Mel Farr

Mel Farr

Position(s) Running back Jersey #(s) 24
Born	November 3, 1944 (1944-11-03) (age 67) Beaumont, Texas
Career information
Year(s)	1967–1973
NFL Draft	1967 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7
College	UCLA
Professional teams
Detroit Lions (1967-1973)
Career stats
Rushing yards	3,072
Average	4.2
Touchdowns	26
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
2× Pro Bowl selection (1967, 1970) 1× All-Pro selection (1970) 1967 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year

Melvin Farr (born November 3, 1944 in Beaumont, Texas) is a former American football player.

Early life

As a youth, Farr played football, baseball, track and basketball. He graduated from Hebert High School in 1963, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He was named All-State in football and track and All-District in basketball.

UCLA

He earned a chance to play football for UCLA, where he played halfback. He was on the 1965 and 1966 varsity teams. He played in the 1966 Rose Bowl. He finished 7th in the balloting for the 1966 Heisman Trophy. He was a consensus All-American at the school in 1966. He was named to the all AAWU conference team in 1965 and 1966.^[1]

Detroit Lions

He was the number 7 overall selection in the first-round in the 1967 NFL draft by Detroit. In 1967, Farr joined the Detroit Lions, and won the year's NFL Rookie of the Year Award. He spent his entire career from 1967 through 1973 with the Lions, and earned trips to the Pro Bowl in 1967 and 1970.

Farr and his teammate Lem Barney also sang background vocals on the 1971 Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On".^{[citation needed]}

Mel Farr Ford

After his retirement from pro football, Farr entered the business world, and in 1975 opened the Mel Farr Ford automobile dealership in Oak Park, Michigan.^{[citation needed]} By aggressively targeting the mostly black, poverty stricken, automobile-hungry population of inner city Detroit, he built an auto empire. By 1998, the Mel Farr Auto Group grossed $596.6 million, making it the top African-American business in the United States and the thirty-third largest auto dealership in the US.^{[citation needed]}

There were legal problems surrounding Farr's controversial On-Time Device,^[2] which prevented drivers of leased vehicles from starting the car if they missed payments. In June 2000, Farr settled a suit with customers who complained that the device turned off their cars when they were in motion. Many claimed they had not been late with their payments. Each of the 1,500 customers received $200 worth of coupons for their troubles.^[3]

In January 2002, Farr was in discussions to sell his franchises in Oak Park and Waterford Township, Michigan, to Ford Motor Company, who had outstanding liens with Farr.^[3] The franchises were sold in April 2002 and subsequently closed

For many years Farr appeared in his dealerships' commercials in a stylish suit and superhero red cape flying through the sky as he was dubbed "Mel Farr, your Superstar dealer". The commercials have earned Farr pop star status in the Detroit area.

Family

Farr is part of a family full of professional football players. He is the younger brother of former AFL and NFL player Miller Farr as well as the father of former NFL players Mel Farr, Jr. and Mike Farr, who both attended UCLA. He married Linda Johnson Rice, the adopted daughter of the late publisher, John H. Johnson of Ebony Magazine in 2004.

External links

• Brief biography from hometown museum
• Disposal of car dealership
• Ford and Mel Farr

References

1. ^ UCLA Football media guide (PDF copy available at www.uclabruins.com)
2. ^ Meredith, Robyn - Auto Dealer Has an Offer for Drivers With Bad Credit, but There's a Catch. New York Times, August 30, 1999
3. ^ ^{a b} Hughes, Alan and Lloyd Gite - Driving in a new direction? Mel Farr Automotive to sell all its Ford dealerships. Black Enterprise, April 2002

Preceded by First award

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award 1967

Succeeded by Earl McCullouch

Persondata
Name	Farr, Mel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 3, 1944
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death