Brady Keys
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brady Keys (May 19, 1936 – October 24, 2017) was an American professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player. He played as a
defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
for eight seasons in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He played college football at
Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...
as a halfback as well as a defensive back. Keys led the 1960 Colorado State team in rushing yards and total offense. Keys was also America's first black owner of a national fast food franchise.


Career

After being turned down for loans by a variety of banks he was loaned his seed money by
Dan Rooney Daniel Milton Rooney (July 20, 1932 – April 13, 2017) was an American professional American football, football executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL), and son of ...
, then manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers, to establish All Pro Fried Chicken, through which he became America's first black franchisor. 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. In 1969 he decided he needed to diversify and following a meeting with
James McLamore James Whitman McLamore (May 30, 1926 – August 8, 1996) was an American entrepreneur, the founder and first CEO of the Burger King fast food franchise, along with David Edgerton. He also created the Whopper sandwich. After selling Burger King ...
he agreed to take on a struggling
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
franchise in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, 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. In September 1970 he entered into a joint venture with
Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's s ...
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.


Death

Keys died on October 24, 2017, after complications from a stroke. He was buried at
Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed establishment of "the larges ...
.Brady Keys Jr.
/ref>


Legacy

Throughout his pioneering business career Keys consistently advocated for black-owned businesses, including founding both Burger King's and KFC's Minority Franchise Associations. He was the first black board member of the International Franchise Association. In 1971 he successfully lobbied Burger King to award the contract for its first inner city restaurant construction to a Black-owned business. In 1972 he was appointed to President Nixon's Minority Business Advisory Board. In 1973 he testified in front of Congress about his work in franchising and opportunities for minorities. In 1986 whilst on the executive board of the Burger King/PUSH Economic Development Covenant he was instrumental on securing an agreement with Burger King to funnel $750,000 into the black community, which at the time was the largest commitment made by any fast-food company.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keys, Brady 1936 births 2017 deaths Players of American football from Austin, Texas American football cornerbacks Pittsburgh Steelers players Minnesota Vikings players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Colorado State Rams football players Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery