Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

One of my favorite Art Donovan stories was when the teams were coming out for the 2nd half, Donovan ran into Layne. I'll paraphrase the story.
I said "Bobby, how ya doin?" He breathed on me, I said "Jesus! Is that from last night?" He said, "Nah, I had a few at halftime."

Bobby Layne could play drunk most of time and those Lions teams still probably would have won. Their defense was so great. They not only held other teams from scoring very much, but they had a ball hawking defense, getting many interceptions and the Lions were also good at forcing fumbles.

They had great players on their offense too, including a great offensive line (Creekmur, Sewell, Banonis, Stanfel, Ane, etc.) and running backs like Doak Walker and Hunchy Hoernschemeyer. Their receivers were not too shabby either with Cloyce Box, Dorne Dibble, Jim Doran, Leon Hart, and later in Layne's era, Dave Middleton. Bobby Layne was great, but the Detroit Lions of that era had a lot of other things going for them. Also, a great head coach in Buddy Parker.

I hate to say "I read somewhere" but I read somewhere that the 1951 and 1952 Lions were the last champions
without a black player.
In the '50s, I never paid much attention to the "other division" - especially at the end if the Giants were not involved.
After all, in the first years of that decade, I was not even a teenager yet.
If that 1951 / 1952 "fact" is true, when did that picture change in Detroit?
Surely "devout" Lions' fans have team photos of those years.
Beyond the obvious legends, I cannot determine race by roster alone.
(In the meantime, I promise to look a bit more for that citation.)

Buddy Parker traded for John Henry Johnson in 1957. I believe that Johnson was the first African American to play for Detroit since Bob Mann was traded to Green Bay in 1950. Maybe I am wrong, but that is what I think happened.

Actually, Bob Mann was traded to the New York Bulldogs/Yanks in 1950 as part of the Layne trade, if I am correct. Mann went to Green Bay in another trade.

oldecapecod 11 wrote:I hate to say "I read somewhere" but I read somewhere that the 1951 and 1952 Lions were the last champions
without a black player.
In the '50s, I never paid much attention to the "other division" - especially at the end if the Giants were not involved.
After all, in the first years of that decade, I was not even a teenager yet.
If that 1951 / 1952 "fact" is true, when did that picture change in Detroit?
Surely "devout" Lions' fans have team photos of those years.
Beyond the obvious legends, I cannot determine race by roster alone.
(In the meantime, I promise to look a bit more for that citation.)

At the turn of the half century, the Lions had as many black players as anyone; Wally Triplett, Bob Mann, and one other player. But they actually went backwards, and the 1952 and 1953 Lions were the last all-white champions (The Rams won the title in 1951.)

by conace21 » Sat Dec 06, 2014 3:53 pm
oldecapecod 11 wrote:
I hate to say "I read somewhere" but I read somewhere that the 1951 and 1952 Lions were the last champions
without a black player...
...(In the meantime, I promise to look a bit more for that citation.)
"At the turn of the half century, the Lions had as many black players as anyone; Wally Triplett, Bob Mann, and one other player. But they actually went backwards, and the 1952 and 1953 Lions were the last all-white champions (The Rams won the title in 1951.)"

For those who don't know (and probably don't care,) Michigan has more lighthouses than any State in the United States and more than any country in the world except the United States. I was fascinated when I learned this thinking that honor would certainly be with a coastal state.
Anyway, I was looking at photos of some of the Michigan lights and, as is often the case, was distracted -
actually attracted - to the mention of the Lions and, like MacDuff, read on...
(I know; I know. he was told to lay on.)

As I said, I never cared about that "other" division but I have found part of the source I referenced.
I write "part" because there is more than one "100 Days, 100 Detroit Lions" References shown.

So, here is the link to the main site and a link to one of the subsections.

I also printed part of one of the exceprts.

Enjoy...

Hmmm... it looks like this thread will give Hail Casares a run for his money but 250-odd posts is a long way off.

http://waketheherd.wordpress.com/

http://waketheherd.wordpress.com/2012/1 ... nd-tigers/

WaketheHerd.com
LANSING, MICHIGAN U.S.A.
100 DAYS, 100 DETROIT LIONS

The following is a sample chapter of the book I am currently writing about the history of Detroit, Michigan from roughly the end of World War Two (1945), through 1960. If you like this chapter, please read the previous chapter which is entitled, Black, White and Red All Over.
Chapter Ten: White Lions
At the end of the 1951 season, there were a total of seventeen black players in the National Football League. Those seventeen players had found homes on six of the NFLs thirteen teams. The members of that exclusive club included:
Cleveland Browns: Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Len Ford, Horace Gillom, Emerson Cole
Los Angeles Rams: “Deacon” Dan Towler, Paul ‘Tank’ Younger, Bob Boyd, Harry Thompson, Woodley Lewis
New York Giants: Bob Jackson, Emlen Tunnell
New York Yanks: Buddy Young, George Taliaferro, Sherman Howard
San Francisco Forty-Niners: Joe “The Jet” Perry
Green Bay Packers: Bob Mann
As you can see, ten of those seventeen players were on either the Cleveland Browns or the Los Angels Rams – the teams that squared off for the 1950 and 1951 NFL championships. <<<--- I shudda seen that.

Saban wrote:Actually, Bob Mann was traded to the New York Bulldogs/Yanks in 1950 as part of the Layne trade, if I am correct. Mann went to Green Bay in another trade.

Mann was cut because he asked for more money and he was supposedly blackballed. However, the Packers desperately needed players and Jack Vainisi was not one to go along with blackballing, anyway, so the the Packers signed him as a free agent.

rhickok1109 wrote:

Saban wrote:Actually, Bob Mann was traded to the New York Bulldogs/Yanks in 1950 as part of the Layne trade, if I am correct. Mann went to Green Bay in another trade.

Mann was cut because he asked for more money and he was supposedly blackballed. However, the Packers desperately needed players and Jack Vainisi was not one to go along with blackballing, anyway, so the the Packers signed him as a free agent.

I am sure that you are right. I knew that Mann ended up with Green Bay. Trouble with going by memory.

I don't believe that there was any racism on Buddy Parker's part. Parker was from Texas (as were Bobby Layne and Doak Walker), but I am sure that Parker would have jumped at the chance to get a player like Ollie Matson or Joe Perry, and he did trade for John Henry Johnson. I think That Buddy just went after the best players that he knew about. He was just about winning.

BTW, Bob Mann was traded away before Parker took over in Detroit.