Detroit Lions are an American football team are based in Detroit, Michigan, but were originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and called Portsmouth Spartans. Detroit Lions began playing as an independent professional team in 1929, one of many such teams in the Ohio and Scioto River valleys. In the 1930 season, Portsmouth Spartans formally joined the National Football league (NFL) as the other area independents folded because of the Great Depression. Despite success within the NFL, they could not survive in Portsmouth, the then smallest NFL city. Portsmouth Spartans purchased and moved to Detroit for the 1934 NFL season. Detroit Lions have won four pre-Super Bowl NFL Championship, the last in 1957, but have yet to qualify for the modern day Super Bowl. Since 1957, Detroit Lions has only won a single playoff game, which was in 1991.
Detroit Lions enjoyed its greatest success in the 1950's. Led by the quarterback Bobby Layne, they won the league championship in 1952, 1953, and 1957. Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns in the 1954 Championship Game. In 1958, after Bobby Layne had led the Detroit Lions to three NFL Championships and provided Detroit Lions nearly a decade of Hall of Fame play, the Detroit Lions traded Layne. On January 7, 1961, Detroit 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. Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye made plans, after the death of duet partner Tammi Terrell, to join the Lions and go into football. He gained weight and trained for the tryout in 1970, but was cut early on. On Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1974, after over 35 years, Detroit Lions played their final game in Tiger Stadium, where they lost to the Denver Broncos 31-27 in front of 51,157, amidst snow flurries and a 21 point Broncos 3rd quarter. Detroit Lions have played their games indoors ever since. Detroit Lions only made it to the playoffs once in the ‘70s and lost to the Dallas Cowboys. In 1991, Detroit Lions started the season by winning on national television 48-45, against the Washington Redskins. Detroit Lions went 14-2 for the season. Detroit Lions lost to the Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game, 41-10. This was the first time a team that had been shut out in its opener had reached the conference title round.
Detroit Lions also made the playoffs in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1999, making the 1990s one of the most successful decades in team history.
In addition to chanting "Fire Millen!" during Detroit Lions' games, some disgruntled Detroit fans have turned to actually rooting against their team at home games, desperately hoping that increased losses will hasten his firing. On December 9, 2005, one group of Detroit Lions fans, known as "The Lions Fanatics," organized an "orange out" event, which encouraged Detroit Lions fans to show up at Detroit's Ford Field clad in orange, the color of their opponent of the week, the Cincinnati Bengals. On December 24, 2006, another group of fans planned a walkout protest towards the end of the first half in the game against Chicago Bears, to express their disgust with Millen. However, only around 100 fans participated in this protest, as the Detroit Lions fell to the Chicago Bears 26-21. In 2007, Detroit Lions started 6-2. However, they finished the season by going 1-7, their final record being 7-9.
The blue Leaping Lion logo debuted in 1960. There have also been minor changes to the uniform design throughout the years, such as changing the silver stripe patterns on the jersey sleeves, and changing the colors of the jersey numbers. White trim was added to the logo in 1970. In 1998, the team wore blue pants with their white jerseys along with grey socks but dumped that combination after the season. The shade of blue that is used for the Detroit Lions uniforms and logo is officially known as "Honolulu blue." In 2003, Detroit Lions added black trim to their logo and the jerseys. The facemasks on the helmet changed from blue to black with the introduction of the new color. Additionally, an alternate home field jersey, which was black the dominant color (in place of Honolulu Blue) was introduced in 2005.
If you are thinking of going to any Detroit Lions game, shoot for Lions tickets against any of their NFC North foes (Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers), but there's also Denver Broncos-Detroit Lions tickets to consider as well as tickets to games against the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Kansas City Chiefs. Also, if you are planning to go to a Detroit Lions game, order your tickets now and enjoy the next game!
