The 'Detroit Lions' are an
American football team based in
Detroit, Michigan. Originally based in
Portsmouth, Ohio and called the 'Portsmouth Spartans', the team began play in
1929 as an independent professional team
[1], one of many such teams in the Ohio and Scioto River valleys. For the
1930 season, the Spartans formally joined the
National Football League (NFL) as the other area independents folded because of the
Great Depression. Despite success within the NFL, they could not survive in Portsmouth, then the NFL's smallest city. The team was purchased and moved to
Detroit for the
1934 season.
The Lions have won four pre-Super Bowl
NFL Championships, the last in
1957, but have yet to qualify for the modern day
Super Bowl.
Franchise history
The Detroit Lions began play as the Portsmouth Spartans for the 1929 season, drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-pro teams in the local Ohio-Kentucky-West Virginia tri-state area. They immediately made an impact by twice defeating the heralded Ironton Tanks, a nearby independent professional team who had regularly played NFL member teams since the early 1920s with considerable success.
[2] The successful 1929 season behind them, the Spartans gained full NFL membership for the 1930 season, managing a respectable 5-6-3 in league contests, while the rival Tanks became yet another casualty of the Great Depression.
Early highlights as the Portsmouth Spartans include the "iron man" game against
Green Bay in
1932. In that game, Spartan coach Potsy Clark refused to make even a single substitution against the defending NFL champion Packers. Portsmouth won 19-0 and used only 11 players all game.
Also as the Portsmouth Spartans, the franchise played in an
unscheduled NFL championship game against the
Chicago Bears in 1932. The Spartans-Bears game was played because both teams ended the regular season with the same won-lost percentage (the Spartans finished at 6-1-4 while the Bears were 6-1-6; ties were not reckoned as part of the percentage in the NFL until
1972). Because of blizzard conditions in
Chicago, the game was moved from
Wrigley Field indoors to
Chicago Stadium, which allowed for only an 80-yard field; some have called the contest the first
arena football game. The Bears won, 9-0, and the resulting interest led to the establishment of Eastern and Western conferences and a regular championship game beginning in
1933.
Despite great success on the field, poor revenues and the Great Depression threatened the Spartans' survival. In
1934, a group led by Detroit radio executive George Richards (owner of Detroit's powerful
WJR) bought the Spartans and moved them to Detroit. Richards renamed the team the 'Lions,' as a nod to the
Detroit Tigers. He also said that the lion was the monarch of the jungle, and he intended for his team to be the monarch of the NFL.
Through Richards' radio connections, the Lions were able to play a
Thanksgiving Day game in their first season in Detroit, a tradition continued to this day.
Under
quarterback Dutch Clark, Detroit won its first NFL championship in 1935.
1950s
Primary Logo, 1952-1960.
Detroit enjoyed its greatest success in the
1950s. Led by quarterback
Bobby Layne, they won the league championship in
1952,
1953, and
1957. They defeated the
Cleveland Browns in each of those NFL Championship Games, but also lost to the Browns in the 1954 Championship Game.
In 1958, after he had led the Lions to three NFL Championships and provided Detroit nearly a decade of Hall of Fame play, the Lions traded Bobby Layne. Bobby was injured during the last championship season, and the Lions thought he was through and wanted to get what they could for him. According to legend, as he was leaving for Pittsburgh, Bobby said that Detroit "would not win for 50 years." Since this time, the Lions have not won another championship and have only a single playoff game win. Some have attributed the Lions' subsequent 49 years of futility to the "Curse of Bobby Layne."
Notably, the Lions succeeded in one of the greatest comeback victories in NFL postseason history. Trailing the
San Francisco 49ers 27-7 in the 3rd quarter of the
1957 Western Conference Playoff game, Lions quarterback
Tobin Rote rallied the team back with 24 unanswered points to beat the 49ers 31-27 at
Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The following week, Rote led the Lions to a decisive win over the Browns for the 1957 title. The Lions have only one playoff win since then.
Primary logo, 1961-1969.
