Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I recall reading somewhere (probably one of the 3 Detroit dailies back then) that the Lions tracked tackles, sacks, defended passes, forced fumbles and so forth when Buster Ramsey took over Buddy Parker's defense in 1952. All internal use, no official stats, and I don't know how long they kept it up.

The 1967 Colts are the fascinating team to try to parse. No playoff run upon which to judge a one-loss team. Do they go to Green Bay/Milwaukee and win in place of the Rams? Those Colts had more playoff experience than the Rams did. Do they then beat the Cowboys in Baltimore? The whole trajectory an...

Well, he most def belongs in the Hall of Dirty Players.

HOVG yes, HOF no.

That Lions-Colts game is the first NFL game I can honestly say I have a vague memory of. I was all of 6-1/2 years old, didn't follow or play sports of any kind then, of course. But the reason I remember it is because it was on TV here in Detroit and my older brothers were cheering like crazy and my ...

That's an interesting topic. Being a Lions fan, four such games come immediately to mind. All ended with a TD pass with less than a minute to play (some on final play of game): Detroit at Green Bay, Sept. 25, 1955---Rote TD pass to Knafelc, GB won 20-17 Baltimore at Detroit, Oct. 20, 1957--Layne TD ...

You left out the most important aspect of the game: In the second quarter, Bobby Layne fractured his lower right leg and dislocated his ankle in a pileup. Tobin Rote came in and guided the Lions to a 20-7 win over Cleveland, but Layne’s season was over. Three weeks later on the same field, Rote &...

The 1967-69 run, for all the reasons others have stated. I loved the rivalry between the leagues. I wish they'd never merged.

Sterile + Super = Stupor Bowl. Game needs to be played in open-air stadium during the day, preferably in some city where everybody's freezing their nuts off cuz it's freakin' February.

Hey, a guy can dream, right? For old times' sake, I give you the 1965 NFL championship....

For Johnny Strzykalski fans, a pic of the last of his 31 AAFC/NFL touchdowns. It was a 1-yard run @ Detroit at tail end of the 1951 season. I'm using it in a picture book I'm doing on the 1950s Lions. That may be Don Doll looking down at him, but not sure.

I can't say I followed the guy's career, or SD in general, but I basically remember him as the "Touchdown Tommy" Vardell of the Chargers. Always good for a 1-yard TD. There was one blowout I watched on TV where he had 3 TDs by halftime--all short runs, of course--and had me thinking, "...