Detroit Lions

Facts and information about the Detroit Lions

The great Running Back Barry Sanders played in only one winning playoff game for the Lions.

Former Lion standout Alex Karras was suspended from the league for ties to gambling and then later played a sitcom father on the TV show Webster.

Former offensive lineman Mike Utley was paralyzed on the field in 1991, please take a moment and visit the Mike Utley Foundation official website.

The first touchdown scored at Detroit’s Ford Field was scored by speedy wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim on a reverse handoff from another wide receiver, Eddie Drummond, during a punt return against the Green Bay Packers that went for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Two all-time great Detroit Lions, Doak Walker and Bobby Layne, were also teammates on the same high school football team in Dallas, Texas.
Running back Doak Walker’s career only lasted from 1950 to 1955, he led the league in scoring in two seasons… his first and last.
In 1970, soul singer Marvin Gaye tried out for the Detroit Lions. Some Lions players sang backup on his hit song “What’s Going On?”
In the early 1990’s the Lions had two consecutive Heisman Trophy winners on their roster at the same time. Running back Barry Sanders won the award in 1989 and Andre Ware won it in 1990. Years later the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner, Ty Detmer, would join the Lions.

Originally started in 1929 as the Portsmouth Spartans, they joined the NFL in 1930 and in 1933 became the Detroit Lions.

In what has become known as the “Iron Man Game”, Portsmouth Spartan Head Coach Potsy Clark refused to substitute for any of his players in a 1932 game versus the rival Green Bay Packers. Portsmouth, which would become the Detroit Lions in the following season, won the game 19-0 and used only 11 players total including offense, defense, and special teams.

Still playing as the Spartans, in 1932 the team lost to the Chicago Bears in an unofficial football championship game. The game was scheduled for Wrigley Field but due to extremely bad weather was moved indoors inside Chicago Stadium becoming the first indoor professional football game.

All three of the Detroit Lions 1950s NFL Championship teams were quarterbacked by Bobby Layne.

In 1961, the Lions won the first-ever Playoff Bowl, playing against the Cleveland Browns. The Playoff Bowl matched up the second place teams in each conference, while the first place teams played a week later in the Championship Game. The Playoff Bowl was discontinued after the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The book Paper Lion, later a movie, was written by Sports Journalist George Plimpton about his time in Lions training camp masquerading as a player.

At one time, soul singer Marvin Gaye tried out for the Detroit Lions but did not make the team. His friendship with Lions players Mel Farr and Lem Barney did lead to them singing backup on his hit 1971 song “What’s Going On?”

In 1974, after over 35 years, the Lions played their final game in Tiger Stadium.

In the playoffs following the 1991 season, the Lions got their first postseason victory since 1957 with a 38-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the Pontiac Silverdome.

The Lions were the first (and so far only) team to go three consecutive seasons without a victory on the road (2001, 2002, and 2003).

The team colors have been the same for the Lions since their inception, except for the 1948 season when they switched to maroon jerseys. A change made by the Head Coach at the time (Bo McMillin) who had coached at Indiana University.

The Lions and the Browns met for the NFL Championship in three consecutive years; 1952 (won by Lions), 1953 (won by Lions), and 1954 (won by Browns).

The Detroit Lions have retired the number 20 jersey to honor former Running Back Barry Sanders. Number 20 was also worn by all-time great Lions Lem Barney (Hall-of-Fame) and Billy Sims.

The Lions retired the number 56 jersey to honor former player Joe Schmidt, when Pat Swilling joined the team it was un-retired with the approval of Schmidt so Swilling could wear it. It has since never been used again.

Wide Receiver Chuck Hughes died of a heart attack during a game in 1971, his number 85 was subsequently retired.

The Lions have had three Head Coaches with the last name of Clark; George “Potsy” Clark (1931-1936, 1940), Earl “Dutch” Clark (1937-1938), and Monte Clark (1978-1984).

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