The Detroit Lions history records indicate the lions were established in 1929, as an independent professional football team. They were originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and known as the Portsmouth Spartans. There were many independent teams in the area at that time. During the 1930 season, the Spartans joined the NFL due to other teams falling out as a consequence of the Great Depression. They needed a bigger location to thrive as an NFL team. In 1934, they were purchased and relocated to Detroit. George Richards, who led the group that bought the team, renamed them the Lions, so that they would coincide with the Detroit Tigers. Due to the connections of the owner, the Lions had a Thanksgiving Day game their first season, and still have one every year to date.
The Detroit Lions are NFL history makers, since they are the only team that lost all regular season games in NFL history. This happened in the 2008 season, even though they won the preseason games. They were second to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to go winless with no ties since 1966 when the NFL and AFL merged. A notable aspect of Detroit Lions history is that they have won four NFL championships over the years with the last one occurring in 1957. The Lions have been to the playoffs nine times since that 1957 championship, winning one of those playoff games. Another positive note in Detroit Lions history, includes successfully winning the Playoff Bowl against the Cleveland Browns in 1961, and then made two more appearances before the Playoff Bowl was discontinued.
The Detroit Lions history at Tiger Stadium lasted until 1974. After that, the Silver dome had been completed, and the team moved there to continue their career. Throughout Detroit Lions history, they have had their ups and downs, although they became a spotlight team in the 1990s thanks to the arrival of Barry Sanders. He was drafted in 1989, and became an essential part of the Detroit Lions team. Once they had obtained Sanders on their team, they managed to make it to the playoffs in 1991, for the first time since 1957. They beat the Cowboys, but then lost to the Redskins, sending them out of the championship. Detroit Lions history in the playoffs includes 1993, 94, 95, 97, and 99, which was that one of the most successful decades for the Lions.
Detroit Lions history involved many coaches and owners over the years. The current GM and head coach are Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz, respectively. At one time, Marvin Gaye actually tried out for the team, but was cut early because he didn’t meet the standards of the NFL style and abilities. This happened during the 1970s. Another notable time in Lions was in the early 2000s, when they went without a win on the road throughout 2001, 2002, or 2003. The streak finally ended in 2004 with a victory over the bears. The Detroit Lions now play at Ford Field, which was finished with construction in 2002. Matt Millen acted as the president and CEO during this time, and ended up getting a lot of criticism for his decisions and failures as a president of the team. After seven seasons, the fans and the players were sold on ousting Matt Millen and did everything in their power to remove him from their team. He finally left in January 2009, after receiving a position on NBC’s Football Night in America, and spoke openly of how he would have fired himself because of his shortcomings with the Detroit Lions team.
