Detroit Lions

Inaugural season: 1930

Home field: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

Owner: Sheila Ford Hamp

Team colors: Honolulu blue, silver, black, and white

Overview

The Detroit Lions are an American football team that plays in the North division of the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The team is among the oldest in professional football, with origins dating back to 1928. The team began as the Spartans of Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1928 before moving to Detroit in 1934. At the time, the new owner, radio executive George Richards, renamed the team “the Lions” because he wanted it to be the king of the NFL. The name was also seen as complementary to the existing Major League Baseball franchise, the Detroit Tigers. True to Richards’ word, the team went on to win four NFL championships between 1935 and 1957. However, despite this early success, the Lions have struggled to maintain consistency since the 1950s. Regular season successes in the 1990s and 2010s were punctuated with long playoff droughts in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s. The Detroit Lions had not been able to score a postseason victory since 1992 until the 2023-2024 season, when they won two playoff games, ending their thirty-one-season playoff drought. During their history, the Lions have had twenty-nine different coaches, with no coach lasting more than eight seasons.

Unsurprisingly, given the age of the franchise, the Detroit Lions have several longstanding traditions. One of the oldest is an annual game on Thanksgiving Day, an institution that began in 1934. This game has been played on the holiday every year except during World War II (1939–1945). In addition to its mascot, Roary the Lion, the team has its own anthem, “Gridiron Heroes,” composed by Wayne State University band leader Graham Overgard and dates back to the 1930s. Detroit is one of only thirteen cities with a team in all four major leagues.

History

The Lions began as the Portsmouth, Ohio, Spartans. Like many early franchises in the NFL, the Spartans were located in a smaller Midwestern city before the league expanded to its current national fan base. The Spartans played in the first-ever playoff game against the Chicago Bears in 1932, ultimately losing 9–0. The game was played because of an unexpected tie in the league rankings between the two teams. The enormous interest driven by the game led to two divisions and an annual title game. By 1934, the small size of Portsmouth and the growing Great Depression threatened the existence of the Spartans. Richards, the owner of radio station WJR, bought the team for the then-enormous sum of $8,000 and moved it to Detroit for the 1934 season.

Built for success with a loaded roster and a proven coach in Potsy Clark, the Lions’ first six years in Detroit led to winning seasons and their first league title over the New York Giants in 1935. Unfortunately, the Lions’ Western Conference was very competitive, and they often finished behind the powerful Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. By 1939, many of their best players had retired, leading to a period of futility and rebuilding, culminating in a 0–11 season in 1942 that saw historic lows in scoring. The remainder of the 1940s was largely forgettable for the Lions.

Under new coach Buddy Parker and with quarterback Bobby Layne, running back Doak Walker, and tackle Lou Creekmur, the Lions reached the pinnacle of NFL success in the 1950s. Between 1951 and 1962, the Lions finished first or second in their division nine times. More importantly, they won NFL titles in 1952, 1953, and 1957 and contended for the title in 1954. Such success was fleeting, however, as the team spent the remainder of the 1960s as a consistently .500 team. Between 1969 and 1975, the Lions finished second in the newly fashioned NFC Central division for seven consecutive years, a testament to the team’s growing mediocrity on the field. By 1979, the team was languishing in the basement of the NFL, scoring only a 2–14 record. The Lions saw a glimmer of competitiveness in the early 1980s and qualified for the playoffs in 1982 and 1983 under coach Monte Clark but lost in the first round on both occasions.

The hiring of Wayne Fontes and the drafting of Barry Sanders in 1989 marked a turning point for the Lions and a return to respectability. By 1991, the pair had guided the team to a 12–4 record and its first playoff win since 1957. Their dream season ended at the hands of the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Washington Redskins. Although the Lions qualified for the playoffs six out of the next eight seasons, they failed to win another playoff game, leading to the dismissal of Fontes in 1996 and the midseason resignation of his successor, Bobby Ross, in 2000. Sanders’ retirement in 1998 proved to be another blow to the Lions’ potential successes. Surprisingly, the Lions reached the playoffs in 1999 with an 8–8 record, but it would prove to be their last appearance until 2011.

The first decade of the twenty-first century under new team president Matt Millen would be among the most disastrous in the team's long history. Although the Lions had transitioned from the aging Pontiac Silverdome to the new Ford Field in 2003, fans were treated to little on-field success. Despite this, Millen was the second highest-paid general manager in the NFL during this period. Among the signals that the seven-year Millen era was not a success included a .277 record overall and zero road wins during a painful three-year stretch between 2001 and 2003. Millen became the focus of frustration, and numerous “Fire Millen” signs began appearing at home games as anger grew among the Lions’ faithful fans. Millen was ultimately fired in September 2008 despite signing a controversial two-year extension in 2006.

The remaining part of the season would be a blotch on the Lions’ history. Although the team went 4–0 during the preseason, it quickly cratered, finishing 0–6. It was the first time an NFL team had finished winless since the league moved to a sixteen-game season. Head coach Rod Marinelli was let go at the end of the season, ending all links to the Millen years. Under new coach Jim Schwartz, the team began a slow rebuilding process, from two wins in 2009 to six in 2010. The Lions ultimately capitalized on a ten-win 2011 season and the team’s first playoff appearance since 1999, a 45–28 loss to the New Orleans Saints. However, like many of his predecessors, Schwartz was unable to maintain any level of success, and the team fell to four wins in 2012. Schwartz was fired after a 7–9 season in 2013. That season also saw the Lions win their showcase Thanksgiving game for the first time since 2003.

Schwartz’s successor, Jim Caldwell, brought a level of consistency to the team, finishing with a 36–28 and .563 winning percentage over his four years as coach. While Caldwell was able to give the team some stability and a birth in two playoffs in 2014 and 2016, he was unable to win a conference championship or a playoff win, and he was fired after the end of 2017 after only four seasons. The team turned to New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as its new coach, although he was unable to build on Caldwell’s win total in his debut season, and the Lions finished 6–10. After failing to lead the Lions into the postseason, Patricia was fired in November 2020, and Dan Campbell took over the head coaching position in 2021. In 2023, the Lions ended their thirty-one-year playoff drought when they defeated the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in the wild card round of the playoffs in January 2024. They followed with a defeat of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round, however, they lost in the conference championship game to the San Francisco 49ers.

Notable Players

As of 2024, the team has twenty-two players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, among the highest of any franchise. Calvin Johnson in 2021 and Alex Karras in 2020 are the newest inductees from the Lions. Perhaps the most famous Lions player was running back Barry Sanders (played 1989–1998), who played his entire career for the Lions and holds several NFL records, including most consecutive seasons of 1,100 more yards. He was a ten-time Pro Bowl honoree and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1997. He finished his NFL career with 15,269 rushing yards and ninety-nine rushing touchdowns. Other key running backs for the Lions included Doak Walker (1950–1955), appointed to the Hall of Fame in 1986, and Billy Sims (1980–1984), who ranks second behind Sanders on the Lions’ all-time rushing list.

At quarterback, Lions fans typically rank Bobby Layne (1950–1958) as the team’s all-time best player under center. As part of the league’s old guard, he was among the last two players to wear a face mask on his helmet. He finished with 15,710 passing yards, which still ranks as the team’s best nearly fifty years after his career ended. Other important offensive players for the Lions were wide receivers Herman Moore (1991–2001) and Calvin Johnson (2007–present); quarterbacks Dutch Clark (1931–1932, 1934–1938), Greg Landry (1968–1978), and Matthew Stafford (2009–present); and kicker Jason Hanson (1992–2012).

On the defensive side, Detroit was anchored by such stars as Joe Schmidt (1953–1965), who would eventually go on to coach the team between 1967 and 1972, and linebacker Chris Spielman (1988–1995), who holds the franchise record for tackles with 1,138. Other key defensive players included defensive tackles Roger Brown (1960–1966) and Alex Karras (1958–1970); multipurpose player Yale Lary (1952–1953, 1956–1964); defensive end Al “Bubba” Baker (1978–1982); cornerback Dick “Night Train” Lane (1960–1965); and defensive backs Jack Christiansen (1951–1958), Lem Barney (1967–1977), and Dick LeBeau (1959–1972).

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