This Curse Haunted The Detroit Lions For Decades

Sanders still on his feet Sanders is gone Detroit Li and the Lions have taking the lead originally founded as a ports mou Spartans in 1930 in 1934 the team found a new home in the city of Detroit Michigan and changed their name to the Lions the early years of the Lions franchise were fruitful winning four World Championships in the pre Super Bowl era the last of which coming in 1957 they were wordss in the infancy of the NFL a dynasty of the Old Guard but shortly after their last title everything would change long enough it is no uhoh that's unbelievable and you know it we have a 10sec run off so by rule the game is over In The End Zone it is caught for the win from 1950 to 1958 Hall of Famer Bobby Lane quarterback the dominant Detroit Lions bringing home three of the franchise's four world championship titles Bobby was known for his leadership and tenacity but most importantly embodied Detroit's toughness making him the perfect fit for a bluecollar City built by hardworking Auto Factory liesman there was ever a quarterback made to lead the Lions it was Bobby [Music] Lane however in 1957 after the Lions took home their third championship in six seasons with Lane on the sidelines due to injury the franchise took a turn the Lions too smart for their own good and feeling justified by their success believed they could win without Bobby and traded him at the beginning of the 1958 season Lane was insulted by the Lion's decision and as he was cleaning out his locker before heading to Pittsburgh was famously quoted saying that the Lions wouldn't win a championship for another 50 years knowing your father as you did isn't he capable of something like that oh sure he might have you know might have had a Fe sweet words in between in that moment the curse of Bobby Lane took its first breath and the Lion's Infamous Decades of futility began in the 1960s the Lions failed to make the playoffs including seven losing seasons for a cumulative record of 73 76 and 13 in 1970 after 12 Seasons without a division championship or playoff birth the playoff drought ended but Detroit failed to cure their playoff Wes losing to the Cowboys in the divisional round five to nothing that's going to be it that's the end of the ball game the final score Dallas five Detroit nothing that would prove to be their only shot to end the streak as the Lions stumbled through the 70s failing to make the playoffs again and closing out the decade with another below 500 record things began looking up to start the 80s when the Lions drafted All-American Heisman Trophy winning running back Billy Sims with the number one overall pick Sims was Electric in his first season with Detroit winning offensive Rookie of the Year and as a result the Lions record improved winning nine games in 1980 and eight games in 1981 in 1982 the Lions ended another decade long playoff drought when they faced off against the NFC best Washington Redskins there was a lot of hype surrounding the game for Lions fans but once again their efforts were fruitless as they got trounced by top seated Washington 31-6 1984 Bobby came knocking once again and tragedy struck the Lions franchise in an October game at the Metrodome a stadium known for its horrific Turf Lions faced off against division rival Minnesota with the Lions trailing 14 to7 in the third quarter Sims took a TOS sweep right but as he tried to cut his right foot caught on the tur and he went down uhoh yeah B Sim's holding his right knee the injury originally believed to be a knee sprain caused nerve damage in Billy's right knee despite his efforts Billy failed to regain full feeling in the joint and as a result never played again for the remainder of the 1980s the same old lions were back Detroit failed to make the playoffs after 83 and recorded six straight losing Seasons to close out the decade it was more of the same however in 1989 with so much heartache throughout the80s there was one bright spot the Lions drafted another Heisman Trophy winning running back this time out of Oklahoma State named Barry Barry Sanders the electrifying record-breaking running back from wiah Kansas was selected number three overall by the Lions and crowned the new savior in Detroit Detroit Lions select Barry Sanders running back of Oklahoma State although Barry's first two seasons in Detroit were losing ones he was remarkable often leaving fans jaws and opposing players on the ground as he juked and cut his way to the end zone the Lions finally felt they had someone to build around and built around them they did with Wayne font on the sidelines and Barry Sanders in the backfield the Lions ran all the way to their first Central Division CR in nearly a decade winning 12 games for the first time in franchise history in their first playoff game since 1983 the Pontiac silver Dome was packed with starve fans dying to see a three decade long playoff winless streak finally come to an end and end it did the Lions dominated the Cowboys in the divisional round 38 to6 thanks to three touchdown passes from Eric Kramer and a patented 47 yd touchdown run from Barry to just you know go to their home Sanders still on his feet and Sanders is gone with the decisive win over Dallas the Lions Advanced to their first NFC Championship game in the Super Bowl era on that day in 1991 Lions prideful were overcome with happiness having finally cured their playoff woses but little did they know that shortly after the streak came to an end another one would begin the following week the lions were blown out by the far superior Washington Redskins 41 to10 the Redskins went on to win the Super Bowl and the Lions went home sad to have fallen short but filled with a blissful ignorance that they were finally close to winning a championship close they were not as once again good old Bobby Came Calling the next off season after losing one promising young guard Mike Utley to a career-ending injury that left him paralyzed the Lions lost their other guard when Eric andc was tragically struck and killed by a semi-truck in his front yard earlier that summer the Lions also lost their defensive back coach Len font brother of head coach Wayne font when he passed away suddenly from a heart attack distracted and filled with sadness the Lions regressed tremendously finishing the 92 season 5- 11 and missing the playoffs after a disappointing season Detroit was back in 93 they won the NFC Central for the second time in 3 years and were matched up with the vision rival Green Bay in the Wild Card round the game was close and with the Lions clinging to a late lead in the fourth quarter all they needed was a stop the Packers led by a young Gunslinger Brett Favre were driving trailing by three needing a touchdown to win it and with only a little time left on the clock far found Sterling sharp for an improbable 40 yard touchdown wide open TouchDown Sterling sh open he got away and scored the touchdown with 55 seconds left Green Bay closed out the lines on defense and Detroit fans were reminded once again that the curse of Bobby Lane was far from finished they're going to win it the Packers are going to win it over the next four seasons the Lions would make the playoffs three more times losing all three times in the first round after another losing season in 98 the Lions received a strange fact from witw Kansas right before training camp all proo and future Hall of Famer Barry Sanders decided to hang up the cleats first Jordan then Gretzky then lway now this which unlike the others was completely unexpected the Lions and detroiters were devastated and even though the Lions made the playoffs without Sanders in 99 they lost once again in the Wild Card round all told the Lions compiled a staggering one in six playoff record in the 9s and failed to make it back to the NFC championship game with Sanders and font after the inspiring 1991 season the New Millennium brought the ugliest and unluckiest era in Detroit Lions franchise history revealing that Bobby's curse was still in full effect poor coaching hires were a main factor to the downfall of the team during this period including hires like Steve maruchi Rod Marinelli and Marty morning wig who famously elected to take the wind against division rival Chicago on a Gusty day in the windy city warning wig elected to defend after winning the coin toss in overtime stating that the tumultuous conditions were the deciding factor in his choice the Bears would go on to win the game with a field goal on their first drive good the Lions win the toss but never get the ball oh boy the man who oversaw the operation during this time period was Matt Millan arguably the worst GM in the history of professional sports during his tenure he blew multiple High first round draft picks on bus like Charles Rogers Joey Harrington and Mike Williams things got so bad under Millan that Lions fans attended games with bags over their heads and chance of fire Millan echoed through the rafters prior to the start of the 2008 season owner William Clay Ford decided he had finally seen enough heeding the advice of fans Ford fired Millan October 12th 2008 the curse was supposed to end this day 50 years to the day Bobby Lane placed his curse the Lions squared off against division Rivals Minnesota the Lions and their fans felt the curse was indeed over as the Lions led the Minnesota Vikings late in the fourth quarter despite quarterback Dan orlovski running out of the back of his own end zone for a safety in the first quarter poor guy I don't even know if he realized it and that's a safety well so much for me calling him savvy because he had no idea where he was on the field down by one with 2 minutes left in the game with Minnesota at their own 30 yd line Vikings quarterback Gus forat threw a bomb down the field the pass was incomplete but the lions were flagged for a questionable pass interference penalty this is the penalty that drives me nuts now 50 yard long for a penalty it looks like very incidental contact I don't think they need let play football let them play the game the Vikings would go on to kick a game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left winning by two and it appeared the curse of Bobby Lane was not over the Lions would lose the remaining games this season becoming the first team in NFL history to finish ow and 16 however there was one silver lining from this season the 2009 number one overall draft pick to accompany the Lions massive lightning fast receiver Calvin Johnson Detroit selected the big armed hard-nosed quarterback backed out of Georgia Matthew Stafford with the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft the Detroit Lions select Matthew Stafford could Stafford be the Saving Grace from Bobby Lane's curse it would make sense as oddly enough Bobby Lane and Matthew Stafford both went to the same High School 62 years apart that same year the Lions brought in firsttime head coach Jim Schwarz to lead the new QB wide receiver Duo things were looking up for a change in Detroit but it didn't take long for the Lion's new worst enemy to show its face hey hey Pete that's unbelievable that's unbelievable but the play is not reviewable touchdown personal foul face masch number 98 defense hey can I get explained that one in week one of the 2010 NFL season the Calvin Johnson rule was born the Lions trailing Chicago 14 to 19 on the Road appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown with only a few seconds left on a pass from Shawn Hill to Calvin Johnson but then after reviewing the play The Ref decided that Johnson failed to complete the process of the catch as he lost the ball on the way up to celebrate the ruling on the field stands Detroit third and the play set off a freny debate about what exactly constituted a catch by NFL standards and live on the other side of the the field I looked was like oh damn they oh damn he caught it he caught it oh no he really caught that but hey let's get off the field let's go I mean we talked about it in the locker room was like you think that was a catch hell yeah that was a catch I don't know how they didn't know it but I'll take the win years later this led the NFL to redefine the rules of a catch getting dubbed the Kelvin Johnson rule in 2011 the lions were back in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 where they visited a star started New Orleans team led by a future Hall of Famer Drew Brees and Super Bowl winning head coach sha Payton the Lions had an early 14 to7 lead with 5 minutes left in the second quarter on a second down play Lions defensive end Willie young hit Drew Brees and appeared to force a fumble that was recovered by the Lions however a referee blew the whistle early not allowing the Lions to advance the ball for what would have been a clear touch down to put them up 217 the Lions failed to score on the ensuing drive and the Saints took the lead after scoring 10 points on the next two possessions the Saints never relinquished their lead and the Lions hopes to end the playoff wi drought were dashed once again the next season the lions were maligned Again by the referees in a Thanksgiving game against the Texans the lions were leading 24 to 14 Midway through the third quarter on second and 10 Justin foret took a hand off up the middle and appeared to be tackled short of the sticks shockingly foret got up after not hearing them whistle and Race To The End Zone play foret taking it all the way Jim Schwarz knowing full well that forset was down immediately challenged the call the play is not reviewable by Detroit it'll be a 15yd penalty on the kickoff but the play is not reviewable touchdown this was the first year the NFL instituted automatic review on all scoring plays at that time the rule stated if you challenged a play already under review it would no longer be eligible for review later that season the NFL would change the rule only penalizing the team a timeout and not the right to review the play Bobby's Curse still haunted the Lions and even with their big three the Lions failed to accomplish anything of substance Schwarz was inevitably fired after two losing seasons and former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell replaced him things got better under Caldwell when the Lions made the playoffs in 2014 only to have their Super Bowl aspirations dashed by add another controversial call in their playoff matchup with the Cowboys Midway through the fourth quarter with the Lions leading 20 to 17 and driving down the field Anthony Hitchens appeared to interfere with Brandon peder on a third down pass play after initially throwing the flag the ref's inexplicably elected to pick up the penalty the flag wow that was late thir be that's unbelievable that's unbelievable and you know it you know it is though I know how does that get overturned how does that get overturned the Lions gave the ball to the Cowboys relinquished their lead and once again failed to win in the playoffs lion season will come to an end in very disappointing fashion in Dallas the call Drew a ton of media scrutiny and even President Obama commented on the Lion's Misfortune but but even a Bears fan has to admit that that was a little suspect once again the Lions finished another season with nothing to show for it the following year the Lions would regress under Caldwell with poor officiating being the story line once again in week four of the 2015 season the lions were driving down the field to take the lead against Seattle on Third and one Stafford hit Calvin Johnson on a quick strike as Johnson moved toward the goal line the ball was knocked loose from his hands as the ball bounced free on the ground KJ Wright illegally punched out of the end zone the refs ruled it a Touchback and Seattle held on to win even though the Seattle game was another unfortunate event event in Lion's history nothing perfectly exemplifies their 2015 season quite like the miracle in mtown with only a few seconds left on the clock the Lions appeared to stop Aaron Rogers on Third and 10 As Time expired but then the refs threw a flag on the play the call was a face mask against the Lions even though Rogers was clearly tackled by the shoulder pad I don't know did they get the face mask Packers would get one on time down to cap off a crazy series of events that could only happen to the Lions Rogers won it for the Packers on the game's final play he turned 32 yesterday does he have a vintage Moment In It In The End Zone it is caught for the win Richard Rogers with a walk-off touchdown a game Ender for the [Applause] Packers [Applause] total disbelief at Ford Field in 2016 the Lions started off hot winning nine of their first 13 games and having a strangle hold on the NFC North however Stafford would injure his finger late in the year and the Lions would lose their lead in the north dropping all three of their final games but still managing to make the playoffs in the first round the Lions faced off against the Seahawks and were promptly showed the door in a 26-6 blowout Loss in Seattle the curse of Bobby Lane failed to let up 2017 was marred by more officiating controversy in a week three game against the Falcons the lions were trailing by four with little time left in the fourth quarter the Lions drove down the field and on Third and goal appeared to score on a quick screen to Golden Tate however the scoring play was reviewed and the call was was overturned according to NFL rules there's a 10-second runoff since the lions were without timeouts even though if the play had been called correctly on the field the Lions would have easily had time to get on the line and run another play it's going to be real short we're going to have a 10-sec run off as you're out of timeout that be the game reviewing the play the ruling on the field is changed the runner was was touch down at the half a yard line he was short of the goal line by rule we would go back to a running clock and we have a 10-second runoff so by rule the game is over you can't end a game that way I mean that's just an unusual way to end a game the Lions would go on to miss the playoffs that year cell was fired and Matt Patricia was hired there was a lot of hype surrounding the Patricia hire the Lions had a talented veteran roster and Patricia was widely regarded as a defensive genius thanks to his famous play call that won New England Super Bowl 49 yet reports out of training camp were Grim with Whispers that veterans were disgruntled by Patricia's Patriot Way coaching style that included grueling practices and verbal confrontations during team meetings Patricia's first game was indicative of his entire tenure as lions head coach when the team was blown out of their own building by the New York Jets 48 to 17 after the loss Lions players never bought into Patricia's Patriot Way what led to the Discord in 2018 with your former coach Matt Patricia we was in a team meeting and um he's showing plays of me you know getting caught on in practice which is cool was no problem you know just correct me as a player help me get better go about my day but he added a little more fuel to it and um he had posted a picture off my my Instagram into the team meeting room told me to stop sucking this man private he just trying to build character trying to stamp this like his name on the team I guess trying to build a a structure or something like that so he kind of like attack so-call the best players on the team so the younger guys can like understand like okay he do that to slay he'll do that to me so he's just trying to I guess try to set the tone but in my way I don't think you need to set the tone in that type of way not telling another man that he need to be he up here sucking another man you know what like I like no that don't work like that wait darus you're saying he did this in front of the team the whole team in the team meet room so we had a whole highlight tape of me getting caught on then he posted a picture like and look at this out here sucking on this man cuz I posted a picture and I'm like what over time Pro Bowl players were slowly shipped away or retired first it was quandre Diggs then Glover Quinn and finally Darius SLE over the next three seasons Patricia and Quinn failed to a aeve a winning record with a result of 1433 and 1 as heads of the franchise on Thanksgiving Day 2020 the duo was fired leaving the next regime with a roster lacking Big Time Playmakers thanks to poor drafts and a toxic culture after the 2020 season relatively new owner Sheila Ford Hamp who took over for her mother Martha was tasked with finding a GM and a coach that could finally rebuild Lions her first move was to hire former Lions linebacker and fox color commentator Chris Spielman to lead the search Spielman landed on Dan Campbell former Lion's tight end and Saint's assistant head coach and Brad Holmes Rams director of college scouting Campbell familiar with Detroit from his time as a player Envision building a tough gritty team that represented the city in which they played his first press conference Drew laughs and snarky remarks from Sports analysts across the country but instilled a belief in the fans and play players that this time might be different right here's what I do know is that this team is going to take on the idea of this city all right and this city's been been down and it found a way to get up all right it's found a way to uh overcome adversity all right and so this team's going to be built on uh we're going to kick you in the teeth all right and when you punch us back we're going to smile at you and when you knock us down we're going to get up and on the way up we're going to bite a kneecap off all right and we're going to stand up and then it's going to take two more shots to knock us down all right and on the way up we're going to take your other kneecap and we're going to get up and then it's going to take three shots to get us down and when we do we're going to take another honk out of you before before long where they're going to be the last one standing Holmes another grinder who clawed his way to the top of an NFL front office after starting as a media intern was in lock step with Campbell's vision for the team and given that they already had franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford in place the rebuild didn't seem so daunting until it did breaking news here on CBS Sports HQ and it is Monster news a blockbuster trade in the NFL Detroit is dealing Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams in exchange for two future first round picks a third round pick and Jared gof these are two former number one overall picks trading places in an absolutely blockbuster trade that shakes things up both in Detroit and in La the Lions lost the last member of their big three but finally did right by their quarterback over 60 years after the infamous trade of Bobby Lane could this finally break the curse with all of his draft Capital Holmes rebuilt the team from the ground up he selected all Pros pan suul and amra St Brown and pro bowler Aiden Hutchinson and back-to-back drafts the Lions finally felt they had the right pieces in place but the 2022 season the second under Holmes and Campbell got off to a rocky start with the Lions losing six of their first seven games prior to their week nine match up with the Packers things were looking Grim once again until Hall of Famer pton Manning in Detroit Lions Super Fan Jeff Daniels decided enough was enough and set out to end the curse of Bobby Lane why is there a bathtub in the end zone of forward field am I on drugs trust me Jeff Google curse breaking spell and you'll up with this fill a tub with 100 cups of water and a cup of salt doesn't smell like water cuz it's whiskey Bobby Lane would have preferred that after the episode of Payton's places aired Dan Campbell's culture finally took hold and the Lions roared back Detroit won eight of their final 10 games barely missing the Playoffs due to a tiebreaker but in the same breath ended the Packers postseason hopes GF is looking to throw and he throws it it's caught for the first down by DJ shark the lion have come into Lambo and they've knocked the Packers down and out with tons of hype going into the 2023 season Brad Holmes cooked up his best draft class yet selecting second Team all pro Sam leaport and all rookie running back jir Gibbs both of which were finalist for offensive Rookie of the Year as well as defensive studs Jack Campbell and Brian Branch the Lions everyone's 2023 breakout candidate open the season in Arrowhead against the defending Super Bowl champs and let the NFL World know that the hype was with some momentum to the end zone for the touchdown not the same old Lions but one and0 Lions they beat the Chiefs in week one and roll their way to a 12 and5 record only their second 12- win season in franchise history they ended a 32-year division title drought winning the NFC North for the first time since its Inception and hosted their first ever playoff game at Fort field in the Wild Card round they took on the LA Rams a game that featured two former number one overall picks the quarterbacks that were traded for each other 3 years earlier former lion Legend Matthew Stafford gave Detroit all they could handle but in the end his efford wasn't enough as the Lions beat the Rams in an instant classic winning their first playoff game since 1991 and ending a nine-game playoff losing streak and Detroit for the first time in 32 years your Lions have won a playoff game have in the divisional round the Lions hosted the Bucks in Baker Mayfield where they won a close game on the back of their star offense that was sealed by a Derek Barnes interception here comes that pressfield in the middle it's intercepted it's Derek bar it's off to San Francisco for the Lions the lions were finally back in the NFC championship game where they faced off against the number one seated 49ers the line started off hot building a massive 24 to7 lead in the first half but the second half was one to forget bad break after bad break plag the Lions a dropped fourth down conversion a dropped interception and fumbled by rookie running back jir Gibbs were all the 49ers needed to erase a 17-point deficit play after play in the second half reminded many lions fans of their curse pasted and instilled belief in some that the curse may not be over while the NFC Championship loss was a patented Lions meltdown that haunted the franchise for Generations it feels as though that this time may be different my my my hometown I think they did a great had a great season next year they're going to be better the Lions have a young super talented roster a shrew GM and a fiery head coach that gets the most out of his players only time may tell if the curse is truly over but it feels like this time the Lions will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come this is just the beginning boys next week at home guess whoever the wants to come in here let's go 3 1 2 [Music] 3 thanks for watching be on the lookout for our top 10 NFL prospects video that'll be dropping soon if you have any NFL or college football related content that you'd like to see feel free to leave a comment in the comment section

Channel: First Team Football

Views: 103,895

Keywords: nfl, football, american football, lions, professional sports, Curses, Sports, football highlights, superbowl predictions, endzone dances, team rivalry, ryan clark, rice nfl news, how bout those, jason kelce, nfl news today, detroit lions, professional football, football players fighting, nfl highlights

Id: Lc2qtX94Xdo

Length: 30min 16sec (1816 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 11 2024