Stanley Fay
Encyclopedia
Stanley E. Fay was an American football
player and businessman. He played at the halfback
and quarterback
positions for the Michigan Wolverines football
teams from 1931 to 1933. He was the leading scorers for the undefeated national champion
1932 Michigan Wolverines football team
and the captain of the undefeated national champion 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
. He later worked for many years with Harry Bennett
at the Ford Motor Company
and as a real estate agent in Detroit.
in Detroit, Michigan
, before enrolling at the University of Michigan
. He played at the halfback
and quarterback
positions for the Michigan Wolverines football
teams from 1931 to 1933.
In October 1931, Fay gained national media attention after scoring two touchdowns in Michigan's 21-0 win over Princeton
in the first meeting between the two schools in 50 years. The United Press report on the game noted: "Stanley Fay, hard-running 175-pound halfback from Detroit, was the hero of Michigan's triumph scoring the first touchdown on a 50 yard run from a fake placement kick in the second period and clinching the contest with a seven yard dash around end for a second score in the final period."
Fay also scored two touchdowns again in Michigan's 15-6 victory over Northwestern
in October 1932, putting him at the top of the Big Ten Conference
individual scoring list at the time. Two weeks later, Fay scored Michigan's first two touchdowns in a 35-0 win against Illinois
, the worst defeat ever suffered by a team coached by College Football Hall of Fame
coach Robert Zuppke
. The Associated Press
account of the game noted: "Michigan stowed the game away safely in the first two periods when Stanley Fay, Wolverine halfback, registered the first two touchdowns after steady marches down the field. Fay plowed through the Illinois defense from the 11 yard line for the opening marker . . . In the second period Fay again carried the ball over . . . .from the one yard line." Fay's rushing and scoring was one of the leading offensive weapons for the undefeated national champion
1932 Michigan Wolverines football team
.
When Fay was elected by his teammates as the captain of the 1933 Michigan team, newspapers reported that his election was viewed as "an augur of good luck," as Fay had never played on a losing team, either in high school or college. Following the graduation of 1932 quarterback Harry Newman
, Fay was moved to the quarterback position for the 1933 season. Fay helped lead the 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
to its second consecutive undefeated season and national championship.
, beginning as an assistant to Harry Bennett
, Henry Ford
’s most trusted lieutenant and the head of Ford’s Service Department responsible for labor relations. As Bennett moved into a larger sphere of duties, Fay became Ford's personnel director. In 1943, sports writer Warren Spoelstra wrote a syndicated story about the many former athletes working at Ford. Spoelstra noted that, aside from being a famous athlete himself, Fay had many former athletes working under him: "The inner circle about Fay also includes many minds which once made split decisions under fire on whether to field an end over end punt, or to try the squeeze play."
In September 1943, Bennett and Fay became the subject of publicity as a result of the court martial trial of William Colman, the former commanding officer of Selfridge Air Base in suburban Detroit. Colman was accused of, among other things, accepting gifts in exchange for procuring a war-time transfer of Henry Ford's grandson, Benson Ford, from Fort Custer
to Selfridge. Bennett testified that a shoe shining outfit had been sent to Colman by Fay but that the gift had no connection to the transfer of Benson Ford.
In September 1945, Henry Ford II
removed Bennett from his executive position at Ford Motor Company, and Bennett then resigned his position on the board of directors. Fay also resigned his position at Ford. In October 1945, Bennett and Fay formed a new company, called B-G-F Manufacturers' Representatives Co., with attorney Byron Geller. The company derived its name from the first letter of the last names of the three owners. The company was reportedly dissolved four months later in February 1946.
at the time of his death.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and businessman. He played at the halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
and quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
positions for the Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
teams from 1931 to 1933. He was the leading scorers for the undefeated national champion
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
1932 Michigan Wolverines football team
1932 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1932 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1932 college football season. The team's head football coach was Harry Kipke...
and the captain of the undefeated national champion 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1933 college football season. The team's head football coach was Harry Kipke...
. He later worked for many years with Harry Bennett
Harry Bennett
Harry Bennett , a former boxer and ex-Navy sailor, was an executive at Ford Motor Company during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known as the head of Ford’s Service Department, or Internal Security. While working for Ford, his union busting tactics, of which The Battle of the Overpass was a prime...
at the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
and as a real estate agent in Detroit.
University of Michigan
Fay attended Northwestarn High SchoolNorthwestern High School (Michigan)
Northwestern High School is a secondary education facility in Detroit, Michigan. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000. Northwestern High School features numerous extracurricular activities; including: Debate, US Army JROTC,...
in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, before enrolling at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. He played at the halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
and quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
positions for the Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
teams from 1931 to 1933.
