1.
Ford Field
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Ford Field is a multi-purpose indoor stadium located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It is primarily used for American football as the field of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game. The regular seating capacity is approximately 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for basketball, Ford Field was constructed after Comerica Park, opening in 2002. It cost an estimated million to build, financed largely through private money, public money. The stadiums design incorporates a six-story former Hudsons warehouse, which was constructed in the 1920s, hammes Company, a real estate development company in Middleton, Wisconsin, developed the new stadium, as well as the warehouse. The presence of the warehouse allows for an arrangement that was unique among professional American football stadiums at the time of Ford Fields opening. The majority of suites at Ford Field are located in the Hudson Warehouse along the southern sideline. The bulk of the seats are located along the northern sideline. The upper deck on the northern sideline also contains one level of suites. A similar design was implemented at the renovated Soldier Field, albeit with the use of a new structure to four levels of suites. Unlike most indoor stadiums, Ford Field allows a large amount of light to reach the FieldTurf field, thanks to immense skylights. The windows along the ceiling are frosted to mimic the automotive factories that are prevalent in Metro Detroit, the southwest corner provides the seating bowl and concourse with sunlight year-round and also offers fans a view of downtown Detroit. To prevent the stadium becoming a overly imposing presence in the Detroit skyline. Ford Field is one of seven venues in the NFL that has end zones in the east, there is no NFL rule for field construction regarding sunlight distracting players on the field. The east–west end zone design accommodated the Hudson warehouse location, Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL on February 5,2006, as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21–10 to win their fifth Super Bowl championship in front of 68,206 in attendance. It also marked the game in the 13-year career of Detroit native and 10-year Steelers running back. In addition, the New York Jets have never hosted a game at their current stadium. On April 1,2007, Ford Field hosted World Wrestling Entertainments WrestleMania 23 and this event set a Ford Field attendance record of 80,103
2.
Detroit
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Detroit is the most populous city in the U. S. state of Michigan, the fourth-largest city in the Midwest and the largest city on the United States–Canada border. It is the seat of Wayne County, the most populous county in the state, the municipality of Detroit had a 2015 estimated population of 677,116, making it the 21st-most populous city in the United States. Roughly one-half of Michigans population lives in Metro Detroit alone, the Detroit–Windsor area, a commercial link straddling the Canada–U. S. Border, has a population of about 5.7 million. Detroit is a port on the Detroit River, a strait that connects the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hubs in the United States, the City of Detroit anchors the second-largest economic region in the Midwest, behind Chicago, and the thirteenth-largest in the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a tunnel and various bridges, Detroit was founded on July 24,1701 by the French explorer and adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and a party of settlers. During the 19th century, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region, with expansion of the American automobile industry in the early 20th century, the Detroit area emerged as a significant metropolitan region within the United States. The city became the fourth-largest in the country for a period, in the 1950s and 1960s, suburban expansion continued with construction of a regional freeway system. A great portion of Detroits public transport was abandoned in favour of becoming a city in the post-war period. Due to industrial restructuring and loss of jobs in the auto industry, between 2000 and 2010 the citys population fell by 25 percent, changing its ranking from the nations 10th-largest city to 18th. In 2010, the city had a population of 713,777 and this resulted from suburbanization, corruption, industrial restructuring and the decline of Detroits auto industry. In 2013, the state of Michigan declared an emergency for the city. Detroit has experienced urban decay as its population and jobs have shifted to its suburbs or elsewhere, conservation efforts managed to save many architectural pieces since the 2000s and allowed several large-scale revitalisations. More recently, the population of Downtown Detroit, Midtown Detroit, paleo-Indian people inhabited areas near Detroit as early as 11,000 years ago. In the 17th century, the region was inhabited by Huron, Odawa, Potawatomi, for the next hundred years, virtually no British, colonist, or French action was contemplated without consultation with, or consideration of the Iroquois likely response. When the French and Indian War evicted the Kingdom of France from Canada, the 1798 raids and resultant 1799 decisive Sullivan Expedition reopened the Ohio Country to westward emigration, which began almost immediately, and by 1800 white settlers were pouring westwards. By 1773, the population of Detroit was 1,400, by 1778, its population was up to 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in the Province of Quebec
3.
Allen Park, Michigan
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Allen Park is a middle class suburb in central Wayne County, Michigan. The city is known for its streets, brick houses. At the 2010 census, the population was 28,210, the suburb of Detroit was once recognized in Money Magazines list of Americas Best Small Cities. Allen Park is part of the collection of known as Downriver. Ford Motor Company is an part of the community. Many of the offices and facilities lie within the city limits. Since 2002, Allen Park is the home of the Detroit Lions and is also the site of the teams headquarters. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 7.05 square miles. Allen Park borders Southgate to the South, Lincoln Park to the east, Melvindale to the north and northeast, Dearborn to the northwest, Dearborn Heights to the north, i-75 runs through the southeast corner of Allen Park between Goddard Road and the Lincoln Park border. I-94 runs through the portion of Allen Park between Pelham Road and the Rouge River. M-39, Southfield Road, is a boulevard that travels in a northwest/southeast direction between the Lincoln Park border and I-94. It becomes the Southfield Freeway and curves to the northeast after the I-94 interchange, Goddard Road - an east-west mile road that is the boundary between Allen Park and Southgate between Allen Road and Old Goddard Road. Old Goddard Road - an east-west road that is the boundary between Allen Park and Southgate between Goddard Road and Fordline Street, Allen Road - a north-south road between Pelham Road and Outer Drive. Pelham Road - a north-south mile road that is the boundary between Allen Park and Taylor between Allen Road and Van Born Road, Outer Drive - an east-west road between the Southfield Freeway and the border of Lincoln Park. It serves as a boundary between Allen Park and Melvindale between the border of Lincoln Park and I-94, Oakwood Boulevard - a north-south road between the Southfield Freeway and I-94. Fordline Street - a north-south half mile road that is the boundary between Allen Park and Lincoln Park between Moran Road and Old Goddard Road, Champaign Road - an east-west half mile road between Pelham and Allen roads. The street falls off grid between Allen Road and the Lincoln Park border, wick Road - an east-west mile road between Pelham Road and Vine Street. It is interrupted at the CN Railroad, just east of Pelham Road and it becomes a small residential boulevard east of Reeck Road
4.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams
5.
National Football Conference
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The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League, the highest professional level of American football in the United States. This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference, currently contain 16 teams each, a series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total 16 clubs per each conference. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the Dallas Cowboys lead the NFC with the most conference titles, the current NFC title holders are the Atlanta Falcons. Since 2002, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams, East, North, South, two of these games are assigned on the basis of a particular teams final divisional standing from the previous season. The remaining 8 games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions and this assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2012 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the NFC West plays against every team in the AFC East and NFC North. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the two games assigned based on the teams prior-season divisional standing, at the end of each season, the top six teams in the conference proceeds into the playoff. These teams consist of the four winners and the top two wild card teams. The NFC playoffs culminate in the NFC Championship Game with the receiving the George Halas Trophy. The NFC Champion then plays the AFC Champion in the Super Bowl, both the AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1970. When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, the NFL consisted of 13 clubs, by 1969, the AFL had expanded to ten teams and NFL to 16 clubs. However, team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were placed in the NFC and AFC, respectively. The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment, the Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995. Parity is generally greater among NFC teams than AFC teams, the only NFC team that has never made a Super Bowl appearance is the Detroit Lions. Since the 2002 realignment, the time that an NFC team made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances was the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and 2014. Since 1970, only two teams have relocated, in 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix, Arizona, while the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, and back to Los Angeles again in 2016. The original NFC logo, in use from 1970–2009, depicted a blue N with three stars across it, the three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970–2001
6.
Jim Caldwell (American football)
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James Caldwell is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. Caldwell served as the football coach at Wake Forest University from 1993 to 2000. Caldwell attended the University of Iowa, where he was a starter at defensive back for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team from 1973 to 1976. He was the first African-American head football coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, in eight years, Caldwell had a record of 26–63. He installed a powerful passing attack that set numerous records, many of which have since been broken under his successor. However, his teams rarely ran well, in one year the Demon Deacons leading rusher only notched 300 yards for the entire season and he only had one winning season, in 1999, when the Deacons won the Aloha Bowl. Caldwell joined Tony Dungys staff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001 as quarterbacks coach and he followed Dungy to Indianapolis in 2002 and remained with him for his entire tenure, helping lead the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI. On January 13,2008, Caldwell was formally announced as Dungys successor-in-waiting, on January 12,2009, Dungy announced his retirement, putting Caldwell in the head coaching position. He was formally introduced at a conference the following day. Caldwell had one of the best debut seasons for a coach in NFL history. The Colts rushed out to a 14–0 start, with the AFC South title and the top seed in the AFC playoffs secured, Caldwell opted to sit out his starting players the last two games of the season, drawing controversy to him and the team. He later won his first playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on January 16,2010. On January 24,2010, Caldwell became the 5th rookie head coach to lead his team to the Super Bowl after securing a 30-17 win against the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game. On February 7,2010, Caldwells rookie season ended with a 31–17 loss in Super Bowl XLIV to the New Orleans Saints, Caldwell holds the NFL record for the best start by a rookie head coach, starting his career with 14 wins. The 14 wins also tied a franchise record, as of Super Bowl LI, Caldwell is the last rookie head coach to reach the Super Bowl. In his second season the Colts posted a 10–6 record but maintained the title in the AFC South. They lost their first game in the playoffs to the New York Jets, 17–16, the 2011 season, however, saw the Colts sink to 2–14. Star quarterback Peyton Manning missed the season due to neck problems
7.
History of the Portsmouth Spartans
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The professional American football team now known as the Detroit Lions previously played in Portsmouth, Ohio from its founding in 1929 to its relocation to Detroit in 1934. This article chronicles the history during their time as the Portsmouth Spartans. Originally drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-pro teams, they joined the fledgling National Football League in 1930 and their home stadium was Universal Stadium. The Spartans formed in 1929, drawing players from defunct independent professional, during that same year, Portsmouth residents agreed to fund the construction of a football stadium that was comparable to those in neighboring communities along the Ohio River. That approval prompted the National Football League to offer the city a franchise in July 1930, and led to the construction of Universal Stadium, which opened September 14 with a capacity of 8,200. With less than 43,000 residents in 1930, Portsmouth became the NFLs second smallest city, ahead of only Green Bay, in that game, Spartan coach Potsy Clark refused to make even a single substitution against the defending NFL champion Packers. Portsmouth won 19–0 and used only 11 players all game, at the end of the 1932 season, the Spartans were tied for first place in the league with the Chicago Bears. That prompted what in retrospect known as the first NFL playoff game. Blizzard conditions in Chicago meant the game was moved from Wrigley Fields outdoor field to the field at Chicago Stadium. The game was won 9–0 by the Bears, on a pass from Bronko Nagurski to Red Grange. The resulting interest led to the establishment of Eastern and Western conferences, despite success on the field, low revenue and the Great Depression threatened the Spartans survival. On March 24,1934, it was announced that a group led by George Richards, Richards renamed the team the Lions, as a complement to the Detroit Tigers. 1 The result of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game to determine the NFL champion between the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans counted in the standings, history of the Detroit Lions Scioto Historicals Spartan Municipal Stadium & NFL Football in Portsmouth, Ohio
8.
List of NFL champions
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The National Football League champions, prior to the merger between the National Football League and American Football League in 1970, were determined by two different systems. The National Football League was established on September 17,1920, the APFA changed its name in 1922 to the National Football League, which it has retained ever since. From 1921 to 1931, the APFA/NFL determined its champion by overall win–loss record, with no playoff games, ties were not counted in the winning percentage total. The APFA did not keep records of the 1920 season, they declared the Akron Pros, the Canton Bulldogs won two straight championships from 1922 to 1923, and the Green Bay Packers won three in a row from 1929 to 1931. The 1932 NFL season resulted in an tie for first place between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans, and could not be resolved by the typical win–loss system, to settle the tie, a playoff game was played, Chicago won the game and the championship. The following year the NFL split into two divisions, and the winner of each division would play in the NFL Championship Game, the NFL Championship Game was ended after the 1969 season, succeeded by the NFC Championship Game. The champions of that play the champions of the AFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl to determine the NFL champion. The Green Bay Packers won the most NFL championships before the merger, the Packers were also the only team to win three straight championships, an achievement they accomplished twice, from 1929–31 and from 1965–67. The Chicago Bears won a total of eight titles, and the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, the Bears recorded the largest victory in a championship game, defeating the Washington Redskins 73–0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game, six other title games ended in a shutout as well. The Philadelphia Eagles recorded two shutouts in 1948 and 1949. The number in parentheses indicates the number of championships the franchise had won to that point, numbers in parentheses in the table indicate the number of times that team won the NFL championship as of the championship game. Teams winning the NFL Championship during these years move onward to compete in the first four Super Bowls, the Green Bay Packers continued on to win the first two Super Bowls. The latter two teams, the Baltimore Colts and Minnesota Vikings, lost in their respective Super Bowls and these two losing teams are still credited with the NFL Championship in their official record. However, they are not considered as world champions
9.
1932 NFL Playoff Game
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The 1932 NFL Playoff Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 seasons final standings in the National Football League. It matched the host Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans, since the NFLs first season in 1920, the league title had been awarded to the team with the best regular season record based on winning percentage with ties excluded. In 1932, the Spartans and the Bears tied for first place with 6-1 records, the Packers controlled their own destiny at the end of the 1932 season, but lost their final two games to the Spartans and Bears. Further complicating matters, the Spartans and Bears had played and tied each other twice during the regular season, so, for the first time, the league arranged for what amounted to a replay game to determine the NFL champion. Because the game was counted in the standings, the loser would drop to 6–2 and finish third. The league had to make a change to allow the game. Two years earlier, the Bears and Cardinals had played a charity game at the arena. The game was moved primarily to ensure adequate attendance and gate revenue. The sidelines were butted up against the stands, the goal posts were moved from the endlines to the goal lines. The ball was moved back 20 yards every time one team crossed the 10-yard line. For the first time, all started with the ball on or between the hash marks, which were ten yards from the sidelines. Additionally, drop kicks and field goals were banned, with terrible footing on the mulch and limited room for the offenses to work, the defenses dominated the games first three quarters, and the game remained scoreless. Rules at the time mandated that a forward pass had to be thrown from at least five yards behind the line of scrimmage, the Spartans argued that Nagurski did not drop back five yards before passing to Grange, but the touchdown stood. The Bears later scored a safety after the Spartans fumbled the ball out of their end-zone, the high temperature for that Sunday in Chicago was 20 °F, warmer than anticipated earlier in the week. Brown Head Linesman, Meyer Morris Because it proved so popular, through 1932, the league had used the same rules as college football. Beginning with the 1933 season, the NFL introduced its own set of rules, in 1933, the NFL expanded to ten teams and divided into two divisions. The division winners met in a championship game to determine the NFL champion. The 1932 NFL Playoff Game is also regarded as the first major football game
10.
Universal Stadium
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Spartan Municipal Stadium, formerly known as Universal Stadium, is a stadium in Portsmouth, Ohio. It hosted the National Football Leagues Portsmouth Spartans from 1930 to 1933, the stadium held 8,200 people at its peak and was built in 1930. In 1970, it was renamed Spartan Municipal Stadium, on October 5,2003, the stadium was designated as a state historical site. The stadium is owned by the City of Portsmouth, after a fire in the 1990s, the city replaced walls and the press box. Also, the city upgraded the lighting thanks to a USDA grant, several years ago, the city began limiting stadium use to only regular football games to help preserve the sod. In the past, both Portsmouth and Notre Dame High School football teams have played on the turf, the future of the stadium is in doubt. Notre Dame intends to remain at Spartan Stadium, also, the Shawnee State University Board of Trustees recently approved a future buildings plan that would include a new stadium for the university. The city has even discussed demolishing the stadium for future development while local concerned residents have expressed the need to preserve the historical site, Universal Stadium receives state historical site designation Portsmouth Spartans Historical Society Scioto Historicals Spartan Municipal Stadium & NFL Football in Portsmouth, Ohio
11.
University of Detroit Stadium
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University of Detroit Stadium, also known as U of D Stadium, Titan Stadium, or Dinan Field, was a stadium in Detroit, Michigan on the campus of the University of Detroit. The stadium opened in 1922, on land that had acquired for the universitys proposed new McNichols campus. The stadium stood on 6-Mile Road just west of Fairfield St. in the northeast corner of the campus. It was built with the field on an axis, with stands on the east and west sides of the field. In addition to football, it was used for track meets, concerts. One rather unusual aspect of the stadium were its lighting towers, University of Detroit Stadium was the home field for the NFLs Detroit Lions from 1934 to 1937, and again in 1940. The Lions also played early season home games there in 1938 &39. The stadium was also was home to the Detroit Wolverines for their only NFL season in 1928, U of D stadium was the site of the 1935 NFL Championship Game, won by the Lions over the New York Giants, 26–7. The Detroit Cougars professional soccer club played games here in the summers of 1967 and 1968 whenever their regular home field. One such match on June 14,1967 against the Houston Stars ended in an infamous player riot, the Michigan Arrows of the fledgling Continental Football League used the stadium for the 1968 season. Unfortunately, the Arrows drew just 4,240 fans per game en route to a 1-11 season, the Arrows moved to Midland, Michigan to become the Tri-City Apollos in 1969, then folded with the rest of the league. The stadium was demolished in 1971 and was replaced by a parking lot, for many years thereafter the stadiums lighting towers remained standing in order to provide lighting for the lot. The location is occupied by a multi-purpose turf field north of Calihan Hall
12.
Tiger Stadium (Detroit)
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Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a baseball park located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. It hosted the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1999 and it was declared a State of Michigan Historic Site in 1975 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. The stadium was nicknamed The Corner for its location on Michigan Avenue, the last Detroit Tigers game at the stadium was held in September 1999. In the decade after the Tigers vacated the stadium, several rejected redevelopment, the stadiums demolition was completed on September 21,2009, though the stadiums actual playing field remains at the corner where the stadium once stood. Since the spring of 2010, a group known as the Navin Field Grounds Crew has restored and maintained the field. A plan to redevelop the old Tiger Stadium site would retain the historic playing field for sports and ring the 10-acre property with new development has received final approval. Developer Eric Larson of Larson Realty will develop a residential and retail project along the Michigan Ave and Trumbull sides of the property. The Detroit Police Athletic League will begin construction, in early April 2016, on a new building along Michigan Ave. The L-shaped building would enclose two sides of the field, together these two projects will completely ring the old site. In 1895, Detroit Tigers owner George Vanderbeck had a new ballpark built at the corner of Michigan and that stadium was called Bennett Park and featured a wooden grandstand with a wooden peaked roof in the outfield. At the time, some places in the outfield were only marked off with rope, in 1911, new Tigers owner Frank Navin ordered a new steel-and-concrete baseball park on the same site that would seat 23,000 to accommodate the growing numbers of fans. Navin Field opened on April 20,1912, the day as the Boston Red Soxs Fenway Park. While constructed on the site as Bennett Park, the diamond at Navin Field was rotated 90°. Cleveland Naps player Shoeless Joe Jackson, later banned from baseball for life following the Black Sox Scandal, the intimate configurations of both stadiums, both conducive to high-scoring games featuring home runs, prompted baseball writers to refer to them as bandboxes or cigar boxes. Over the years, expansion continued to more people. In 1935, following Navins death, new owner Walter Briggs oversaw the expansion of Navin Field to a capacity of 36,000 by extending the upper deck to the foul poles and across right field. By 1938, the city had agreed to move Cherry Street, allowing left field to be double-decked, in 1961, new owner John Fetzer took control of the stadium and gave it its final name, Tiger Stadium. Under this name, the stadium witnessed World Series titles in 1968 and 1984, a fire gutted the press box on the evening of February 1,1977
13.
