1950's Detroit Lions

[Saban1]

Thanks for the good responses. Some interesting stuff.

Buddy Parker really did have a high regard for Jug Girard. Evidence of that is that one of Parker's first moves after taking the head coaching job in Pittsburgh in 1957 was to trade (again) for Girard. Jug didn't get a lot of playing time at Detroit in 1956 due to so many good runners and receivers that year with the Lions (Hart, Gedman, Cassady, McIlhenny, Dibble, Doran, and Middleton) and with Yale Lary back from the military to do the punting. Former starting fullback Bill Bowman also did not get a lot of playing time that year. Bowman also wound up in Pittsburgh in 1957. Girard did the punting for the Steelers in 1957 and also caught 21 passes for an average of about 20 yards per reception.


Well, the Detroit Lions again struck gold in the 1953 NFL draft with LB Joe Schmidt, C/T Charlie Ane, G Harley Sewell, FB Lew Carpenter, RB Gene Gedman, DB Carl Karilivacz, and T Ollie Spencer. If the Lions were good in 1952, then they figured to be ferocious in 1953. Detroit must have been the most talented team in football now, with the possible exception of the Cleveland Browns.

Coach TJ mentioned how good that the Lions defensive line was, and I agree, but I think that they now had a great offensive line as well with tackles Creekmur and Ane, guards Sewell and Stanfel, and Banonis at center. Bob Miller could also play offensive tackle, and did some years ( Detroit had McGraw and Prchlic at DT in 1953) and Ane could move over to left tackle or center if needed. Not sure that Ane got much playing time as a rookie in 1953, but if not, then he was a good backup that year and was going to be a force for Detroit on the offensive line in future years.

Anyway, Detroit only lost 2 games in 1953 (to the Rams), but they beat the 49ers twice, and the 49ers beat the Rams twice. The 49ers also lost a game to the Cleveland Browns and finished 2nd to the Lions with a 9 and 3 record. This seemed to be the way it went for the 49ers during the 1950's. They often beat Detroit and made runs for the Western Conference title, but the Lions always seemed to win when it really counted, and that was probably the difference.

In the championship game against the Cleveland Browns (once again), Detroit's defense again won the day as Cleveland's star quarterback, Otto Graham, had the worst day of his career, completing only 2 passes all day. Still, the Browns were ahead 16 to 10 with only about 4 minutes left in the game. Bobby Layne (speaking of the 2 minute drill) drove the Lions down the field and completed a 33 yard touchdown pass to Jim Doran to win the game 17 to 16 for Detroit. Strangely enough, Doran didn't start the game and had played mostly on defense that year, but starter Leon Hart got injured and Doran had to replace him.

So, the Detroit Lions were the World Champions once again in 1953. Would there be a 3-peat?

[coachtj]

....dick stanfel was team mvp in '53. creekmur started at both guard positions when the situation called for it. in all of '54 and the first half of '55 andy miketa started at center. when ollie spencer & creekmur were at tackle in '56....charlie a. though a solid tackle moved to his preferred position of center, and the guy was a force on drive blocks. guys like bud brooks, and george atkins started at the guard position in '55, but just were not good enough to play at the nfl level, and of course the lions sunk in the standings. so yes, saban the lion offensive line was an integral part of their success, and had a strong core of fine blockers.

[Saban1]

....dick stanfel was team mvp in '53. creekmur started at both guard positions when the situation called for it. in all of '54 and the first half of '55 andy miketa started at center. when ollie spencer & creekmur were at tackle in '56....charlie a. though a solid tackle moved to his preferred position of center, and the guy was a force on drive blocks. guys like bud brooks, and george atkins started at the guard position in '55, but just were not good enough to play at the nfl level, and of course the lions sunk in the standings. so yes, saban the lion offensive line was an integral part of their success, and had a strong core of fine blockers.

Thanks coach for your interesting comments (as always). It must be nice to have so much inside info about pro football. For my part, I have a fans knowledge of pro football, but I think that I am more knowledgeable about pro football than most fans, at least about 1950's pro football.


In 1954, the Detroit Lions got rookies FB Bill Bowman, DB Bill Stits, DT Gerry Perry, and C Andy Miketa. A rather mediocre crop compared to the previous 3 years. Detroit lost C Vince Banonis, FB Pat Harder, and DT and team captain John Prchlik to retirement in 1954 and S Yale Lary, RB Gene Gedman, and T Ollie Spencer were drafted into the military. DT Thurman McGraw missed about half the season due to injury and Hunchy Hoernschemeyer had kind of an off year, averaging only about 2.6 yards per rushing attempt.

Despite these things, the Detroit Lions just sailed along only losing 2 games and having a tie in another. The only real threat to their Western Conference dominance was the San Francisco 49ers, who came flying out of the starting gate, but fizzled out after a season ending injury to Hugh McElhenny, who was having a sensational year, and other injuries and problems.

Detroit's final regular season record in 1954 was 9 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. So, the Detroit Lions looked like the same old Lions of the previous 2 years, and maybe even better.

A strange thing happened during the season. Detroit was supposed to play the Cleveland Browns in about the 4th or 5th week of the season in Cleveland, but the Cleveland Indians were in the World Series that year and needed the stadium for baseball. Detroit offered to host the Browns in Detroit and give Cleveland the home share of the gate, but Browns coach Paul Brown refused insisting on having the home field advantage. So, the game was to be played a week after the regular season was over.

As it turned out, the game was meaningless because both the Lions and Browns had clinched their conference titles. Detroit won the game 14 to 10 in the snow, but the championship was to be decided a week later, also in Cleveland. Buddy Parker was quoted as saying, "I wish this was next week."

Well, long story short, all the breaks that went Detroit's way the previous 2 years went the other way in the title game. As Otto Graham put it, "everything just came up gold for us (Cleveland) that day." The game turned into a rout as the Browns beat the Detroit Lions by the score of 56 to 10. Graham himself had one of his greatest days, passing for 3 TD's and running for 3 more. Detroit had 9 turnovers that day.

The Detroit Lions were going to go through a not very good period for them, but they were far from through.

[coachtj]

....paul brown's offense game plan not only was superb....graham played like what he was, a future hall of famer. one of the score's by graham(running to his right), the browns were aligned in unbalanced right(they almost never did this)and easily blocked the undermanned left side of the lion defense. layne was yanked by parker, but no matter how well layne played, the avalanche had begun, and no team was gonna beat cleveland on this day.

[Saban1]

....paul brown's offense game plan not only was superb....graham played like what he was, a future hall of famer. one of the score's by graham(running to his right), the browns were aligned in unbalanced right(they almost never did this)and easily blocked the undermanned left side of the lion defense. layne was yanked by parker, but no matter how well layne played, the avalanche had begun, and no team was gonna beat cleveland on this day.

Thanks again coach. Your analysis sounds like it is right on the money.


Going on to 1955, I would have to say that the 1955 season was not the high water mark of the 1950's Detroit dynasty. The Lions fell to last place with a 3 wins and 9 losses record. They also lost their first 6 games. So, what went wrong? Apparently a lot of things.

First of all, Les Bingaman, Thurman McGraw, Cloyce Box, Jim Smith, and Bob Dove retired. Also missing from the 1955 squad were LaVerne Torgeson, traded to Washington for middle guard Jim Ricca in an effort to replace Les Bingaman, Bill Bowman and Gerry Perry who were drafted into military service, and backup QB Tom Dublinski who decided to play in Canada. No doubt that Detroit missed Bingaman and McGraw on the defensive line, and Torgeson was a good linebacker.

New on the Lions that year were rookies RB/E Dave Middleton, DT Darris McCord, T/G Jim Salsbury, DB Lee Riley, and LB Bob Long, acquired in a trade with the Rams after one game. Also acquired in trades were QB Harry Gilmer, Walt Yowarsky, and, of course, Jim Ricca. Jack Christiansen, Dick Stanfel, and Dorne Dibble missed some games due to injuries. Dibble had been Detroit's leading pass receiver in 1954 with 46 catches.

Jim Ricca was a starting defensive middle guard for Washington for 4 years, and was a big guy, and appeared to be about as good a replacement for Les Bingaman as could be found. However, Coach Parker apparently was not pleased with his production on the field and fired him on the plane ride back to Detroit from San Francisco after the Lions 6th straight loss. I doubt that Ricca, who finished the season with Philadelphia, was to blame for all of Detroit's troubles.

Some other rookies whose names appeared on the active roster were George Atkins and Bud Brooks, who Coach TJ mentioned, Leon Cunningham, Dom Fucci, Walt Jenkins, Ted Topor, and Richie Woit. I think that those rookies came off the taxi squad due to injuries or something, and were gone the next year.

To replace Ricca at middle guard, left tackle Lou Creekmur was moved to the defensive line. Charlie Ane was moved to left tackle to replace Creekmur and rookie Jim Salsbury became a starter at right tackle. Detroit did win 3 games after the switches against Baltimore, Green Bay (Thanksgiving), and Pittsburgh. Those 3 wins were not against contenders, but at least they did win 3 games.

I have one theory about the Lions that year. Maybe they really weren't as bad as their record indicated. They were not getting slaughtered every week and some of their losses were close. I believe that 5 of the 9 losses were by 7 point or less. It could be that once they had lost a few and knew that their championship chances were pretty much gone, they didn't play quite as hard as usual. I could be wrong, but that is JMO.

Bobby Layne hurt his shoulder during the off season and this might have been another problem, but his numbers really were not too bad, and many of his passes, from what I saw, looked pretty good. With rookies replacing injured offensive linemen in some games, Layne probably often didn't get as much time to throw, and had to settle for shorter passes than usual. Layne's YPA (yards per attempt) was lower than usual.

So much for 1955. Things were to get much better for the Detroit Lions in 1956.

[NWebster]

and no one has ever stood cooler while standing under center.

The posts are appreciated "Saban".

This is a great observation and one I be always had trouble pinning down, but he just looked so comfortable and cool under center. Like John Wayne sauntering up tk a horse or just like someone who knew he belonged. He was very calm in looking over the defense and never rushed, and for a guy of his stature he stood so strong in the pocket like Joe Namath or Kurt Warner eyes downfield regardless of all the chaos going on around him. Kinda lime a reverse Eddie LeBaron who was like a whirling dervish.

[Saban1]

Bobby Layne had a lot of self confidence, and for good reason. He was very good and was a real tough competitor. He did not like to lose. Even after their last place finish of 1955, Layne, as well as coach Parker, felt that the Lions could regain the NFL championship, and they almost did in 1956.


I would call the 1956 season "Buddy Parker's masterpiece." I believe that Parker did his best coaching job in 1956, turning the 3 and 9 Lions into a 9 and 3 team that came very close to winning another Western Conference title. The 0 and 6 start of 1955 was reversed and became a 6 and 0 start in 1956, playing the exact same teams and in the same order. Coach Parker got the Coach of the Year award for 1956, and it was well deserved IMO.

Parker did so much juggling of personnel that year that only 3 players on offense (Layne, Creekmur, and Sewell) and 3 players on defense (Christiansen, David, and Miller) played the same position that they played in 1955, and Creekmur only played his usual left tackle position half the season in 1955 before being moved to middle guard on defense. Despite this, no rookies broke into the starting lineup in 1956, although rookie running backs McIlhenny and Cassady, and rookie DE Cronin got a good amount of playing time.

To start with, the 1956 Lions lost RB/E Doak Walker, RB Hunchy Hoernschemeyer, DE Jim Cain, C Andy Miketa, and backup center Leon Cunningham to retirement, FB Lew Carpenter to the Military, and Dick Stanfel was traded to Washington as was Lee Riley to Philadelphia. Also gone were the 1955 rookies from the taxi squad (I think) previously mentioned.

Additions that year were DB Yale Lary, RB Gene Gedman, T Ollie Spencer, T/DT Gerry Perry, and FB Bill Bowman back from military service, drafted rookies Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, Don McIlhenny, Gene Cronin, FB Tom Tracy, QB Jerry Reichow, and C Bob Lusk, and veteran DT Ray Krouse was acquired in a trade with the Giants.

One thing that helped was the strategy of running the ball more often. Despite the changes in the backfield, the Lions ran well in 1956 and did not fumble very often despite running so much (more than 100 times more than in 1955). Only one team (Pittsburgh) lost less fumbles (one less) than Detroit that year. The Lions ran and ran the ball, and this made the passing game more effective when they did pass. Running the ball so much had to take the edge off of the opponents' pass rush, and Detroit quarterbacks were only sacked about 7 times in 1956. The offensive line must have done a great job that year even though Charlie Ane was moved to center (where he was selected to some all-pro teams and was invited to the pro bowl at year's end), Spencer took the right tackle position, and Salsbury was moved over to right guard.

It all worked splendidly until the season finale against the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field. The game was for the conference title, although the Lions would have gotten the championship with a tie (Detroit had a 9 and 2 record and Chicago was 8-2-1 going into the game). Unfortunately, Layne was knocked out of the game early in the 2nd quarter due to a late blindside hit by Chicago defensive end Ed Meadows. Harry Gilmer played quarterback for the Lions for the rest of the game and played well, passing for 2 TD's and completing another to the 1 yard line that was shortly turned into 7 points for Detroit.

The Bears went on to win the game 38 to 21. Coach Parker and the Lions cried foul and blamed the Meadows play for the loss, but Chicago outplayed Detroit and Detroit's great defense could not stop Chicago that day, especially the Bears running game. Rick Casares alone gained 190 yards on 17 carries.

