For me, the most signature moment for the Detroit Lions was Barry Sander's surprise retirement at the start of training camp in 1999. He walked away from a huge salary and realistic shots at rushing records because of frustration with the way the team was run, and that to me epitomized the modern Lions (pre-Campbell era).
I guess „Paper Lion“ and George Plimpton hardly rises to a signature moment, but it did kind of define who the Lions were in the 1960s and early 70s. And that book made Alex Karras into the C-list celebrity who is so memorable in „Blazing Saddles“. Probably the Lions‘ true 1970s highlight.
My Mom is a poet of some renown, got published in the Paris Review in 1998 or 99, got to go to New York to meet George Plimpton himself, and all the hip young New York Literati looked on in surprise and dismay as George and the woman from Texas talked about football for close to an hour.
William Clay Ford Jr assumed full control of the Detroit Lions the same day JFK was assassinated and many a Lions fan still debates which event produced a worse result that day.
Re: the Orlovsky safety. The first thing I noticed as I re-watched the video is that the Lions offensive coaching staff apparently thought that when backed up near their own endzone, it was a good idea to call a pass with a backup tight end assigned to pass pro against one of the greatest pass rushers of the time (Jared Allen) with no help. That says all you need to know about the circumstances Orlovsky had to contend with. Having Calvin Johnson to throw to was basically the only thing he had going for him.
I remember on the old Football Outsiders site, the debate about the 2008 all-Keep Choppin' Wood Team. A lot of commenters wanted to include Orlovsky because of the self-safety. One of the writers (I forget who) rightly pointed out that while the moment was hilarious, Orlovsky didnt' belong on the team because he was about league average as a passer. IIRC Jamarcus Russell ended up being named as QB to that year's all-KCW team.
On the other hand, when it comes to gratuitously hurting your own team (where the term Keep Choppin' Wood came from), it's hard to beat scoring against yourself.
I really do wish they went back to those unis. The metallic silver pants is what made them. But I'm told the current Nike "breathable" material NFL football pants are made of nowadays make it impossible to replicate the metallic sheen.
A fine list, that I can't really quibble with, but I wish there could have been room for St. Brown's game-clinching first down reception in the 2023 Wild Card game vs. the Rams. It broke a 32 year, 8 game playoff losing streak. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off the shoulders of the franchise and the fanbase. People were literally crying tears of joy in the stands.
And if Mike did go up to 6, Barry going 'ah, screw it' and walking away would have to be the choice. Can anyone think of any other star pro athlete who walked away (for good) in his prime because he'd had enough of the franchise?
Kinda yes, sorta no. While Calvin played every game his final year, he missed 3 the season before, 2 the one before that, and was regularly playing on a Questionable tag, that I recall. Barry hadn't missed a game in 5 years. Calvin was also 3 years away from his prime, Barry only 1. Although Calvin's final season was better than Barry's, now that I looked them up.
This was surprisingly positive, considering the team! I mean, three good things happening in Lions history is three more than I was expecting.
I mentioned this (I think) back in the Lions' QB ranking post, but for most of my childhood the Lions were this team you never heard anything about or saw on TV except on Thanksgiving Day, when it was like you had a game beamed to you from an alternate timeline. Who were these players? Barry Sanders changed all that. He became pretty much everyone's favorite player that wasn't on their favorite team. I don't even know if we have a modern equivalent any more (don't say Mahomes, it's not Mahomes, at least not any more).
I do worry a bit that they might have missed their window these last couple years. I think they are going to take a step back this year, because the rest of that division is very good and replacing two coordinators in one year is very hard. I think they're still a playoff team, but I don't think they are 15-2 again. And then the questions will start.
Last thing I will say is that Paper Lion is the best sports book I've ever read.
I appreciate your comment about the Lions long being a team no one thought about. In the long running argument about whether the Bears or Vikings were the Packers' biggest rivals, any mention of the Lions holding that spot would be met with a blank stare. The Lions were filler; filled out the division, filled out the schedule, counted as a W in preseason prognostications, and Barry Sanders was fun to watch.
Now, the entire team is fun to watch. The NFC North may be more fun this year than last year!
"I think they're still a playoff team, but I don't think they are 15-2 again. And then the questions will start."
Definitely won't be 15-2 again, even if you don't think they'll be any worse as a team. Playing the AFC North instead of the AFC South will be much harder this year.
I can definitely envision as scenario where they win 11 or 12 games, and there will be segments on NFL Live: "What's wrong with the Lions?"
Yeah I think we are *just* about at the point where they are going to start to feel the same type of pressure the Bills and Ravens are. And if there's one thing we know about Jared Goff, he doesn't do so good under pressure.
On the topic of franchise-ruining events, does anything top Art Modell buying the Browns, firing Paul Brown, chasing off Jim Brown , letting the franchise ooze into mediocrity and then taking the team to Baltimore? (And leaving the city with an expansion team owned by the Haslams?)
What Modell did to Cleveland could hardly be characterized as “magnanimous”, especially as it was done in an attempt to extricate himself from increasingly-nasty litigation.
And Jim Brown didn’t “chase off” Paul Brown. Paul Brown left kicking and screaming when Modell fired him.
No doubt JB was a handful to coach. But he retired when Modell refused to cut him slack over some training camp time. We could have had another year or two of the greatest running back the game had seen but for Modell. (Although Leroy Kelly was a serviceable sub.)
Well, for a full generation after Modell buying the team it did reasonably well. Also, Jim Brown chased off Paul Brown, then very happily career-switched from football to Hollywood.
And Modell was magnanimous enough to leave the franchise history with Cleveland itself. Which by the standards of city-hopping pro sports owners is almost Mother Teresan in nature. (yes, I realize "standards" does all the heavy lifting in that sentence)
As a Seahawks fan, #5 is a very important moment to me. It was our ticket to the playoffs after a terrible season the year before, and the coronation of Russell Wilson Schadenfreude. We made the playoffs, the Broncos got a top 10 draft pick and it was ours.
We were surprisingly competitive for one half in that wild card round.
Its fun to see Mike's evolution from: "kneecap biting is crap, this guy's clueless." To "dan campbell tenure so far is the best era in modern Lions history."
In between I remember mocking Campbell as patron saint of moral victories. Our favorite underdog of backdoor covers while still losing most games. Campbell's shtick did sound hokey to me at first too. And His Dolphins interrim 2015 antics seemed clueless. Oklahoma drills late season! lets injure our guys doing things most teams scrapped as too brutal for training camp...We gotta become the toughest 6-10 team in the league. Dont care how many guys get hurt doing so.
For me, the most signature moment for the Detroit Lions was Barry Sander's surprise retirement at the start of training camp in 1999. He walked away from a huge salary and realistic shots at rushing records because of frustration with the way the team was run, and that to me epitomized the modern Lions (pre-Campbell era).
I suspect Mike wanted to be more positive about him, and Megatron too. It's kind of amazing that the same thing happened to them twice!
The people demand Billy Sims' karate kick be the honorary number 6!
I guess „Paper Lion“ and George Plimpton hardly rises to a signature moment, but it did kind of define who the Lions were in the 1960s and early 70s. And that book made Alex Karras into the C-list celebrity who is so memorable in „Blazing Saddles“. Probably the Lions‘ true 1970s highlight.
My Mom is a poet of some renown, got published in the Paris Review in 1998 or 99, got to go to New York to meet George Plimpton himself, and all the hip young New York Literati looked on in surprise and dismay as George and the woman from Texas talked about football for close to an hour.
William Clay Ford Jr assumed full control of the Detroit Lions the same day JFK was assassinated and many a Lions fan still debates which event produced a worse result that day.
At least his daughter appears to know what she's doing. That branch of the Ford family is an argument in favor of competence not being genetic.
Hardly the only one. (See Brown, Mike.)
Re: the Orlovsky safety. The first thing I noticed as I re-watched the video is that the Lions offensive coaching staff apparently thought that when backed up near their own endzone, it was a good idea to call a pass with a backup tight end assigned to pass pro against one of the greatest pass rushers of the time (Jared Allen) with no help. That says all you need to know about the circumstances Orlovsky had to contend with. Having Calvin Johnson to throw to was basically the only thing he had going for him.
I remember on the old Football Outsiders site, the debate about the 2008 all-Keep Choppin' Wood Team. A lot of commenters wanted to include Orlovsky because of the self-safety. One of the writers (I forget who) rightly pointed out that while the moment was hilarious, Orlovsky didnt' belong on the team because he was about league average as a passer. IIRC Jamarcus Russell ended up being named as QB to that year's all-KCW team.
On the other hand, when it comes to gratuitously hurting your own team (where the term Keep Choppin' Wood came from), it's hard to beat scoring against yourself.
Watching that Sanders TD run, I am reminded just how damn gorgeous those old Lions uniforms were.
I remember watching that and being terrified the Bills would have to face him in the SB.
Yeah, about that...
I really do wish they went back to those unis. The metallic silver pants is what made them. But I'm told the current Nike "breathable" material NFL football pants are made of nowadays make it impossible to replicate the metallic sheen.
A fine list, that I can't really quibble with, but I wish there could have been room for St. Brown's game-clinching first down reception in the 2023 Wild Card game vs. the Rams. It broke a 32 year, 8 game playoff losing streak. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off the shoulders of the franchise and the fanbase. People were literally crying tears of joy in the stands.
In place of the Kirby interception?
This Lions team has still only won 2 playoff games total. No, you don't get 2 Signature Moments just for that.
And if Mike did go up to 6, Barry going 'ah, screw it' and walking away would have to be the choice. Can anyone think of any other star pro athlete who walked away (for good) in his prime because he'd had enough of the franchise?
Calvin Johnson, lol
Kinda yes, sorta no. While Calvin played every game his final year, he missed 3 the season before, 2 the one before that, and was regularly playing on a Questionable tag, that I recall. Barry hadn't missed a game in 5 years. Calvin was also 3 years away from his prime, Barry only 1. Although Calvin's final season was better than Barry's, now that I looked them up.