Pontiac Silverdome
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The Pontiac Silverdome, formerly known as the Silverdome, is a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It opened in 1975 and sits on 127 acres of land, when the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the first use of the technique in a major athletic facility. The roof has since been removed, with a seating capacity of 82,000, it was the largest stadium in the National Football League until FedEx Field in suburban Washington, D. C. opened in 1997. It was primarily the home of the Detroit Lions of the NFL from 1975 to 2001 and was home to the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association from 1978 to 1988. In 2012 the Silverdome served as the venue of the Detroit Mechanix of the American Ultimate Disc League. After the opening of Ford Field in 2002, the stadium was left without a permanent tenant and it first closed in 2006, but after multiple attempts to solicit redevelopment plans, the city sold the stadium at auction in 2009. It reopened in 2010 and hosted events, but closed again by 2013. The roof was deflated in 2013 and has since been removed, owners auctioned the stadiums contents in 2014 with no future development through June 2015, and plans for demolition failed after February of 2016. As of March 2017, an agreement has been made, for the World Cup matches, a natural grass surface capable of growing inside the dome was developed and installed by a team from Michigan State University. This grass surface was laid upon wooden pallets atop the artificial turf that is usually used and it was the first time that World Cup games were played indoors. On March 29,1987, the World Wrestling Federations WrestleMania III established the record for attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America. The record stood until February 14,2010 when the 2010 NBA All-Star Game broke the indoor sporting event record with an attendance of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium, the Silverdome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round from 1976 to 2005. In 2012, the Silverdome became the stadium of the citys professional Ultimate Frisbee team. That year, the Silverdome hosted the AUDL championship game, as on August 11, after the roof had been collapsed and the stadium abandoned, Red Bull produced a video of BMX rider Tyler Fernengel riding inside the Silverdome in 2015. That same year, a racing event at the former parking lot marked the beginning of Woodward Dream Cruise. The idea of a sports complex was part of a dream of C. Don Davidson, a Pontiac, Michigan native and star high school athlete, Davidson, upon graduating from Pontiac Central High School in 1947 and completing active duty with the U. S. Marine Corps, attended North Carolina State University on a football scholarship. He returned to Pontiac in 1965 and was shocked to see the deterioration of the city of Pontiac, Davidson embarked upon what would eventually become an obsession for him to see his beloved city succeed
14.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
15.
Downtown Detroit
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Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Detroit is the city in the larger Metro Detroit region. Downtown Detroit is bordered by M-10 to the west, Interstate 75 to the north, I-375 to the east, the citys main thoroughfare M-1 links Downtown to Midtown, New Center, and the North End. Downtown contains much historic architecture and many of the prominent skyscrapers in Detroit, including the Renaissance Center, the Penobscot Building, One Detroit Center, Historic churches, theatres, and commercial buildings anchor the various downtown districts. Downtown has a number of parks including those linked by a promenade along the International Riverfront and its central square is Campus Martius Park. In recent years the area has seen tremendous growth and redevelopment. Since 2000 a number of construction projects have been completed including the new Compuware Headquarters at Campus Martius Park. General Motors moved their headquarters into the Renaissance Center, and the Detroit Lions have relocated from Pontiac to Downtown Detroit. High-profile events like the 2005 MLB All-Star Game, Super Bowl XL, as a result, new residents are moving into Detroit in the assortment of new lofts that are opening. An example of these trends is the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel, in 2006, the Cleveland-based Ferchill Group began the $180 million redevelopment of the historic Book Cadlliac Hotel at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Michigan Avenue. DTE Energy Headquarters features an urban oasis of parks, walkways, in 2007, Downtown Detroit was named among the best big city neighborhoods in which to retire by CNN Money Magazine editors. Downtown contains popular destinations including, the International Riverfront, the MGM Grand Detroit, Greektown Casino Hotel, Downtown Detroit hosts over 92,000 workers which make up about one-fifth of the citys total employment base, in addition, it is home to about 5,300 residents. Downtown offers a number of high rises, including Riverfront Towers, The Albert. The Renaissance Center contains the Detroit Marriott hotel, General Motors headquarters, as well as many shops, Compuware has its headquarters in the Compuware World Headquarters building by Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit. Compuware moved its headquarters and 4,000 employees to Downtown Detroit in 2003, Little Caesars and Olympia Entertainment have their headquarters in the Fox Theatre. Ernst & Young has offices in One Kennedy Square on Campus Martius Park, pricewaterhouse Coopers has offices in a building across from Ford Field. Chrysler maintains executive offices at Chrysler House in the citys Financial District, in 2011, Quicken Loans moved its headquarters and 4,000 employees to downtown. Comerica Bank and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are also major employers downtown, as of the 2010 Census, there were 5,287 people residing in the district
16.
Portsmouth, Ohio
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Portsmouth is a city in and the county seat of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. It lies in far southern Ohio, just east of the mouth of the Scioto River at the Ohio River, the population was 20,226 at the 2010 census. According to historian Charles Augustus Hanna, a Shawnee village was founded at the site of modern-day Portsmouth in late 1758, Portsmouths European-American roots date to the 1790s, when the small town of Alexandria was founded west of Portsmouths site. Alexandria was flooded numerous times by the Ohio and the Scioto rivers, in 1803, Henry Massie spotted a place to move the town away from the flood plains. He began to plot the new city by mapping the streets, Portsmouth was founded in 1803 and was established as a city in 1815. Portsmouth growth continued with the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal, the construction of the N&W railyards and the B&O junction at the city also stimulated growth, with railroads soon carrying more freight than the canal. By the end of the 19th century, Portsmouth became one of the most important cities on the Ohio River between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel employed over one thousand people. There were 100 other manufacturing companies producing goods from furniture to engines, industrial and shipping growth greatly benefited Boneyfiddle, where grand buildings were constructed with the wealth from the commerce. As time passed, much of the commerce began to move towards Chillicothe Street, while Boneyfiddle is receiving new life, it is a shadow of its former self. Another notable part of Portsmouths history in the 19th century was its importance on the Underground Railroad, fugitive slaves used this route to continue north to Detroit and into Canada to gain freedom. The population peaked at just over 42,000 in 1930, and by the 1950 census, foreign competition and industrial restructuring resulted in most of the industrial jobs on which Portsmouths economy was based moving out of the area. Following these declines, in 1980 when Empire-Detroit Steel-Portsmouth Works suspended local operations after the sale of the plant to Armco Steel. Armco Steel closed the plant because they did not want to replace the obsolete Open Hearth Furnaces with the more efficient basic oxygen steel furnaces, the plant also needed a continuous caster to replace the obsolete soaking pits and blooming mill in 1995. When the steel mill was closed,1,300 steelworkers were laid off, as of 2010, the city has a population of approximately 20,000. It has shared in the loss of jobs due to unskilled labor outsourcing, since the late 1990s and problems of unemployment, an epidemic of prescription drug abuse has swept the town and surrounding areas. It has caused an increase in Hepatitis C cases in the county, drug-related deaths, robberies, murder. The most prevalent drug is OxyContin, a synthetic opiate originally developed as a drug, known colloquially as oxys. The crisis is blamed on the proliferation of cash-only pain clinics, according to authorities, there are eight such clinics in Scioto County alone, the largest concentration of such operations per capita in any of Ohios counties
17.
Portsmouth Spartans
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The professional American football team now known as the Detroit Lions previously played in Portsmouth, Ohio from its founding in 1929 to its relocation to Detroit in 1934. This article chronicles the history during their time as the Portsmouth Spartans. Originally drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-pro teams, they joined the fledgling National Football League in 1930 and their home stadium was Universal Stadium. The Spartans formed in 1929, drawing players from defunct independent professional, during that same year, Portsmouth residents agreed to fund the construction of a football stadium that was comparable to those in neighboring communities along the Ohio River. That approval prompted the National Football League to offer the city a franchise in July 1930, and led to the construction of Universal Stadium, which opened September 14 with a capacity of 8,200. With less than 43,000 residents in 1930, Portsmouth became the NFLs second smallest city, ahead of only Green Bay, in that game, Spartan coach Potsy Clark refused to make even a single substitution against the defending NFL champion Packers. Portsmouth won 19–0 and used only 11 players all game, at the end of the 1932 season, the Spartans were tied for first place in the league with the Chicago Bears. That prompted what in retrospect known as the first NFL playoff game. Blizzard conditions in Chicago meant the game was moved from Wrigley Fields outdoor field to the field at Chicago Stadium. The game was won 9–0 by the Bears, on a pass from Bronko Nagurski to Red Grange. The resulting interest led to the establishment of Eastern and Western conferences, despite success on the field, low revenue and the Great Depression threatened the Spartans survival. On March 24,1934, it was announced that a group led by George Richards, Richards renamed the team the Lions, as a complement to the Detroit Tigers. 1 The result of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game to determine the NFL champion between the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans counted in the standings, history of the Detroit Lions Scioto Historicals Spartan Municipal Stadium & NFL Football in Portsmouth, Ohio
18.
