Because of the injury, Ford started only four regular-season games in 1950. However, he asked to be reinstated for the 1950 NFL Championship Game. Head coach Paul Brown agreed to allow Ford to suit up after receiving approval from the team doctor and arranging for a special mask to be built to protect Ford from further injury. Ford had been on a liquid diet until late November and dropped from 240 to 215 pounds, though he was back up to 223 pounds shortly before the championship game. As the championship game got underway, Ford sat on the bench as the Rams moved the ball 82 yards down the field for a touchdown. Browns head coach Paul Brown knew the defense had to tighten, and he called on Ford to enter the game. The "Cleveland Plain Dealer" later called this "one of Len Ford's great moments." Paul Brown stated that Ford "showed me that day he really was a man." Brown later recalled that Ford was the team's "only real hope of plugging a hole" and recalled one sequence as a defining moment in the game: