NFL Team History- the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions were initially referred to as the Portsmouth Spartans. The franchise located in Portsmouth, Ohio was added to the National Football League in 1930.

In 1932, the Spartans faced the Chicago Bears in a tie-breaker game, also determining the NFL Championship, with the Chicago Bears. The Spartans were shutout by the Bears 9-0.

After a four-year stint in Portsmouth, Ohio, an association directed by George A. Richards purchased the Spartans franchise and relocated the team to Detroit, Michigan in 1934. The team identity was changed from the Spartans to the Lions. In the first game held in Detroit, the Lions shutout the New York Giants 9-0 in front of a home crowd of 12,000. Moreover, the Lions hosted their first Thanksgiving Day game in 1934. This would begin an esteemed tradition that still exists.

In 1935, under the leadership of quarterback Dutch Clark, the Lions claimed their first NFL Championship with a 26-7 victory over the New York Giants.

The decade of the 1940's would be far less generous for the Lions, as they would win a total of 35 games for the entire decade. Moreover, in 1942, they would finish the season with a thwarting record of 0 wins and 11 losses.

The franchise would encounter a personnel restructuring period and by 1952, the Lions had returned to championship form as they were victorious over the Cleveland Browns 17-7. The Lions repeated their NFL Championship performance in 1953 and 1957.

The Lions became the first team to win the Playoff Bowl, which was the post-season game between the second place teams from each division. They defeated the Cleveland Browns 17-16.

In 1964, William Clay Ford Sr. acquired controlling interest of the Detroit Lions franchise.

Throughout the 1970's, the Lions were characteristically mediocre and only clinched one post-season berth, which was in 1970. In their lone playoff game of the decade, they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys by an atypical score of 5-0.

The Lions ended a 12-year post-season drought in 1982, however they were sent home packing following a 31-7 defeat by the Washington Redskins.

A year later, the Lions clinched a second consecutive playoff berth, but a missed field goal would deny the Lions post-season glory as they would fall to the San Francisco 49ers 24-23.

In the 1989 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions selected running back Barry Sanders as their first pick. In his rookie season, Sanders staggeringly came up 10 yards shy of the NFL rushing title.

In 1991, the Lions won 12 games versus only 4 losses, which was their best season since the glory days of the 1950's. After defeating the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions would earn a trip to the NFC Championship Game in Washington, D.C., however the prevailing Washington Redskins proved to be overpowering as they thwarted the Lions 41-10, denying the Motor City of their first Super Bowl appearance, and first league or conference championship since 1957.

Throughout the decade of the 1990's, Sanders proved to be one of the NFL's most dynamic running backs, as he guided the Lions to the playoffs in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997. Unfortunately, the Lions were winless in each of the above-mentioned post-season games.

Following the 1998 season, Sanders unexpectedly announced his retirement from the NFL. The Lions running game suffered in the years following the retirement of their Hall of Fame running back. The Lions returned to the post-season in 1999, nevertheless, they would undergo another playoff failure by losing to the Washington Redskins.

In 2001, Lions owner William Clay Ford hired Matt Millen as the president and CEO of Football Operations. Millen was a distinguished football analyst, but the team's lack of accomplishments has hindered his repute with the fans in the Motor City.

The Lions ended the 2006 season with a shoddy record of 3-13, and failed to reach the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.