Throwing Firestone to the Lions: Ford Family's Football Team Gets Field Made from Recalled Firestone Tires

DETROIT, March 8 -- Ford Motor Co. is throwing Firestone to the Lions -- the Detroit Lions. Ford Field, the National Football League team's new stadium, will feature an artificial playing surface composed partly of rubber reclaimed from recalled Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. tires.

A Detroit Lions spokesman confirms the deal, in a story published today in WardsAuto.com, the subscription website about the auto industry offered by Primedia Inc.'s Ward's Communications. The playing field will be supplied, the spokesman says, by FieldTurf, a Montreal-based company that has installed its unique surface in more than 400 athletic complexes worldwide -- including the practice field of this year's Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

The Detroit NFL team is owned by William Clay Ford Sr., the automaker's former vice chairman and the father of current board boss and CEO, Bill Ford Jr. The latter was involved in the Lions' business operations until assuming command full-time of the auto company last year.

Ford Motor and Bridgestone/Firestone have been locked in a dispute over who's to blame for much-publicized rollover accidents involving Ford Explorer sport/utility vehicles equipped with Firestone tires. Adding irony to the dispute, Bill Ford Jr.'s great grandfather is Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire Co. The tire maker is now part of Japan-based Bridgestone.

While work continues on Ford Field, a domed stadium in downtown Detroit that will host Lions' home games starting this fall, installation of a FieldTurf surface was proceeding at the team's new practice facility near the auto maker's world headquarters in nearby Dearborn.

FieldTurf's playing surfaces cost $600,000 to $1 million. The price tag on Ford Field's greenery is in that ballpark, despite a special request the Lions made of FieldTurf.

``They wanted only Firestone products to be used,'' Dawson says.

FieldTurf was able to comply. It's not known for certain why the Lions made that request, but recently Bill Ford Jr. indicated he hopes Ford Motor and Bridgestone/Firestone will be able to patch up their differences.

The complete article is available at http://www.WardsAuto.com.