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As the Portsmouth Spartans, the franchise
played in an unscheduled NFL championship game against the
Chicago Bears in 1932. The Spartans-Bears game was played
because both teams ended the regular season with the same
won-lost percentage (the Spartans finished at 6-1-4 while
the Bears were 6-1-6; ties were not reckoned as part of the
percentage in the NFL until 1972). The Bears won the game,
9-0, and the resulting interest led to the establishment of
Eastern and Western conferences and a regular championship
game beginning in 1933.
Poor
revenues led to the team's move from Portsmouth, Ohio to Detroit
in 1934. That season, Detroit hosted its first ever Thanksgiving
Day game, a tradition continued to this day.
Under
quarterback Dutch Clark, Detroit won its first NFL championship
in 1935. In 1943, the Lions and the New York Giants played
to a 0-0 tie at Detroit - the last time an NFL game has ended
with that score.
Detroit
enjoyed its greatest success in the 1950s, led by QB Bobby
Layne. They won the league championship in 1957.
On
January 7, 1961, the Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 17-16
in the first-ever Playoff Bowl matching the runners-up from
the two conferences into which the NFL was divided at the
time (the Lions also appeared in the game in both of the next
two years pursuant to their having finished second to the
Green Bay Packers in the Western Conference in all three seasons;
the Playoff Bowl was abolished in 1970 when the merger of
the NFL and AFL went into full effect).
In
1980, the Lions drafted running back Billy Sims with the first
overall pick in the NFL draft. Led by Sims, the team got off
to a promising start that year and attracted considerable
media attention when they adopted "Another One Bites
The Dust," popularized by glam rock band Queen, as an
unofficial team song.
In
1991, the Lions reached the NFC championship game after having
been shut out 45-0 by the Washington Redskins on opening day;
they also lost to the Redskins in the NFC championship game
that year by a score of 41-10. This was the first time a team
that had been shut out in its opener had reached the conference
title round, and would remain the only such occasion until
both the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots
did likewise in 2003 (with New England going on to win the
Super Bowl).
The
team has had considerable difficulty remaining competitive
in recent years, going the entire 2001, 2002 and 2003 seasons
without a road victory, thus becoming the only team in NFL
history not to win on the road for three consecutive entire
seasons. The streak, encompassing 24 games (also an NFL record)
came to an end on September 12, 2004, when the Lions defeated
the Bears 20-16 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Founded:
1930 in Portsmouth, Ohio
Formerly known as: Portsmouth Spartans, 1930-1933.
Moved to Detroit prior to the 1934 season.
Home stadium: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
(Previously the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI)
Uniform colors: Honolulu blue, silver, and
black.
Helmet design: Silver helmet with a blue
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Arizona
Cardinals 
