Brady Keys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Austin, Texas, U.S.
New York City, New York, U.S.
 Keys, circa 1953 | |||||||||||
| No. 26, 24, 29 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Cornerback, safety, halfback | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | May 19, 1936 Austin, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | October 24, 2017 (aged 81) New York City, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school |
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| College | Colorado State | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1960: 14th round, 162nd overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Brady Keys (May 19, 1936 – October 24, 2017) was an American professional football player. He played as a defensive back for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL).[1] He played college football at Colorado State as a halfback as well as a defensive back. Keys led the 1960 Colorado State team in rushing yards and total offense.[2]
Keys was also America's first black owner of a national fast food franchise.[3][4]
After being turned down for loans by a variety of banks he was loaned his seed money by Dan Rooney, then manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers, to establish All Pro Fried Chicken, through which he became America's first black franchisor.[5][6] His first store opened in January 1967 and at its peak, All Pro Fried Chicken, had 150 franchises and was run by Keys as a family business.[3]
In 1969 he decided he needed to diversify and following a meeting with James McLamore he agreed to take on a struggling Burger King franchise in Detroit, which he turned around using a series of innovative approaches, being credited by some for coming up with Burger King's famous saying 'Have it your way'. By 1988 he owned 13 restaurants in Detroit.[4]
In September 1970 he entered into a joint venture with Kentucky Fried Chicken to take a 50 percent stake in 6 stores in the Detroit area, as a condition to this agreement he was required to liquidate all of his All Pro Fried Chicken restaurants, most of which were sold to the franchisees. By 1972 he owned these six restaurants outright.
In 1982 due to increased competition the stores had run into trouble and to secure their long-term future KFC offered him to swap these six restaurants for four anywhere else in the country under the normal terms of a franchisee to which he agreed choosing four restaurants based in Albany. By 2002, when he exited the business, he owned 11 KFC franchises.[3]