Been a Lions fan since '70, the season of Tom Dempsey's NFL record 63 yd FG, and the lowest scoring playoff game in NFL history, a 5-0 loss to the Cowboys, when QB Greg Landry was taken out of the game for the Lions' final; drive of the game, Bill Munson had the Lions' offense nearing the Cowboy's redzone as time expired. I learned from that game that the Lions never actually "lose" most of their games, it is b/c they just run outta time...heh!!
Anyway, little did I know at that time so long ago what was going to be in store for the NFL franchise over the next 40+ seasons, that their unspoken mantra would be "mediocrity or bust" with merely 3 total division wins over that entire span...pathetic!! Not even one per decade on average. The football club would average just two playoff appearances per decade, and as we all know, managed to win a playoff game just once in '91.
November 22, 2013 will mark 50 years since the date that WCF bought the Lions, and there is no NFL franchise remaining that has accumulated that long of a consecutive streak of futility, even IF the Cleveland Browns were included, since their first incarnation had last won the NFL championship in 1964, pre-Superbowl era.
I feel fortunate to be old enough to have enjoyed watching a pro-football team win a championship for our state, in the short-lived USFL Michigan Panthers, during their inaugural season. Although the USFL was not truly comparable in talent and athleticism to the NFL, the Panthers were an exciting team to watch in '83-'84, with stars such as Bobby Hebert QB, Ken Lacy RB, Anthony Carter and Derek Holloway WRs, and John Corker LB, who recorded a pro-record 28 QB sacks in '83.