So Calvin is SOMEwhat comparable.
True. Barry was healthy and fed up with losing. Ragnow was physically beat up and his body couldn’t take anymore. Calvin was a little of both.
Agreed. Calvin was more beatup when he retired. I thought Barry for sure had another 1500 yd season in him.
I am Bubba Baker, Terror of Passers;
Look on my Sacks, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
The mediocre years stretch far away.
This was surprisingly positive, considering the team! I mean, three good things happening in Lions history is three more than I was expecting.
I mentioned this (I think) back in the Lions' QB ranking post, but for most of my childhood the Lions were this team you never heard anything about or saw on TV except on Thanksgiving Day, when it was like you had a game beamed to you from an alternate timeline. Who were these players? Barry Sanders changed all that. He became pretty much everyone's favorite player that wasn't on their favorite team. I don't even know if we have a modern equivalent any more (don't say Mahomes, it's not Mahomes, at least not any more).
I do worry a bit that they might have missed their window these last couple years. I think they are going to take a step back this year, because the rest of that division is very good and replacing two coordinators in one year is very hard. I think they're still a playoff team, but I don't think they are 15-2 again. And then the questions will start.
Last thing I will say is that Paper Lion is the best sports book I've ever read.
I appreciate your comment about the Lions long being a team no one thought about. In the long running argument about whether the Bears or Vikings were the Packers' biggest rivals, any mention of the Lions holding that spot would be met with a blank stare. The Lions were filler; filled out the division, filled out the schedule, counted as a W in preseason prognostications, and Barry Sanders was fun to watch.
Now, the entire team is fun to watch. The NFC North may be more fun this year than last year!
"I think they're still a playoff team, but I don't think they are 15-2 again. And then the questions will start."
Definitely won't be 15-2 again, even if you don't think they'll be any worse as a team. Playing the AFC North instead of the AFC South will be much harder this year.
I can definitely envision as scenario where they win 11 or 12 games, and there will be segments on NFL Live: "What's wrong with the Lions?"
Yeah I think we are *just* about at the point where they are going to start to feel the same type of pressure the Bills and Ravens are. And if there's one thing we know about Jared Goff, he doesn't do so good under pressure.
On the topic of franchise-ruining events, does anything top Art Modell buying the Browns, firing Paul Brown, chasing off Jim Brown , letting the franchise ooze into mediocrity and then taking the team to Baltimore? (And leaving the city with an expansion team owned by the Haslams?)
What Modell did to Cleveland could hardly be characterized as “magnanimous”, especially as it was done in an attempt to extricate himself from increasingly-nasty litigation.
And Jim Brown didn’t “chase off” Paul Brown. Paul Brown left kicking and screaming when Modell fired him.
No doubt JB was a handful to coach. But he retired when Modell refused to cut him slack over some training camp time. We could have had another year or two of the greatest running back the game had seen but for Modell. (Although Leroy Kelly was a serviceable sub.)
Well, for a full generation after Modell buying the team it did reasonably well. Also, Jim Brown chased off Paul Brown, then very happily career-switched from football to Hollywood.
And Modell was magnanimous enough to leave the franchise history with Cleveland itself. Which by the standards of city-hopping pro sports owners is almost Mother Teresan in nature. (yes, I realize "standards" does all the heavy lifting in that sentence)
Now that I think about it, Griffith did let Senators stay with the incoming expansion team when he moved the established team off to the Twin Cities.
Again, 5 superb choices! (boy, we'll see about the next installment of the series!)
Enjoy your summer Mike!
Also, picking two moments where the Cowboys got humiliated by the Lions wasn't necessary.
I live to see the Lions humiliate the Cowboys. I also root for the bulls on PBR.
A bull winning PBR happens a lot more often.
As a Seahawks fan, #5 is a very important moment to me. It was our ticket to the playoffs after a terrible season the year before, and the coronation of Russell Wilson Schadenfreude. We made the playoffs, the Broncos got a top 10 draft pick and it was ours.
We were surprisingly competitive for one half in that wild card round.
Mike, why not add the Ford's purchase of the Lions the same day as JFK's assassination (he was killed in a Ford manufactured car, no less)?
Its fun to see Mike's evolution from: "kneecap biting is crap, this guy's clueless." To "dan campbell tenure so far is the best era in modern Lions history."
In between I remember mocking Campbell as patron saint of moral victories. Our favorite underdog of backdoor covers while still losing most games. Campbell's shtick did sound hokey to me at first too. And His Dolphins interrim 2015 antics seemed clueless. Oklahoma drills late season! lets injure our guys doing things most teams scrapped as too brutal for training camp...We gotta become the toughest 6-10 team in the league. Dont care how many guys get hurt doing so.
Calvin Johnsons 329 yard game vs Dallas is here ; every snap in 38 minutes! https://youtu.be/TLrFh2pb9b0?si=6MvsLwFCIs_MQD4P
That channel is perfect for offseason. Just greatest games and NFL films. CFB films too.