1950's Detroit Lions

[Saban1]

.....saban, have you entertained thoughts about purchasing my book? just "plugging" away at promoting for all of you with any interest in the 50's. to finish off '56 .....the lions averaged 362 yards a game on offense for the strong 6-0 start. games four through six the lion defense allowed just three offensive touchdowns. film study shows that layne was a master at reading coverages(especially when opponents had poor linebacker coverage), thus passes to cassady and other backs early in the year were very effective. flare routes in the flat, and circle routes over the middle with superb timing by bobby allowed yards after the catch. middleton had 23 of his 39 receptions the second half of the campaign. layne spread the ball around during the six game win streak. hugh "the king" mcelhenny has a brilliant performance in detroit running the ball(over 100), but is off set by don mcilhenny gaining over 100. whenever a lion opponent had a big offensive game, someone in honolulu blue and silver would offset it. as for your query concerning the meadows cheap shot. the focus of the film is on the runner, yet you see layne down on the ground after the hand-off. key here is what happened in '55....meadows as a steeler makes a dirty hit on layne yards away from the ball, long after he has handed off....no penalty on meadows. so there is a history there, and as to why meadows did not like layne.....maybe bobby did not take him out drinking?

Good stuff here coach. One thing that I love about this forum is that I learn things. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about ordering your book. Also, I plan to ask my local library to order your book. I have done this with other books in the past, and so far, they have always ordered the books I asked for.




On to 1957. One thing about the Lions defense, they were very good at forcing turnovers. In a couple of their amazing comebacks in 1957, forced fumbles accounted for getting the ball back that led to scoring points. Chris' crew was also good at getting intercepts. So, the Lions defense was always dangerous.

Let's go back a little earlier. There was a "Meet the Lions" banquet sometime during training camp that year, and Head Coach Raymond "Buddy" Parker kind of added a little excitement into the festivities by making an announcement. Parker announced that he was quitting the Lions, and he was leaving Detroit that night. Buddy also added that he had never seen a worse team in training and he didn't want to suffer through another losing season, or something like that.

Was there more to this? Maybe there was. Parker told some people that the Detroit Lions Board of Directors was making his life kind of intolerable. It was reported that one member of the BOD wanted Parker fired and actually blamed Buddy for Detroit's season ending loss to the Chicago Bears in 1956. Also, the Board pressured Parker to take Heisman Trophy winner Howard "Hopalong" Cassady in the college draft (Detroit had the 3rd overall pick) when Parker really wanted to pick Joe Childress, a fullback from Auburn. The Chicago Cardinals took Childress with their first pick.

Another thing; Parker was offered a contract by the Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney that may have been more lucrative than what he was making at Detroit, so Buddy may have been crying all the way to the bank. Parker did take the head coaching job at Pittsburgh.

Parker looked like a prophet for awhile because the Lions record after 6 games was 3 wins and 3 losses. Their biggest regular season win was probably their second game with Baltimore. Detroit was way behind in this game, but made a great comeback to win 31 to 27 after being behind 27 to 3 late in the 3rd quarter. A couple of forced fumbles by the defense aided greatly in the comeback. Besides Bobby Layne, a hero in this game was Cassady, who caught 2 TD passes in the comeback.

At season's end, Detroit and the 49ers were both tied for the lead with an 8 and 4 record. So, a playoff was necessary to decide the western champion the next week in San Francisco. Like the Baltimore game, Detroit was way behind, losing 24 to 7 at the half. The locker rooms were close together and the Detroit players heard the 49ers doing much celebrating during halftime, with some talking about how they were going to spend their championship money. There was also an announcement that tickets for next weeks championship game between the 49ers and Browns would be on sale.

The second half started with Hugh McElhenny making a long run to deep in Detroit territory. A TD here would just about wrap things up for the 49ers, but the Lions defense held and The 49ers settled for a field goal. The score was now 27 to 7. After that it was all Detroit. Tom "the Bomb" Tracy made some big runs and there was at least one forced fumble by the Detroit defense. When the smoke cleared, it was Detroit who was to play the Cleveland Browns in the title game, and not the 49ers, who had blown their big lead and lost the game, 31 to 27.

I didn't mention yet that Bobby Layne had been injured in the 2nd last game in the regular season with the Cleveland Browns, so Tobin Rote alone was the starting quarterback after that. Layne and Rote had been alternating at QB until then. Rote had been acquired in a trade by Buddy Parker in training camp. This trade turned out to be the key in Detroit's championship run. Another good pickup by Parker was a trade for running back John Henry Johnson from the 49ers. I bet that the 49ers regretted that trade.

The Cleveland Browns had come back from a losing season in 1956 to win the Eastern Conference title in 1957. Otto Graham and a lot of Cleveland's old heroes like Dante Lavelli, Marion Motley, Mac Speedie, and Bill Willis were now gone, and the Browns were almost a completely different team than the one that entered the NFL in 1950. The quarterbacks were now Tommy O'Connell and rookie Milt Plum, and Cleveland now had a fairly good rookie running back named Jim Brown.

Tommy O'Connell led the Browns to a good start in 1957 with Cleveland winning 6 of their first 7 games, but was injured about a month before the end of the season. Milt Plum finished the season as the starting QB, but pulled a hamstring a few days before the championship game. As a result, Cleveland Head Coach Paul Brown decided to start a rusty O'Connell in the title game, and this turned out to be a big mistake.

They say that revenge is sweet, and it was a very happy day for the Detroit Lions as they routed the Browns, 59 to 14 in the championship. O'Connell threw 2 intercepts that were turned into touchdowns in the first half by the Lions and rookie Milt Campbell fumbled a kickoff that led to 7 more Detroit points. With the score 17 to 7, the Lions set up for a field goal, but holder Tobin Rote faked it and passed for a TD to rookie Steve Junker The score was 31 to 7 at the half. It got no better for Cleveland in the 2nd half as Plum took over at QB for the Browns despite his hamstring problem. Again, the final score was Detroit 59, Cleveland 14, which very much avenged the 56 to 10 championship game loss to Cleveland in 1954.

I think that Buddy Parker deserved a share of Detroit's championship money for making the trade for Tobin Rote, if for no other reason. 1957 was the end of the Lions championship dynasty, but maybe it would have lasted longer if Parker and Layne were to stay with Detroit. Of course, Baltimore was to come up in 1958 and Vince was to show up in Green Bay in 1959, so who knows. Anyway, it was a great run while it lasted.

[BD Sullivan]

Parker had a habit of either resigning or threatening to resign during his Detroit years. Interestingly, before he took the Steelers job, he was rumored to be in line to take over for Weeb Ewbank in Baltimore.

[Shipley]

CoachTJ, what is the title of your book about Detroit in the 50s, and how can someone order it?

[coachtj]

....my book is called "the birth of the modern 4-3 defense" and details all twelve teams from 53-59. since joe schmidt is the literal center piece of the book, more is written on the lions than the other teams. am very appreciative of the kind words, and positive feedback here at the forum for those who have purchased the book. the book sells for $45.00, but if you are a barnes & noble member 10% off. already listed at a reduced price(used) at amazon.com from different folks who deal in used books/or new if you prefer. hard to fathom that a book can be listed as "used" when has only been out a month? am doing a podcast with matthew ryan next week concerning the book.

[Saban1]

Coach TJ: I have been looking over your book on Amazon and reading parts of it. I am pretty sure that I will purchase it. Not sure that I would have started this thread if I knew that there was so much info about the 1950's Lions in it. I probably would have waited until I read your book.


Anyway, what is the legacy of those Detroit Lions of the 1950's? I read somewhere that the Lions were a quasi dynasty, which I guess means a dynasty...sort of. I don't really agree with that assessment. The 50's Lions won 3 NFL Championships, which equals the Patriots of 2000-present, Dallas of the 1990's, Washington from 1982-1991, and Cleveland in the 1950's, and is more than the Miami Dolphins and The Cowboys of Tom Landry-Roger Staubach. I think that there is a tendency to downgrade them because of when they won their championships (before everyone had TV sets and before the Super Bowls).

Those Detroit teams really had it all. Great head coach (Parker), great quarterback (Layne and maybe Rote could be considered a great quarterback), great lines (offense and defense), one of the greatest defensive secondaries (Christiansen, Lary, David, etc.) great linebackers (Schmidt, Torgeson), great receivers (Walker, Dibble, Box, Doran, Hart, Middleton, Girard), and great running backs (Hoernschemeyer, Harder, Walker, Gedman,etc.). You may argue about if all mentioned were really great (they all were at least good), but maybe the best thing of all is that they were really a team in every sense of the word. They were not just a bunch of players looking for individual glory and/or a paycheck. Those guys were committed to winning championships.

Maybe their championship run did not last as long as some of the others, and maybe they were not as consistent ( the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants only had one losing season in the 50's compared to Detroit's three, and the Rams had only two). Cleveland won 20 more games than Detroit in the 1950's and the Giants and the Rams(I think) also won more. However, when Detroit got into a big game (playoff or championship game), the Lions were almost always very tough to beat.

The Detroit Lions were a true dynasty in the 1950's, and history proves it, IMO.

[Bryan]

...saban, sure have enjoyed what you have written concerning the '56 lions, yet have to take issue with one statement. gilmer did not play well against the bears. film study(many times have watched the film of this game)shows that gilmer just is not a quality back-up coming off the bench. the lion defense did not adjust in the loss in wrigley to casares aligned at halfback instead of fullback, and the bears blocking assignments going against the lions right side(the bulk of casares yardage).

I've read that Halas brought in Clark Shaughnessy on 'special assignment' for the end-of-year game against the Lions. The Bears didn't put any pressure on Layne in their earlier 42-10 loss to the Lions, so Shaughnessy devised some new blitzes and defensive fronts which were highly successful. Gilmer might not have played well off the bench, but Layne didn't do any better in the 1st quarter. Did you see anything weird from the Bears defense in your film study of that game?

Shaughnessy also devised the offensive game plan. Harlon Hill was almost completely shut out by the Lions secondary in the first game, so Shaughnessy rotated Hill from flanker to end to halfback. Hill took handoffs, threw a pass, and was able to get open on occassion. JC Caroline was used at halfback, too.

I guess my point is that while the Meadows hit on Layne got all the attention, I think Shaughnessy's involvement in the game was the decisive factor. The Lions didn't have any answers to what the Bears were doing on both offense and defense.

[coachtj]

.....clark s. was hired by the papa bear before the '51 season. he refused the title of assistant coach, thus was listed as an administrator....which is bs. he WAS the defensive co-ordinator from 51 into the '62 season. he struggled remembering names, was profane and disrespectful to the players, innovative and willing to take risks with his gambling style "red dog" defense. in the '51 win over the redskins he used a hybrid cover 2 defense with george blanda aligned as a combination left outside linebacker/safety. in '55 against detroit the bears used a double a-gap red dog with the nickel safety and right outside linebacker. in tom bennett's superb book "the pro style" there is a one page profile on bill george which explains much of the hierarchy for the bears defense. corners & safeties came and went during his time in chicago due to the challenging responsibilities he gave them. the '56 victory over detroit showed the bear offense making the necessary adjustments. 1)avoiding jim david, and christiansen by running to the detroit right side. 2)aligning casares at halfback with the fullback bill mc. going in motion to his left, then a quick toss to casares with left tackle bill wightkin pulling.(new york used this play with gifford & r.brown). at one point in his time with the bears ....clark s. won 8 straight games against the rams(the revenge motive may have been a factor), and film study shows he could disrupt any offense. the downside is simply some games he out coached himself with some of the strangest alignment/responsibilites ever seen/given. for me the worst is 12/4/'60 in wrigley. st. vince and his fundamental and sound philosophy on offense destroys the bear defense. watching fred williams align at d-tackle, then rise up and attempt to play the packer sweep is a joke. halas was very, VERY fortunate that his young player personnel director(also helped coach the secondary) george allen; learned so much from clark s. concerning alignment's and strategies. clark s. had nothing but disdain and at all times tried to disregard allen, but allen was a bulldog who knew how much he could learn from this man. as the doug atkins story states(after clark s. is fired in '62)...allen calls the defensive players together for a meeting and begins with "good morning men"(clark s. would begin the meeting by calling the bear defenders vulgar names that usually coincided with perverse sexual acts or demeaning their manhood). atkins response to allen was stated as "I would kill for that man". evaluation of the middle linebackers during the transitional time of the mid 50's to the 4-3 was the central part of my book. not just why, and how....but who could play the position, and who could not. joe schmidt & bill george are head and shoulders better than the rest, yet the evaluation is difficult because both are asked to play the position in different ways(addressed many times in the book).

[Bryan]

clark s. would begin the meeting by calling the bear defenders vulgar names that usually coincided with perverse sexual acts or demeaning their manhood

Thanks for all of the information. The above tidbit made me laugh.

[JohnH19]

Thanks Saban, Coach TJ and all other contributors for a fabulous thread!

[Saban1]

Thank you John. Nice to hear things like that.


Detroit had a lot of great and very good players on their dynasty teams (1952-57), so first the Hall of Fame Lions from those teams:

1. Bobby Layne
2. Doak Walker
3.Joe Schmidt
4. Jack Christiansen
5. Yale Lary
6. Lou Creekmur
7. John Henry Johnson
8, Frank Gatski

Of Course, Gatski did most of his playing for the Cleveland Browns, and only played for Detroit in 1957. Kind of like Hugh McElhenny with the 1963 Giants. Still, a lot of Hall of Famers for one team over a 6 year period. I think that coach Parker should be in there too. Parker did as much as some of the coaches who are in the Hall, IMO.

Here are Lions players that made at least one of the 1st or 2nd team All-Pro lists or were invited to play in the Pro Bowl sometime during Detroit's championship run in no particular order:

1. Pat Harder
2. Bob Hoernschemeyer
3. Charlie Ane
4. Cloyce Box
5. Thurman McGraw
6. Les Bingaman
7. Jim Smith
8. Dick Stanfel
9. Dorne Dibble
10. Bill Bowman
11. Leon Hart
12. LaVern Torgeson
13. Jim David
14. Harley Sewell
15. Bob Miller
16. Don Doll
17. Darris McCord.

Also, Tobin Rote, Vince Banonis, and Ray Krouse were named to All-Pro teams when they played for other teams. Don't know why Rote wasn't named in 1957 when he played so great in the playoff and the championship. I think that maybe those All-Pro teams were named before the playoffs in those days.

One can see why Detroit had such a tough team during those years with so many great and very good players. The Lions were practically an all-star team. Bobby Layne and his merry men were a very formidable bunch of players.