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 Detroit
Lions, professional football team and one of five teams in the
Central Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) of
the National Football League (NFL). Under the league’s
realignment plan, which will take affect in 2002, the Lions will
move into the North Division of the NFC. The Lions play at the
Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, and wear uniforms of
blue, silver, and white. The Lions built a dynasty during the
1950s, capturing four Western Division crowns and three NFL
titles from 1952 through 1957. (The Super Bowl was not played
until 1967.) During this time, running back John Henry Johnson,
quarterback Bobby Layne, and running back Doak Walker—all future
Hall of Fame members—starred under coaches Buddy Parker and
George Wilson.
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After many disappointing seasons from the
early 1960s through the 1980s, Detroit
assembled strong teams during the 1990s,
reaching the playoffs four times from 1991
to 1995 under head coach Wayne Fontes. Star
running back Barry Sanders recorded nine
consecutive 1000-yard seasons from 1989 to
1997. The Detroit Lions franchise traces its
origin to the Portsmouth Spartans, a team
based in Ohio that entered the NFL in 1930.
In 1932 the Spartans played in the league’s
first postseason game, losing 9-0 to the
Chicago Bears. In 1934 the club was sold to
radio station owner George Richards, who
moved the team to Detroit and renamed it the
Lions. In Detroit’s first season,
quarterback Dutch Clark led the team in
rushing, passing, and scoring. The Lions
shut out their first 7 opponents and
surrendered a record-low average of 4.5
points per game for the season, but they
failed to qualify for the playoffs. In 1935
the Lions earned their first NFL title,
shutting out 3 of 12 regular-season
opponents and soundly defeating the New York
Giants in the championship game. Ernie
Caddel was the team’s top runner and pass
receiver. |
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In 1940 future United States Supreme
Court Justice Byron White, a running
back, topped the league in rushing and
also led the Lions in passing and
scoring, but Detroit remained near the
bottom of their division. Two years
later the franchise lost all 11 games of
the 1942 season and scored only 38
points for the year. Detroit didn’t
return to the postseason until 1952,
when head coach Buddy Parker steered the
team to its first of two consecutive NFL
titles. Bobby Layne, a two-time NFL
yardage champion, directed a Lions
offense that also starred Doak Walker.
The club’s many defensive standouts
included safety Jack Christiansen,
defensive back Yale Lary, and linebacker
Joe Schmidt. |
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Lary
also ranked among the league’s finest
punters. The Lions defeated the perennial
Eastern Division powerhouse Cleveland Browns
in the championship games of 1952 and 1953.
Detroit won its third league championship in
1957 under first-year head coach George
Wilson. The veteran Layne was joined on
offense by John Henry Johnson. The Lions
once again defeated Cleveland in the
championship game, routing the favored
Browns by 45 points. From 1958 to 1981
Detroit reached the postseason just once, in
1970. |
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Many players enjoyed individual success
during the period, including defensive
backs Lem Barney and Dick “Night Train”
Lane, tackle (and future actor) Alex
Karras, quarterback Greg Landry,
linebacker Mike Lucci, tight end Charlie
Sanders, and wide receiver Pat Studstill.
In 1975 the team moved into the
Silverdome, the largest air-supported
domed structure in the world. In 1980
the Lions enjoyed their first winning
season in eight years. Powering the
offense was running back Billy Sims, who
was named NFL rookie of the year. Head
coach Monte Clark steered Detroit into
the playoffs in 1982 and 1983. The
team’s division title in 1983 was its
first in 26 years. |
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Head
coach Wayne Fontes took the Lions to the
postseason in 1991, as Detroit won a
franchise-record 12 games and played in its
first NFC Championship Game. Fontes won the
NFL coach of the year award. Detroit’s
offense in the early and mid-1990s featured
Barry Sanders, who won NFC rushing titles in
1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997. Detroit
made the playoffs in 1993, 1994, and 1995
but lost in the first round each year. After
a poor 1996 season Fontes was replaced by
former San Diego Chargers head coach Bobby
Ross. The Detroit Lions have never played in
the Super Bowl.
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