Detroit Lions Team History
 After
three futile attempts at establishing a professional football
team in Detroit in the 1920s, the "new" game took
a firm foothold in the city beginning in 1934, when Detroit
radio executive George A. Richards purchased the Portsmouth,
Ohio, Spartans for the then-astounding sum of $8,000 and moved
the franchise to the Motor City.
The Spartans had joined the NFL in 1930 and, in 1932, played
in one of history's most pivotal games, a hastily-scheduled
championship game against the Chicago Bears that was played
indoors at Chicago Stadium. From that game came three major
rules change and the division of the league into two divisions
and the establishment of an annual NFL title showdown.
Unlike previous Detroit pro football teams, the new Lions team
was loaded with some of the finest players of the day and the
team leader was Dutch Clark, a true triple-threat superstar
and the last NFL dropkicker, who became a charter member of
the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Playing in the University of
Detroit Stadium before crowds of 12,000, the Lions won the NFL
championship in their second year, 1935. Those early successes
firmly established pro football in Detroit and for more than
60 years the sport has been an integral part of the Michigan
sports scene.
The Lions also made their lasting mark by scheduling a Thanksgiving
Day game in their first season in 1934 and, except for a six-year
gap between 1939 and 1944, continuing the tradition until the
present day. Both before and after 1934, other NFL teams have
tried Turkey Day games, and except for the Dallas Cowboys, without
significant success.
In the 1950s, the Lions enjoyed their finest years ever with
four divisional titles and three league championships in 1952,
1953 and 1957. Stars of those glittering teams, whose annual
showdowns against the archrival Cleveland Browns fascinated
the pro football world, included such future Pro Football Hall
of Famers as quarterback Bobby Layne, running back Doak Walker,
tackle-guard Lou Creekmur and safety Jack Christiansen.
Since their last title in 1957, the Lions have been looking
in vain for the top spot. While outstanding players such as
Joe Schmidt, Yale Lary, Lem Barney and Dick "Night Train"
Lane earned election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the best
the Lions were able to accomplish as a team for the next 26
seasons were wild-card berths in 1970 and 1982. The Lions finally
ended their long championship drought by winning the NFC Central
Division championship in 1983. The Lions under Coach Wayne Fontes
and paced by superstar running back Barry Sanders, the team's
all-time rushing leader, also won divisional titles in 1991
and 1993. Detroit's first playoff victories since 1957 took
the Lions all the way to the 1991 NFC championship game for
the first time in franchise history.
The Detroit team moved from the University of Detroit Stadium
to Briggs Field, home of the baseball Tigers, in 1938, where
they stayed for 37 years. In 1975, the Lions moved into the
Pontiac Silverdome where they played for 37 years. Then in 2002,
the team moved back to downtown Detroit and into a new domed
stadium, Ford Field. The Lions are led by Chairman William Clay
Ford, who in 1964 purchased sole ownership of the Lions for
$4,500,000. |