Despite the disappointing finish, it was a tremendous turnaround by the Detroit Lions in 1956. The Lions were definitely back. Layne's injury may have turned out to be a good thing for Detroit in a way. Buddy Parker said that he made a trade for Green Bay quarterback Tobin Rote as a result of what happened to Bobby in the Chicago game. Rote turned out to be the key to Detroit's success in 1957.

[coachtj]

...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. that is why the trade for tobin r. is made. as for the running game....besides the fact ollie spencer was a superb drive blocker, and charlie a. had a strong year.....the real key was aligning in the slot formation with jim doran in the slot(he also played some closed end). he had the size, and athletic ability to make every block. there is very little difference between slot backs jim doran & bill mc.(of the bears) and the tight ends to come in a few years. cassady & mcilhenny were not much running inside, but on sweeps and off tackle plays they were productive. the first half of the season these two gained 625 on 145 carries. 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).

[Saban1]

...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. that is why the trade for tobin r. is made. as for the running game....besides the fact ollie spencer was a superb drive blocker, and charlie a. had a strong year.....the real key was aligning in the slot formation with jim doran in the slot(he also played some closed end). he had the size, and athletic ability to make every block. there is very little difference between slot backs jim doran & bill mc.(of the bears) and the tight ends to come in a few years. cassady & mcilhenny were not much running inside, but on sweeps and off tackle plays they were productive. the first half of the season these two gained 625 on 145 carries. 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).

Thanks again coach. You are probably right about all of these things. You know more about this stuff than I do. Gilmer did throw 2 TD passes and completed one to the one yard line, but he also threw a pick 6 sometime in the second half, but the game may have been just about gone by then. BTW, I have never seen Meadows hit on Layne. Did you see it on film, and if yes, what did you think of it?


I think that I may not have even scratched the surface when it comes to the 1956 Detroit Lions, so, I shall devote this post to that year again. The improvement from 3 and 9 and last place in 1955 to the 9 and 3 and coming so close to another championship game the following year is quite amazing, IMO. So, how about a top 10 list of the reasons for such improvement?

1. Detroit going to a 4-3 defense from a 5-2 defense. The problem of Bingaman's retirement was solved by putting Joe Schmidt at MLB, and Schmidt was the right man for the job.

2. Dorne Dibble was back at LE full time again, and this allowed Jim Doran to play the slot back position and improved the blocking, as Coach TJ alluded to.

3. Yale Lary was back from the military and took back his right safety position. Detroit now had probably the best defensive secondary in football, and Chris' Crew intercepted a lot of passes (Christiansen 8, Lary 8, David 7, Karilivacz 2, and Stits 1 (Karilivacz and Stits shared the RCB position)).

4. The trade for DT Ray Krouse made the defensive line stronger and allowed Darris McCord to move over to defensive left end where he became a good one and had a long career with Detroit.

5. Ollie Spencer, back from military service, took the right tackle position and this allowed Charlie Ane to move to center where he did a good job. Detroit's offensive line in 1956 was now LT Creekmur, LG Sewell, C Ane, RG Salsbury/Campbell, and RT Spencer. Evidently, this group did a good job (along with Jim Doran) of run blocking and protecting Bobby Layne.

6. Detroit's running backs did a good job of running and did not fumble very often. This allowed Detroit to play a ball control type of game, and this also helped the passing game. Also helping was Detroit's defense, which was more like the Lions of 1952-54, and gave the offense plenty of scoring opportunities.

7. Bobby Layne had one of his best seasons, and was throwing the ball more down field. The offensive line was giving him more time to throw than in the previous year and the trio of receivers Dibble, Doran, and Middleton did well as receivers. Alter years of guys like Dibble and Cloyce Box being Detroit's leading receivers, Layne's favorite target that year was flanker Dave Middleton. Also, Layne's shoulder problems of 1955 were better.

8. Former end Leon Hart played fullback in 1956, and did a good job. Leon was a big guy (about 257 lbs.) and was a load to bring down. Leon was also a good blocker, and this might have helped Detroit's pass protection as well. Leon averaged 4.6 yards per carry in 1956.

9. Detroit's schedule was easier than usual in 1956. Detroit only played one team with a winning record that year (the Chicago Bears). Trouble is, the Lions lost a couple of close ones to Green Bay and Washington.

10. Bobby Layne took over the place kicking chores for the retired Doak Walker and seldom seemed to miss. His consistency no doubt helped them win some of the close games. Jim Martin still attempted to kick the long ones.

I am sure that there are other things that I am not aware of. Coach TJ's superior technical knowledge of pro football could probably give us some more reason's for the vast improvement. They are very welcome if he wants to share some.

[coachtj]

.....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?