History of the Detroit Lions

This article details the history of the Detroit Lions American Football Club.

NFL in Detroit Before the Lions

Detroit had four early teams in the NFL before the Lions. The Detroit Heralds (renamed Tigers for 1921) were the first NFL team in Detroit from 1920-1921 before folding. From 1925-1926, the Detroit Panthers played in the league before folding in much the same way. In 1928, the Detroit Wolverines were a city owned NFL franchise that lasted only a single season before folding. Since then, there had been no professional football teams in the Detroit.

1920s: Birth of the Spartans

Meanwhile, the Ohio-Kentucky-West Virginia tri-state area was becoming well known as a center of football excellence. The Ironton Tanks played NFL member teams annually throughout the 1920s [http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=3tanks] with considerable success.

The Spartans formed for the 1929 season, drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-pro teams in Portsmouth and immediately made an impact by twice defeating the heralded Tanks, who defeated NFL members Chicago Bears and New York Giants that same season. They formally joined the NFL for the 1930 season.

1930s: Early Success and the Move to Detroit

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.

Poor revenues and the Great Depression led to the team's move from Portsmouth to Detroit in 1934. That season, Detroit hosted its first ever Thanksgiving Day game, a tradition continued to this day.

Under quarterback Dutch Clark, Detroit won its first NFL championship in 1935.

1940s: Mediocrity

The 1940's were not a high point of the Lions history. They won a total of 35 games, for an average of 3.5 a season, including going 0-11 in 1942. The 1942 team's offense was so bad it scored only 5 touchdowns all season and never scored more than 7 points in a single game. In the middle of the decade they had some success finishing 6-3-1 in 1944 and 7-3 in 1945. The Lions were less successful in the latter half of the decade: from 1946 to 1949 the Lions won a total of 10 games.

In 1943, the Lions and the New York Giants played to a 0-0 tie at Detroit - the last time an NFL game has ended with a scoreless tie.

1950s: The Glory Years

Detroit enjoyed its greatest success in the 1950s. Led by quarterback Bobby Layne, and wide receiver Josh Ellis 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 leading the Lions to 3 NFL Championships and providing 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 Lion's subsequent 49 years of futility to the "Curse of Bobby Layne."

Notably, the Lions succeeded in one of the greatest comeback victories in NFL post-season 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 Lions have experienced only one post-season win since.

1960s: Paper Lion and the Beginning of the Ford Era

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 humorous sports literature of the late 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: Move to the Silverdome

Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye 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.

1980s: Early Promise and Decline

In 1980, the Lions drafted running back Billy Sims with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. Led by Sims, the team got off to a promising start that year and attracted considerable media attention when they adopted "Another One Bites the Dust", popularized by glam rock band Queen, as an unofficial team song. Lions player Jimmy "Spiderman" Allen recorded his own version of the tune with rewritten lyrics: "Come and watch them Detroit Lions who no one seems to beat...and another one bites the dust" which became popular on local Detroit radio. When the dust cleared, though, Detroit finished 9-7 and out of the playoffs, despite a 4-0 start.

The Lions were competitive in the early 80s, relying on an above average defense and the running of Sims. In 1981, led by quarterback Eric Hipple, the Lions battled the Buccaneers all season for the Division Title, that season also included a big win over The Dallas Cowboys at the SilverDome, as Eddie Murray kicked a game-winning field goal, but the win was also controversial as the Lions had 12 men on the field for that game-winning field goal. In the strike shortened season of 1982, the Lions finished with a 4-5 record, and made the playoffs, losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. In 1983, the Lions finished 9-7 and won the NFC Central division, but were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs on a missed field goal in the game's final moments.

Sims suffered a career-ending knee injury in 1984, which seemed to derail the entire franchise. They would not finish with a record above .500 for the rest of the decade, enduring a string of bad drafts, bad coaches, and generally bad play on the field.

The team's fortunes seemed to start turning around in 1988 when Wayne Fontes became first the interim and then the full-time head coach. During his tenure, the Lions drafted core players like safety Bennie Blades and linebacker Chris Spielman, but also colossal failure Andre Ware, who was selected by ESPN as the worst Heisman Trophy failure in the NFL [http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/heisman/flops.html] .

However, if true, Fontes' most enduring legacy was his successful alleged campaign to convince the Lions to draft Barry Sanders over Deion Sanders in the 1989 draft.

1990s: The Barry Sanders Era

The 1990s were The Barry Sanders Show in Detroit. His first season, he missed the NFL rushing title by 10 yards...because he chose not to go back in to gain the yardage. 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. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1999/year_in_review/flashbacks/retire_sanders90/] "

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 first (and to date, 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. 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: Steep Decline Under Millen

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. Two in particular stand out: quarterback Joey Harrington, chosen third overall, 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, chosen second overall and a caution on many pre-draft reports for his fragile physique, played sparingly in his three injury-plagued seasons, and was cut before the first game of the 2006 season. Millen's fourth first round draft pick, Mike Williams (10th overall - 2005 draft), played only a handful of snaps in 2006.

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, and following a dismal 2006 season, owner William Clay Ford declared Millen's job safe for at least another season. William Clay Ford stated in a press conference on July 12, 2007 that he never intended to fire Millen. [http://blog.mlive.com/lionsinsider/2007/07/ford_millen_was_never_in_dange.html]

2005

In the 2005 season, the Lions (whose home stadium, Ford Field, was the site of Super Bowl XL) won their first game against division rival Green Bay (17-3), but were completely humiliated by the Chicago Bears, led by rookie Quarterback Kyle Orton, in the second game (38-6). The Lions then lost a close game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a seemingly game winning touchdown was reviewed and controversially reversed (17-13). The Lions managed to get to 2-2 after a win against the Baltimore Ravens (35-17). After a last-second loss to the Carolina Panthers (21-20), Jeff Garcia was named the starting quarterback, and he led the Lions to a 13-10 win over Cleveland in Week 7. After that, the wheels came off. In week 8, the Lions lost to the Bears once again. Garcia threw a heartbreaking interception in OT which the Bears' CB Charles Tillman returned for a TD (19-13). The next week, Harrington was reinserted as the starter vs. the troubled Minnesota Vikings. However the Lions went down early and lost 27-14. The Lions did eke out a 29-21 win in week 10 against the lowly Arizona Cardinals. However, losses to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-7, and the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving, 27-7, pushed their regular season record to 4-7. As a result, head coach Steve Mariucci was fired a few days later on November 28, and Dick Jauron was named interim head coach. After the release of Mariucci, Cornerback Dré Bly, placed the blame on Harrington (indicative of the deeper issues the Lions had as a team), saying that "he [Harrington] had been there for 4 years and had not done anything for the team." Bly later apologized to the team, but not to Harrington. . Host Sean Baligian together with hundreds of angry fans marched the streets of Detroit in front of Ford Field. Things only got worse for the Lions after Jauron took over. They lost their Week 13 home game to the Minnesota Vikings 21-16 amidst chants from Lions' fans of "Fire Millen", a reference to embattled Lions' president and CEO Matt Millen, and then dropped to 4-9 with a Week 14 road loss at Lambeau Field in overtime 16-13 to the Green Bay Packers. The Lions have had the worse 5 year record since he came in. The Lions were easily defeated at home on Week 15 by the Cincinnati Bengals (41-17). Many die hard Lions fans chose to wear orange, and celebrated whenever the Bengals scored a touchdown.

Despite winning on the road against the New Orleans Saints 13-12 in the Alamodome, the Lions ended their season 5-11, with a 35-21 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. They were 1-4 under interim head coach Dick Jauron, and missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. The win against the Saints was considered detrimental, because had they lost, they would have had the second overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

2006

"For information on the 2006 season, see: 2006 Detroit Lions season."

External links

* [http://www.detroitlions.com/ Detroit Lions official web site]
* [http://www.portsmouthspartans.org/ Portsmouth Spartans Historical Society]
* [http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/det/lions.html Sports E-Cyclopedia.com]
* [http://www.thecurseofbobbylayne.com Curse of Bobby Layne]
* [http://www.detroittailgate.com/ Tailgating in Detroit]