On
January 7,
1961, the Lions defeated the Browns 17-16 in the first-ever
Playoff Bowl matching the runners-up from the two conferences into which the NFL was divided at the time (the Lions also appeared in the game in both of the next two years pursuant to their having finished second to the Green Bay Packers in the Western Conference in all three seasons; the Playoff Bowl was abolished in 1970 when the merger of the NFL and
AFL went into full effect).
In the mid-
1960s, the Lions served as the backdrop for the sports literature of
George Plimpton, who spent time in the Lions training camp masquerading as a player. This was the basic material for his
book ''
Paper Lion'', later made into a
movie.
In 1964,
William Clay Ford, Sr. purchased a controlling interest in the team for $4.5 million. This began a 43-year period of futility that continues today, during which the Lions have won just one playoff game.
1970s-80s
Tiger Stadium with football configuration.
made plans, after the death of duet partner
Tammi Terrell, to join the Lions and go into football. He gained weight and trained for his tryout in 1970, but was cut early on. He remained friends with a number of the players, particularly
Mel Farr and
Lem Barney, who appear as background vocalists on his
1971 classic single "
What's Going On."
On Thanksgiving day, November 28, 1974, after over 35 years, the Lions played their final game in
Tiger Stadium, where they lost to the
Denver Broncos 31-27 in front of 51,157, amidst snow flurries and a 21 point Broncos 3rd quarter. The football field ran mostly in the outfield from the right field line to left center field parallel with the third base line. The benches for both the Lions and their opponents were on the outfield side of the field. The Lions have played their home games indoors ever since.
The Lions made the playoffs only once in the
'70s, losing a defensive struggle to the
Dallas Cowboys, 5-0, in
1970. The team went through a string of average seasons, finishing 2nd or 3rd in the division in every season from 1970 through
1978. Finally, in
1979, the team finished with a 2-14 record, and thus earned the first pick in the following
draft.
In 1980, the Lions drafted running back
Billy Sims with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Lions made the playoffs in 1982 and 1983, winning the division in the latter season. However, Sims suffered a career-ending knee injury in 1984, and the team would not finish with a record above .500 for the rest of the decade.
1990s
Lions logo (1970-2002).
Barry Sanders in action.
The 1990s were "The
Barry Sanders Show" in Detroit. During his first season after being drafted in 1989, Sanders missed the NFL rushing title by 10 yards...because he chose not to go back into the game when the Lions already had the game won. According to Wayne Fontes, when he offered Sanders the chance to gain the yardage and the rushing title, Sanders declined, reportedly saying, "Coach, let's just win it (the game) and go home.
[3]"
In
1991, the Lions started the season by being shut out on
national television, 45-0, by the
Washington Redskins. The Lions then rebounded, winning their next 4 games. They went 12-4 for the season, They won their first division title in eight years, capping the regular season with a win over the then-defending AFC Champion
Buffalo Bills. They were inspired late in the season by the loss of guard
Mike Utley, who sustained a career-ending paralysis injury against the
Los Angeles Rams on
November 17, 1991. As Utley was carted off the field in that game he flashed a "thumbs up" to his teammates and the
Silverdome crowd. It became a rallying symbol for the remainder of the season.
In the playoffs, the Lions got their only postseason victory since 1957, when they defeated the
Dallas Cowboys 38-6 at the Silverdome. They lost to the Redskins in the
NFC Championship Game, 41-10. This was the first time a team that had been shut out in its opener had reached the conference title round. Two teams have since matched this feat: The
Philadelphia Eagles and the
New England Patriots did it in
2003.
The Lions also made the playoffs in
1993,
1994,
1995,
1997 and
1999, making the 1990s one of the most successful decades in team history. In 1993, they went 10-6, first in the NFC Central Division, but lost to the
Green Bay Packers. In 1994 they lost to the Packers in the playoffs again. In 1995 they lost to the
Philadelphia Eagles, in embarrassing fashion, 58-37 (entering the fourth quarter, they were down 51-21). In 1997, Detroit lost to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round. In 1999, The Lions closed out the decade reaching the playoffs for the sixth time in a ten-year span, which is a franchise record for playoff appearances during a decade. However, they lost yet again in the first round, this time to the Washington Redskins. Detroit's 1999 playoff berth also marked the second time in
Bobby Ross's first three years as head coach that he led the Lions into the post season. The last Lions' head coach to accomplish that feat was
Buddy Parker, in 1952-53 during his second and third seasons at the helm.
In 1997,
Barry Sanders ran for 2,053 rushing yards.
Sanders was one of the greatest running backs ever to play in the NFL. At the time, his career total rushing 15,269 yards was second only to
Walter Payton's 16,726 yards and he joined
Jim Brown as the only players among the NFL's 50 all-time rushing leaders to average 5 yards a carry, so when he retired abruptly after the 1998 season, his absence left a hole in the roster that may never be filled.
2000s
Lions logo since 2003.
After finishing the 2000-2001 season at 9-7, and missing the playoffs by a field goal in the season's last game, Lions owner
William Clay Ford, Sr. hired
Matt Millen, a former player and broadcaster, as president and CEO of football operations. Millen had no previous business experience or any experience in running a football operation.
Ever since Millen's hiring, the team has had considerable difficulty remaining competitive. The Lions went the entire
2001,
2002, and
2003 seasons without a road victory, thus becoming the only team in NFL history not to win on the road for three consecutive entire seasons. The streak, encompassing 24 games (also an NFL record) came to an end on
September 12,
2004, when the Lions defeated the Bears 20-16 at
Soldier Field in Chicago.
Millen has also received tremendous criticism for his draft failures. Three in particular stand out: quarterback
Joey Harrington, chosen third overall in the 2002 draft, was traded to the
Miami Dolphins for a conditional late-round draft pick after an unremarkable four seasons in Detroit (ironically, Harrington would come back to haunt the Lions in 2006); wide receiver
Charles Rogers, a caution on many pre-draft reports for his fragile physique, was nonetheless chosen second overall in the 2003 draft, and played sparingly in his three injury-plagued seasons before being cut before the first game of the 2006 season; Millen's sixth first-round draft pick,
Mike Williams (10th overall - 2005 draft), caught just 8 passes in eight games with the team before being traded along with Josh McCown for a 4th round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
Over the period of Millen's leadership as team CEO, the Detroit Lions own the NFL's worst winning percentage (24-72, .250). Despite the team's poor record under Millen's leadership and widespread discontent among fans, the media, and even some players, Millen received a five-year contract extension at the start of the 2005 season.
In addition to chanting
"Fire Millen!" during Lions' games, some disgruntled Detroit fans have turned to actually rooting against their team at home games, desperately hoping that increased losses will hasten his firing.
On December 9, 2005, one group of Lions fans, known as "The Lions Fanatics," organized an "orange out" event, which encouraged Lions fans to show up at Detroit's Ford Field clad in orange, the color of their opponent that week, the Cincinnati Bengals. That same day, Detroit sports talk radio station
WDFN organized a "Millen Man March" in protest of Millen's contract extension.
On December 24, 2006 another group of fans planned a walkout protest towards the end of the first half in the game against Chicago, to express their disgust with Millen. However, only around 100 fans participated in this protest, as the Lions fell to the Bears 26-21.
Logo and uniforms
Illustrated history of Lions uniforms.
Aside from a brief change to maroon in 1948 instituted by then head coach
Bo McMillin (influenced by his years as coach at
Indiana), the Lions uniforms have basically remained the same since the team debuted in 1930. The design consists of silver helmets, silver pants, and either blue or white jerseys.
1969 50th Anniversary Uniforms.
The blue Leaping Lion logo debuted in 1960. There have also been minor changes to the uniform design throughout the years, such as changing the silver stripe patterns on the jersey sleeves, and changing the colors of the jersey numbers. White trim was added to the logo in 1970. In 1998, the team wore blue pants with their white jerseys along with grey socks but dumped that combination after the season. In 1999, the 'TV numbers' on the sleeves were moved to the shoulders.
The shade of blue used for Lions uniforms and logos is officially known as "Honolulu blue," which is supposedly inspired by the color of the waves off the coast of Hawaii. The shade was chosen by Cy Huston, the Lions first vice president and general manager, and of the choice, he said: ''"They had me looking at so many blues I am blue in the face,"'' Huston said about the selection. ''"But anyway, it's the kind of blue, I am told, that will match with silver."''
[4]
In 1994, every NFL team wore 'throwback' jerseys, and the Lions' were similar to the jerseys used during their 1935 championship season. The helmets and pants were solid silver, the jerseys Honolulu blue with silver numbers and the jersey did not have 'TV numbers' on the sleeves. The team wore solid blue socks along with black shoes. The helmets also did not have a logo as helmets were simple leather back then.
The Lions also wore '50s-style jerseys during their traditional Thanksgiving Day games from 2001 to 2004 as the NFL encouraged teams to wear throwback jerseys on Thanksgiving Day.
In 2003, the team added black trim to their logo and the jerseys. The facemasks on the helmet changed from blue to black with the introduction of the new color. Additionally, an alternate home field jersey which makes black the dominant color (in place of Honolulu Blue) was introduced in 2005.
| Current Uniform |
|---|
 Home Uniform (2003-present) |  Road Uniform (2003-present) |  Alt. Uniform (2005-present) |
Season-by-season records
|-
| colspan="6" align="center" | 'Portsmouth Spartans'
|-
|1930 || 5 || 6 || 3 || 8th NFL || valign="middle" rowspan="2" | ''The NFL did not hold playoff games until 1932''
|-
|1931 || 11 || 3 || 0 || 2nd NFL
|-
|1932 || 6 || 2 || 4 || 3rd NFL ||
#
|-
|1933 || 6 || 5 || 0 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
| colspan="6" align="center" | 'Detroit Lions'
|-
|1934 || 10 || 3 || 0 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1935 || 7 || 3 || 2 || '1st NFL West' || 'Won NFL Championship' (
Giants) 26-7
|-
|1936 || 8 || 4 || 0 || 3rd NFL West || --
|-
|1937 || 7 || 4 || 0 || T-2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1938 || 7 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1939 || 6 || 5 || 0 || 3rd NFL West || --
|-
|1940 || 5 || 5 || 1 || 3rd NFL West || --
|-
|1941 || 4 || 6 || 1 || 3rd NFL West || -
|-
|1942 || 0 || 11 || 0 || 5th NFL West || --
|-
|1943 || 3 || 6 || 1|| 3rd NFL West || --
|-
|1944 || 6 || 3 || 1 || T-2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1945 || 7 || 3 || 0 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1946 || 1 || 10 || 0 || 5th NFL West || --
|-
|1947 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 5th NFL West || --
|-
|1948 || 2 || 10 || 0 || 5th NFL West || --
|-
|1949 || 4 || 8 || 0 || 4th NFL West || --
|-
|1950 || 6 || 6 || 0 || 4th NFL NFC || --
|-
|1951 || 7 || 4 || 1 || T-2nd NFL NFC || --
|-
|1952 || 9 || 3 || 0 || '1st NFL NFC' || 'Won' National Conference Playoff (
L.A. Rams) 31-21
'Won NFL Championship' (
Browns) 17-7
|-
|1953 || 10 || 2 || 0 || '1st NFC West' || 'Won NFL Championship' (
Browns) 17-16
|-
|1954 || 9 || 2 || 1 || '1st NFL West' || Lost NFL Championship (
Browns) 56-10
|-
|1955 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 6th NFL West || --
|-
|1956 || 9 || 3 || 0 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1957 || 8 || 4 || 0 || '1st NFL West' || 'Won' Western Conference Playoff (
49ers) 31-27
'Won NFL Championship' (
Browns) 59-14
|-
|1958 || 4 || 7 || 1 || 5th NFL West || --
|-
|1959 || 3 || 8 || 1 || 5th NFL West || --
|-
