1950's Detroit Lions

[Saban1]

The Detroit Lions were a dynasty in the 1950's, winning 3 NFL Championships and 4 Western Conference titles. I would say that this really started in 1950 when the Detroit Lions:

1. Traded for QB Bobby Layne. Layne played in 1949 for the New York Bulldogs, who were one of the worst pro football teams in history. Bobby said that he was going to quit football rather than play another season with the Bulldogs, who became the New York Yanks in 1950. The Yanks, traded Layne to Detroit for end Bob Mann, and probably some cash.

2. The rights to Doak Walker was acquired also from the Bulldogs/Yanks for some cash. Walker was the first round draft choice of the Bulldogs in 1949, but the team was desperate for money and sold his rights to the Lions. The Cleveland Browns had also drafted Walker in the AAFC draft, so the NFL commissioner told the Browns and Lions to work out a deal for Walker. Detroit gave Cleveland their 2nd round draft choice in 1950 for Doak, and the Browns took tackle John Sandusky.

3. Detroit hired Raymond "Buddy" Parker as an assistant coach. Parker was to become Detroit's head coach in 1951 and Parker became one of the best head coaches of his era.

4. In the 1950 NFL draft, the Lions got Heisman trophy winner end Leon Hart, a good player on offense and defense and later (1956), a fullback. Detroit also drafted Thurman McGraw, a tough defensive tackle.

5. From the All-America Conference, Detroit acquired back Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer and tackle Lou Creekmur. Creekmur is now in the PFHOF and Hoernschemeyer is in the HOVG.

6. Holdovers from the 1940's Detroit team were middle guard big Les Bingaman and a good defensive back, Jim Smith.

The Lions were one of the worst pro football teams of the 1940's, but improved to a 6 wins and 6 losses season in 1950 from a 2 and 10 record in 1948 and a 4 and 8 record in 1949. I don't believe that many people knew it at the time, but the Detroit Lions were on their way.


(To Be Continued)

[NWebster]

Hard to recall a franchise collecting so much value in a single season. a few would be the obvious 74 Steelers, 65 Bears, 83 Bears, but what's great about the Lions is how they sourced those guys from all over the place as opposed to just a great draft.

Another interesting Lion year is 58 when they drat Karras, Wayne Walker and Dave Whitsell. But they also had Bill Glass 57 draftee return from Canada, and of course he was part of the Milt Plum trade prior to 62 and that amazing season.

[Saban1]

Hard to recall a franchise collecting so much value in a single season. a few would be the obvious 74 Steelers, 65 Bears, 83 Bears, but what's great about the Lions is how they sourced those guys from all over the place as opposed to just a great draft.

Another interesting Lion year is 58 when they drat Karras, Wayne Walker and Dave Whitsell. But they also had Bill Glass 57 draftee return from Canada, and of course he was part of the Milt Plum trade prior to 62 and that amazing season.

The Detroit Lions were to collect even more talent with great drafts in 1951, 1952, and 1953. They must have had some good scouts. Also, Buddy Parker was known to have an eye for talent and made some good trades.

i thought that a good part of the improvement of the 1962 Lions was due to a new defensive coordinator named Don Shula. Don was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1963 and Detroit has never been the same.

Shula was part of Blanton Collier's coaching staff at the University of Kentucky. Also part of Collier's staff were Chuck Knox and Howard Schnellenberger. Despite the illustrious coaching staff, Collier and his entire staff were fired after the 1961 season. Collier went to Cleveland where he replaced Paul Brown as Head Coach in 1963. Shula went to Detroit and Schnellenberger eventually had a couple of number 1 teams at Miami U. Knox later coached the Rams, Bills, and Seahawks.

Anyway, more of the Detroit Lions rise to power in future posts.

[coachtj]

....raymond parker's book "we play to win" is a treasure trove of detail in all aspects of how buddy p. coached the lions. this text sure contributed to my chapters on the lions in my book. though so many contributed to the lions success; left safety jack christiansen was a key component to their defensive success, and in my interview with joe schmidt he related a couple dandy stories on jc. though bill s. played solid right corner for three years in detroit, his trade to sf to fill a gaping hole in the secondary added to the '57 title team as the lions got jhj in return. drafts, trades, and the esprit de corps that is captured so well by steve sabol in the "fabulous 50's" is a fun chapter of this decade.

[Saban1]

Coach: It must have been great to hear stories from people like Joe Schmidt. Speaking of Jack Christiansen, my next chapter involves him. I think that Bill Stits became expendable when Yale Lary returned from the military in 1956 and Karilivacz then was moved from right safety to the right corner.

I forgot about defensive back Don Doll and end Cloyce Box, holdovers from the 1949 Lions. Anyway, a great draft in 1951. Detroit got Jack Christiansen, guard Dick Stanfel, ends Dorne Dibble and Jim Doran, and linebacker LaVerne Torgeson. No wonder that Detroit improved so rapidly.

Detroit got a guy that could throw the ball in 1950 (Layne), and some guys that could catch it in 1951 (Dibble,Doran), and they already had Walker, Box, Hart, and Hoernschemeyer.

Also, coach Parker made trades for center Vince Banonis(one of the best centers in the league), fullback Pat Harder, and guard/linebacker Jim Martin. Martin was a handy guy to have around because he not only played guard and linebacker, but over the years also played defensive end and tackle and also kicked field goals. Pat Harder could also kick field goals as well as play fullback.

Detroit nearly won the Western Conference in 1951, only needing to win their last game of the season against the 49ers for the conference title, but Y.A. Tittle made a bootleg run for a TD to win the game for the 49ers. The loss was a bitter one for Detroit and a Lions player was heard to yell across the field to the 49ers players, "That game meant nothing to you guys." The Lions and 49ers had a bitter rivalry throughout most of the 1950's, and I think that this game had a lot to do with it.

So, the Detroit Lions came close in 1951, and were probably very disappointed with the way the 1951 season ended, but good things were ahead for the Detroit Lions.

[Saban1]

Another great draft for the Detroit Lions in 1952 as they picked up defensive backs Yale Lary and Jim David, tackle Bob Miller, E/LB Sonny Gandee, tackle Gil Mains, and guard Stan Campbell. Also joining the Lions that year was guard Dick Stanfel, who was drafted as a redshirt in 1951.

Another good pickup was back Earl "Jug" Girard, who was a handy man to have on the team. Girard could play halfback, end, and could throw the ball, and was a pretty good punter, and did the punting when Yale Lary was in the military (1954 and 1955). Girard also had played in the defensive backfield when he was with Green Bay, but Detroit was so loaded with defensive backs (Christiansen, Lary, David, Jim Smith and Don Doll) that it never became necessary to use him on defense.

Detroit was now one of the most talented teams in the league, if not the most talented.

The Lions lost a couple of games to the 49ers early in the 1952 season, but beat the L.A. Rams twice during the regular season and the Rams beat the 49ers twice that year. Detroit went on to lose only to the Bears at Wrigley Field (always a tough game for the Lions), and finished the season with a 9 and 3 record, which put them in a tie with the Rams.

A playoff game was set with the Rams, and the game was at Detroit, which was a break. Detroit won 31 to 21 to go on the the NFL Championship game with the Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Browns.

It was not one of Clevelands' better seasons when they finished with an 8 and 4 record (the 4 losses doubled the amount of losses for the Browns in any previous season) and Cleveland kind of backed into winning the eastern title, losing their last game which they needed to clinch, but 2nd place Philadelphia also lost their season finale.

Cleveland lost 2 of their best pass receivers (Mac Speedie, Dub Jones) to injury in their final game with the Giants, and Lou Groza had injured ribs and missed 3 field goals in the game. No doubt that these things helped Detroit as they played tough defense and Doak Walker broke away for a long TD run (about 77 yards I think) as Detroit won the World Championship of pro football, 17 to 7.

So, in 1952 the Detroit Lions had really come a long way in a couple of years, and this was just the beginning of their championship dynasty.

[Reaser]

Another great draft for the Detroit Lions in 1952 as they picked up defensive backs Yale Lary and Jim David, tackle Bob Miller, E/LB Sonny Gandee, tackle Gil Mains, and guard Stan Campbell. Also joining the Lions that year was guard Dick Stanfel, who was drafted as a redshirt in 1951.

Their 4th round pick was notable also, though not for what he did with the Lions.

Lary was the Lions first pick in 1952, but their first pick wasn't until the 3rd round as they had traded their 1st and 2nd round picks in earlier trades. Getting Lary in the 3rd round was a steal (side note: he was picked one spot ahead of WA HS football legend Don Heinrich who played in the first game at one of our more traditional HS stadiums in the state, a stadium I also got to play/QB one game in. Cool to say we both played in the same stadium.)

Got a decent amount of film from the 50's, Coach Troup's book which is packed with information, coupled with these running threads on the forums it does a great job of covering the 50's for those of us who weren't alive then. Good outline then Coach jumps in with his expertise, Webster and Turney usually drop some knowledge, BD gives us the details on transactions, eventually someone will discredit Layne and point to his stats without understanding them while also saying he wasn't a good passer, and then I'll go on my usual rant on how they should actually watch him play, see the great throws he made, give him credit for the always overlooked aspect of playcalling, and toss in that he was a good runner and no one has ever stood cooler while standing under center.

The posts are appreciated "Saban".

[Bryan]

Also, coach Parker made trades for center Vince Banonis(one of the best centers in the league), fullback Pat Harder, and guard/linebacker Jim Martin. Martin was a handy guy to have around because he not only played guard and linebacker, but over the years also played defensive end and tackle and also kicked field goals. Pat Harder could also kick field goals as well as play fullback.

I've read that Buddy Parker was a "shrewd" judge of talent, and that appears to be true, but some of the players Parker was able to acquire from other teams were really good players in the prime of their careers. Harder was coming off of a pro bowl year with the Cards and Banonis had been a stalwart with the Cards. Roger "Zany" Zatkoff had a few pro bowl seasons with Packers and then was sent to Detroit. The Niners gave up on John Henry Johnson. Tobin Rote had his best year ever in 1956 and was then made available to the Lions. Even Jug Girard was an important player on his Packers team before being shipped away. The interesting thing to me is why so many teams were willing to part with their good players, and also why they would send them to an already-strong team like the Lions. Did Parker collect 'malcontents' like Al Davis did in Oakland? Or was Parker just smarter than most other people in the NFL at that time?

On a side note, has anyone matched/broken Cloyce Box's 1952 record of 3 straight games with 3 receiving TDs?

[coachtj]

....if buddy parker would answer questions for me, the most important would be "based upon your playing career with detroit, what brought about running back by committee"? girard was highly regarded by parker for his ability to run the comeback route on the sideline. girard hated playing defensive halfback in green bay, wanted to play offense. talented players left, yet the replacements sometimes were better as in the case of don doll, losing job to jc. james robert smith "tulsa bob" had a falling out with buster ramsey, and bill s. fills in with solid three year performance. once heard at a coaching clinic "luck is the residue of design"....and parker sure had a plan. schmidt was adamant in stating how well the d-line in front of him played, especially bob miller, and ray k.(possibly the most under appreciated d-line of the decade?). finally mr. d. walker. not much of an inside runner, but very effective/productive off-tackle, and on sweeps. threw the half back option pass well, but ALL of parker's backs must be able to do this. walker was split out as an end or flanker on many plays, and was exceptional when called upon. though not much of a tackler he was an excellent deep pass defender at safety. parker/ramsey benched carl k. in the '54 title game due to renfro, and walker played much of the game. add his ability to kick, and return kicks....thus he is in canton.

[rhickok1109]

Parker and Layne invented the two-minute drill at Detroit.