According to my favorite book, The Pro Football Chronicle, it's not possible to see footage of the Meadows hit. The gane film is in Canton, but there's a four second splice job. It's unknown what happened to it. It may have been sent to Bert Bell for review... or the NFL may have tried to hide the evidence.
My opinion: it was a late hit and a cheap shot, even in an era of late hits. According to PFC, Gene Gedman was several yards upfield and nearly down by the time Meadows hit Layne. The referee had said it was a clean hit, but photos show he was in no position to judge; he had his back to the hit while he was watching Gedman like everybody else (except Ed Meadows.)
However, the Lions were no innocent victims; they were just as rough and dirty as any NFL team. There was a reason defensive back Jim David had the nickname "The Hatchet."
Would a healthy Layne have made a difference in the game? Probably not; as previously noted, the Bears dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. However, many of the anecdotal tales about Layne speak of his leadership and inspiration of his teammates. If the Lions were to win that game, it wouldn't be because Layne had put up more impressive statistics than the ones Harry Gilmer did; it would have been because he had inspired and cajoled his teammates to a higher level (along with the occasional kick in the shins.)
1956 Detroit at Chicago
Re: 1956 Detroit at Chicago
conace21 wrote:According to my favorite book, The Pro Football Chronicle, it's not possible to see footage of the Meadows hit. The gane film is in Canton, but there's a four second splice job. It's unknown what happened to it. It may have been sent to Bert Bell for review... or the NFL may have tried to hide the evidence.
My opinion: it was a late hit and a cheap shot, even in an era of late hits. According to PFC, Gene Gedman was several yards upfield and nearly down by the time Meadows hit Layne. The referee had said it was a clean hit, but photos show he was in no position to judge; he had his back to the hit while he was watching Gedman like everybody else (except Ed Meadows.)
However, the Lions were no innocent victims; they were just as rough and dirty as any NFL team. There was a reason defensive back Jim David had the nickname "The Hatchet."
Would a healthy Layne have made a difference in the game? Probably not; as previously noted, the Bears dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. However, many of the anecdotal tales about Layne speak of his leadership and inspiration of his teammates. If the Lions were to win that game, it wouldn't be because Layne had put up more impressive statistics than the ones Harry Gilmer did; it would have been because he had inspired and cajoled his teammates to a higher level (along with the occasional kick in the shins.)
Good post.
I have heard that Gil Mains was kind of dirty for Detroit. In the 52 championship, rookie Cleveland end Darrell Brewster caught a pass and as he was stepping out of bounds, he got a forearm to the helmet by a Detroit defender (I think that it was Yale Lary) and it looked like he may have been knocked out. He left the game and punter Horace Gillom replaced him at left end. The 50's Lions were kind of like the 70's Oakland Raiders. So, some might say that the 56 game in question was a case of what goes around comes around.
Anyway, say what you want about those 50's Detroit teams, they were really a great team. I think that they were one of the most underrated dynasty type teams to ever play the game.
Re: 1956 Detroit at Chicago
On another thread, I wrote about an interview with Hall of Fame offensive tackle Lou Creekmur in the Detroit Lions version of the "Great Teams, Great Years" book series.
In that book, Creekmur talks about his leg whipping prowess and how it helped the Lions win a game in 1956. The victim of the leg whip was 49ers defensive end Charley Powell in a 20 to 17 win for the Lions. I checked all games that Powell and Creekmur could have played against each other, and it must have been that 20 to 17 win against the 49ers for Detroit. It could not have been any other game.
That game was tied 17 all near the end of the game. Creekmur leg whipped Powell on one play. Knowing that Powell would be mad, Lou then told the referee to watch Powell because Charley had been slugging him. Before the next play, Creekmur said something to Powell to make him even madder than he already was. Sure enough, Powell slugged Creekmur and the 49ers were penalized 15 yards, giving Bobby Layne a shot at a short field goal, which Bobby made to give the Lions the win. That win did not hurt Detroit's chances in the race for the Western Conference title in 1956.
Creekmur also related that he used to hold on about half the plays, but he apparently was very good at it and was seldom penalized for holding.
Another thing, Creekmur said that he would use his elbows as a weapon on occasions and I guess that he was good at that also.
Lou must have fit in pretty well at Detroit. It had to be very tough to play against those 50's Lions teams. Besides, Detroit was very good.
In that book, Creekmur talks about his leg whipping prowess and how it helped the Lions win a game in 1956. The victim of the leg whip was 49ers defensive end Charley Powell in a 20 to 17 win for the Lions. I checked all games that Powell and Creekmur could have played against each other, and it must have been that 20 to 17 win against the 49ers for Detroit. It could not have been any other game.
That game was tied 17 all near the end of the game. Creekmur leg whipped Powell on one play. Knowing that Powell would be mad, Lou then told the referee to watch Powell because Charley had been slugging him. Before the next play, Creekmur said something to Powell to make him even madder than he already was. Sure enough, Powell slugged Creekmur and the 49ers were penalized 15 yards, giving Bobby Layne a shot at a short field goal, which Bobby made to give the Lions the win. That win did not hurt Detroit's chances in the race for the Western Conference title in 1956.
Creekmur also related that he used to hold on about half the plays, but he apparently was very good at it and was seldom penalized for holding.
Another thing, Creekmur said that he would use his elbows as a weapon on occasions and I guess that he was good at that also.
Lou must have fit in pretty well at Detroit. It had to be very tough to play against those 50's Lions teams. Besides, Detroit was very good.