In October 1931, Fay gained national media attention after scoring two touchdowns in Michigan's 21-0 win over Princeton
Princeton Tigers football
The Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
in the first meeting between the two schools in 50 years. The United Press report on the game noted: "Stanley Fay, hard-running 175-pound halfback from Detroit, was the hero of Michigan's triumph scoring the first touchdown on a 50 yard run from a fake placement kick in the second period and clinching the contest with a seven yard dash around end for a second score in the final period."
Fay also scored two touchdowns again in Michigan's 15-6 victory over Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats football
The Northwestern Wildcats football team, representing Northwestern University, is a NCAA Division I team and member of the Big Ten Conference, with evidence of organization in 1876...
in October 1932, putting him at the top of the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
individual scoring list at the time. Two weeks later, Fay scored Michigan's first two touchdowns in a 35-0 win against Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
, the worst defeat ever suffered by a team coached by College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
coach Robert Zuppke
Robert Zuppke
Robert Carl Zuppke was an American football coach. He served the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131–81–12. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, Zuppke coached his...
. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
account of the game noted: "Michigan stowed the game away safely in the first two periods when Stanley Fay, Wolverine halfback, registered the first two touchdowns after steady marches down the field. Fay plowed through the Illinois defense from the 11 yard line for the opening marker . . . In the second period Fay again carried the ball over . . . .from the one yard line." Fay's rushing and scoring was one of the leading offensive weapons for the undefeated national champion
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
1932 Michigan Wolverines football team
1932 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1932 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1932 college football season. The team's head football coach was Harry Kipke...
.
When Fay was elected by his teammates as the captain of the 1933 Michigan team, newspapers reported that his election was viewed as "an augur of good luck," as Fay had never played on a losing team, either in high school or college. Following the graduation of 1932 quarterback Harry Newman
Harry Newman
Harry Lawrence Newman was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines , the New York Giants , and the Brooklyn/Rochester Tigers .-College career:...
, Fay was moved to the quarterback position for the 1933 season. Fay helped lead the 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1933 college football season. The team's head football coach was Harry Kipke...
to its second consecutive undefeated season and national championship.
Ford Motor Company
After graduating from Michigan, Fay worked for Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, beginning as an assistant to Harry Bennett
Harry Bennett
Harry Bennett , a former boxer and ex-Navy sailor, was an executive at Ford Motor Company during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known as the head of Ford’s Service Department, or Internal Security. While working for Ford, his union busting tactics, of which The Battle of the Overpass was a prime...
, Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
’s most trusted lieutenant and the head of Ford’s Service Department responsible for labor relations. As Bennett moved into a larger sphere of duties, Fay became Ford's personnel director. In 1943, sports writer Warren Spoelstra wrote a syndicated story about the many former athletes working at Ford. Spoelstra noted that, aside from being a famous athlete himself, Fay had many former athletes working under him: "The inner circle about Fay also includes many minds which once made split decisions under fire on whether to field an end over end punt, or to try the squeeze play."
In September 1943, Bennett and Fay became the subject of publicity as a result of the court martial trial of William Colman, the former commanding officer of Selfridge Air Base in suburban Detroit. Colman was accused of, among other things, accepting gifts in exchange for procuring a war-time transfer of Henry Ford's grandson, Benson Ford, from Fort Custer
Fort Custer Training Center
Fort Custer Training Center, often known simply as Fort Custer, is a federally-owned and state-operated Michigan Army National Guard training facility, but is also used by other branches of the armed forces and armed forces from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio...
to Selfridge. Bennett testified that a shoe shining outfit had been sent to Colman by Fay but that the gift had no connection to the transfer of Benson Ford.
In September 1945, Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II , commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce", was the son of Edsel Ford and grandson of Henry Ford...
removed Bennett from his executive position at Ford Motor Company, and Bennett then resigned his position on the board of directors. Fay also resigned his position at Ford. In October 1945, Bennett and Fay formed a new company, called B-G-F Manufacturers' Representatives Co., with attorney Byron Geller. The company derived its name from the first letter of the last names of the three owners. The company was reportedly dissolved four months later in February 1946.
Later years
After his association with Ford and Bennett came to an end, Fay became a Detroit area real estate agent. Fay died in August 1987 at age 77. He was a resident of Franklin, MichiganFranklin, Michigan
Franklin is a village in Southfield Township, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,150 at the 2010 census. The community is known for large, estate-style homes situated on ravines, as well as its vintage downtown and cider mill....
at the time of his death.