterwinner who in 2025 was the recipient of the coveted Ufer Award from the M Club, said the Ward-Ford story depicted the harsh reality of racial discrimination in the 1930s and is particularly relevant in the turbulent world of today.
“Obviously, we still have a long way to go when it comes to grasping the importance of racial understanding and social justice,” said Damm, whose father was a U-M teammate of Ford and Ward. “The (Metz) play really highlights how two men made a significant difference in changing perceptions.”
Ford, while serving in Congress, supported the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, and, as president, presided over the first Black History Month in the U.S.
Ward made his mark as a “supervisor for racial integration at Ford, as a civil rights lawyer, and ultimately as the first African American probate judge in Wayne County,” Damm related.
Coincidentally, Damm would come to know Ward in his judicial capacity with the Wayne Probate Court. In 1981, Damm appeared before Judge Ward in an effort to become the legal guardian of a 14-year-old Detroit boy named Patrick.
“As we were getting ready to go to court, I told Patrick to grab a sport coat and tie out of the closet so that he would look sharp for the appearance,” Damm recalled.
By chance, the tie that Patrick hurriedly chose sported a special color combination.
“It was maize and blue,” Damm said with a smile. “Judge Ward got a kick out of that.”
Now, in this new era of N.I.L. (Name, Image and Likeness), the cost of attending a game is in the triple digits, which doesn’t include the price of parking, food, beverages, and a much-needed seat cushion. Ah, yes, call these the “bad new days” at The Big House, especially considering the near disastrous start to the 2026 season that has pretty much erased my memory of the 2023 national title won by the Wolverines.
After the Wolverines scaled the sport’s highest peak three years ago, the euphoria of U-M’s national championship season quicky soured under the weight of intense NCAA investigations into sign-stealing and recruiting violations. This drama culminated in coaching departures, recruiting penalties, and a severe hit to the program’s reputation.
Now, as the Wolverines struggle to regain their elite status on the gridiron, the university finds itself trapped in an exhausting cycle of damage control and rebuilding.
In light of this turbulence, it might be wise if the powers that be at U-M take a hard look at a chapter in Michigan’s football past. The trip back in time is encapsulated in a 45-minute play written by Dr. Allison Metz, a professor at Grand Valley State University. The play, titled “Victors of Character,” is based on the 2016 documentary “Black and Blue,” a film that tells the back-story of the Michigan-Georgia Tech football game in 1934.
The 1934 U-M team included two notable players, one white and one black, two men who would go on to legal distinction following graduation. Their names: Gerald Ford and Willis Ward.
Ford, of course, was destined to attend Yale Law School after earning his bachelor’s degree from U-M. It would serve as his launch pad for a long career in Congress and then as Vice President and President of the United States.
Ward, who obtained his juris doctor degree from the former Detroit College of Law in 1939, eventually became a high-ranking executive at Ford Motor Co., helping expand employment opportunities for African American workers. In 1973, he was appointed by then-Governor William Milliken to the Wayne County Probate Court, becoming the first African American to serve on the probate bench in the county.
But in 1934, Ford and Ward were teammates as the Wolverines prepared to play Georgia Tech, a school based in Atlanta. Ford was a star center on the U-M team, while Ward was a standout split end who also excelled as a sprinter on the Michigan track team.
The Yellow Jackets, an all-white squad, agreed to play the Wolverines in Ann Arbor that season on the condition that U-M would not suit up Ward, the team’s only African American player.
According to Metz, “many of Ward’s teammates were outraged when athletic officials at the University of Michigan agreed to the demand. The most outraged Wolverine was Ward’s roommate, a lineman from Grand Rapids named Gerald Ford.”
The future president threatened to quit the team in response to Ward’s benching, but changed his mind at the urging of his teammate. In response, Ford reportedly played one of his finest games as a Wolverine, helping the Maize and Blue to a 9-2 win over Georgia Tech.
Retired Detroit attorney Fritz Damm, a U-M letterwinner who in 2025 was the recipient of the coveted Ufer Award from the M Club, said the Ward-Ford story depicted the harsh reality of racial discrimination in the 1930s and is particularly relevant in the turbulent world of today.
“Obviously, we still have a long way to go when it comes to grasping the importance of racial understanding and social justice,” said Damm, whose father was a U-M teammate of Ford and Ward. “The (Metz) play really highlights how two men made a significant difference in changing perceptions.”
Ford, while serving in Congress, supported the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, and, as president, presided over the first Black History Month in the U.S.
Ward made his mark as a “supervisor for racial integration at Ford, as a civil rights lawyer, and ultimately as the first African American probate judge in Wayne County,” Damm related.
Coincidentally, Damm would come to know Ward in his judicial capacity with the Wayne Probate Court. In 1981, Damm appeared before Judge Ward in an effort to become the legal guardian of a 14-year-old Detroit boy named Patrick.
“As we were getting ready to go to court, I told Patrick to grab a sport coat and tie out of the closet so that he would look sharp for the appearance,” Damm recalled.
By chance, the tie that Patrick hurriedly chose sported a special color combination.
“It was maize and blue,” Damm said with a smile. “Judge Ward got a kick out of that.”
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