Detroit Lions - Pro Football Betting, Online Sportsbook Casino
Detroit
Lions History
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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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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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