|1960 || 7 || 5 || 0 || T-2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1961 || 8 || 5 || 1 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1962 || 11 || 3 || 0 || 2nd NFL West || --
|-
|1963 || 5 || 8 || 1 || T-4th NFL West || --
|-
|1964 || 7 || 5 || 2 || 4th NFL West || --
|-
|1965 || 6 || 7 || 1 || 6th NFL West || --
|-
|1966 || 4 || 9 || 1 || T-6th NFL West || --
|-
|1967 || 5 || 7 || 2 || 3rd NFL Central || --
|-
|1968 || 4 || 8 || 2 || 4th NFL Central || --
|-
|1969 || 9 || 4 || 1 || 2nd NFL Central || --
|-
|1970 || 10 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFC Central || Lost
Divisional Playoffs (
Cowboys) 5-0
|-
|1971 || 7 || 6 || 1 || 2nd NFC Central || --
|-
|1972 || 8 || 5 || 1 || 2nd NFC Central || --
|-
|1973 || 6 || 7 || 1 || 2nd NFC Central || --
|-
|1974 || 7 || 7 || 0 || 2nd NFC Central || --
|-
|1975 || 7 || 7 || 0 || 2nd NFC Central || --
|-
|1976 || 6 || 8 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || --
|-
|1977 || 6 || 8 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || --
|-
|1978 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || --
|-
|1979 || 2 || 14 || 0 || 5th NFC Central || --
|-
|1980 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 2nd NFC Central || --
|-
|1981 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 2nd NFC Central|| --
|-
|1982 || 4 || 5 || 0 || 8th NFC Conf.+ || Lost
First Round (
Redskins) 31-7
|-
|1983 || 9 || 7 || 0 || '1st NFC Central' || Lost
Divisional Playoffs (
49ers) 24-23
|-
|1984 || 4 || 11 || 1 || 4th NFC Central || --
|-
|1985 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 4th NFC Central || --
|-
|1986 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || --
|-
|1987 || 4 || 11 || 0 || 5th NFC Central || --
|-
|1988 || 4 || 12 || 0 || 4th NFC Central || --
|-
|1989 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || --
|-
|1990 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || --
|-
|1991 || 12 || 4 || 0 || '1st NFC Central' || 'Won'
Divisional Playoffs (
Cowboys) 38-6
Lost
Conference Championship (
Redskins) 41-10
|-
|1992 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 5th NFC Central || --
|-
|1993 || 10 || 6 || 0 || '1st NFC Central' || Lost
Wild Card Playoffs (
Packers) 28-24
|-
|1994 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || Lost
Wild Card Playoffs (
Packers) 16-12
|-
|1995 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 2nd NFC Central || Lost
Wild Card Playoffs (
Eagles) 58-37
|-
|1996 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 5th NFC Central|| --
|-
|1997 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || Lost
Wild Card Playoffs (
Buccaneers) 20-10
|-
|1998 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 4th NFC Central || --
|-
|1999 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 3rd NFC Central || Lost
Wild Card Playoffs (
Redskins) 27-13
|-
|2000 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 4th NFC Central || --
|-
|2001 || 2 || 14 || 0 || 5th NFC Central || --
|-
|2002 || 3 || 13 || 0 || 4th NFC North || --
|-
|2003 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 4th NFC North || --
|-
|2004 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 3rd NFC North || --
|-
|2005 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 3rd NFC North || --
|-
|
2006 || 3 || 13 || 0 || 4th NFC North || --
|-
|
2007 || 0 || 0 || 0 || NFC North || --
|-
!rowspan="3"|Totals || 481 || 544 || 32
|colspan="2"| (1930-2006, regular season)
|-
! 7 || 10 || 0
|colspan="2"| (1930-2006, playoffs)
|-
! 488 || 554 || 32
|colspan="2"| (all games, 1930-2006, including playoffs)
★ = Current Standing
+ = Due to a strike-shortened season in 1982, all teams were ranked by conference instead of division.
#=The result of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game to determine the NFL champion between the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans counted in the standings.
Players of note
Current roster
Pro Football Hall of Famers
★ 7
Dutch Clark, QB (1963)
★ 64
Lou Creekmur,OL,DL(1967)
★ 35
Bill Dudley, HB (1966)
★ 22
Bobby Layne, QB (1967)
★ 50
Alex Wojciechowicz, C, LB (1968)
★ 14
Jack Christiansen, DB (1970)
★ 56
Joe Schmidt, LB (1973)
★ 81
Dick "Night Train" Lane, DB (1974)
★ 28
Yale Lary, DB, P (1979)
★
Frank Gatski, C (1985)
★ 37
Doak Walker, HB (1986)
★
John Henry Johnson, FB (1987)
★ 20
Lem Barney, DB (1992)
★ 76
Lou Creekmur, G/T (1996)
★ 20
Barry Sanders, RB (2004)
★ 88
Charlie Sanders, TE (2007)
Retired numbers
★
Dutch Clark (7)
★
Barry Sanders (20)
★
★ 'Note:' The #20 was retired specifically for Sanders, but most people recognize the retired number as also representing RB
Billy Sims and DB
Lem Barney, both of whom are also among the top all-time Lions at their positions.
★
Bobby Layne (22)
★
Doak Walker (37)
★
Joe Schmidt (56)
★
★ 'Note:' The #56 was unretired with Schmidt's blessing when the Lions acquired linebacker
Pat Swilling from the Saints. No player has worn it since Swilling left.
★
Chuck Hughes (85)
★
★ 'Note:' Hughes died of a heart attack during a game on
October 24,
1971, and his #85 was withdrawn from circulation. However, WR Kevin Johnson wore #85 during his stint in Detroit after asking permission from the Hughes family as he had worn that number throughout his professional career.
Lions Legends
The Lions have a special "program" called Lions Legends that honors noteworthy former players. The current list of legends includes not only the hall of famers listed above, but also the following players, who according to the Lions, ''"...Created special moments and added to the lore of football in the Motor City."''
[5]:
★
Charley Ane, C/T
★
Al Baker, DE
★
Jerry Ball, DT
★
Terry Barr, WR/DB
★
Les Bingaman, DT
★
Cloyce Box, RB/TE/QB
★
Lomas Brown, T
★
Dexter Bussey, RB
★
Gail Cogdill, E
★
James David, DB
★
Keith Dorney, T/G
★
Doug English, DT
★
Jim Gibbons, TE
★
Kevin Glover, C/G
★
Mel Gray, WR/KR
★
Robert Hoernschemeyer, RB
★
Alex Karras, DT
★
Greg Landry, QB
★
Dick LeBeau, DB
★
Mike Lucci, LB
★
Darris McCord, DE
★
Herman Moore, WR
★
Eddie Murray, K
★
Brett Perriman, WR
★
Tobin Rote, QB
★
Charlie Sanders, TE
★
Harley Sewell, G
★
Billy Sims, RB
★
Keith Smith, CB
★
Chris Spielman, LB
★
Wayne Walker, LB
Other notable alumni
Coaches of note
Head Coaches
Current staff
Radio and television
As of 2006, the Lions' flagship radio station was
WKRK 97.1FM, known locally as "
Free FM."
Dan Miller (play-by-play) and
Jim Brandstatter (color commentator) are the radio announcers. Most preseason games are televised by
WKBD, "Detroit's
CW" (or UPN Detroit until the summer of 2006), with
Frank Beckmann on play-by-play.
Notes and references
1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. [5]
5. Detroit Lions Site - History & Records Quote from the Lions site about Lions Legends.
See also
★
Thanksgiving Classic
External links
★
Detroit Lions official web site
★
Sports E-Cyclopedia.com
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