Arizona Cardinals
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The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football franchise based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League as a member of the leagues National Football Conference West division, the Cardinals were founded as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898, and are the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States. The Cardinals play their games at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The team was established in Chicago in 1898 and was a member of the NFL in 1920. Along with the Chicago Bears, the club is one of two NFL charter member franchises still in operation since the leagues founding, the club then moved to St. Louis in 1960 and played in that city through 1987. Before the 1988 season, the team moved west to Tempe, Arizona, a suburb east of Phoenix. In 2006, the club playing all home games at the newly constructed University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The franchise has won two NFL championships, both while it was based in Chicago, the first occurred in 1925, but is the subject of controversy, with supporters of the Pottsville Maroons believing that Pottsville should have won the title. Their second title, and the first to be won in a game, came in 1947. They returned to the game to defend in 1948. In 2012 the Cardinals became the first NFL franchise to lose 700 games since its inception, the franchises all-time win-loss record at the conclusion of the 2016 season is 549–741–40. They have been to the ten times and have won seven playoff games. During that season, they won their only NFC Championship Game since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the team has also won five division titles since their 1947–1948 NFL championship game appearances. From 1988 through 2012, the Cardinals conducted their summer training camp at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The Cardinals moved their camp to University of Phoenix Stadium in 2013. The stadium was the site of the 2015 Pro Bowl, unlike in past years, the stadium also played host to Super Bowls XLII and XLIX. The franchises inception dates back to 1898, when a group gathered to play in the Chicago South Side. Chicago painting and building contractor Chris OBrien acquired the team, which he relocated to Normal Field on Racine Avenue, the team was known as Racine Normals until 1901, when OBrien bought used jerseys from the University of Chicago
19.
Super Bowl
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The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League. The game is the culmination to a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15,1967, the single exception to this rule is Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7,2016, following the 2015 regular season. The next game, Super Bowl LII, scheduled for February 4,2018, the game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League. It was agreed that the two champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a conference, currently, the National Football Conference leads the league with 26 wins to 25 wins for the American Football Conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl championship titles, with six, the New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with nine. The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some as an unofficial American national holiday, is called Super Bowl Sunday and it is the second-largest day for U. S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most-watched American television broadcast of the year, in 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 114. The NFL restricts the use of its Super Bowl trademark, it is called the Big Game or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcasts commercials has become a significant aspect of the event, for four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League was formed. The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached an agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season. As part of the merger, the champions of the two agreed to meet in a world championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected. A bowl game is a college football game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Games popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami, New Orleans, and El Paso, Texas in 1935, by the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term bowl for any major American football game was well established
20.
History of the Detroit Lions
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The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference North division. The team plays its games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit. Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and called the Portsmouth Spartans, despite success within the NFL, they could not survive in Portsmouth, then the NFLs smallest city. The team was purchased and relocated to Detroit for the 1934 season and they are one of four current teams and the only NFC team to have not yet played in the Super Bowl. Aside from a change to maroon in 1948 instituted by then head coach Bo McMillin. The design consists of silver helmets, silver pants, and either blue or white jerseys, the shade of blue used for Lions uniforms and logos is officially known as Honolulu blue, which is supposedly inspired by the color of the waves off the coast of Hawaii. The shade was chosen by Cy Huston in 1935, houston, the Lions first vice president and general manager, said of the choice, They had me looking at so many blues I am blue in the face, Huston said about the selection. But anyway, its the kind of blue, I am told, there have been minor changes to the uniform design throughout the years, such as changing the silver stripe patterns on the jersey sleeves, and changing the colors of the jersey numbers. White trim was added to the logo in 1970, in 1998, the team wore blue pants with their white jerseys along with grey socks but dropped that combination after the season. In 1999, the TV numbers on the sleeves were moved to the shoulders, in 1994, every NFL team wore throwback jerseys, and the Lions were similar to the jerseys used during their 1935 championship season. The helmets and pants were silver, the jerseys Honolulu blue with silver numbers. The team wore solid blue socks along with black shoes, the helmets also did not have a logo, as helmets were simple leather back then. The Lions also wore 50s-style jerseys during their traditional Thanksgiving Day games from 2001 to 2004 as the NFL encouraged teams to wear throwback jerseys on Thanksgiving Day, in 2003, the team added black trim to their logo and the jerseys. The face masks on the changed from blue to black with the introduction of the new color. Additionally, a home field jersey which makes black the dominant color was introduced in 2005. For 2008, the dropped the black alternate jerseys in favor of a throwback uniform to commemorate the franchises 75th anniversary. The throwback uniform became the teams permanent alternate jersey in 2009, the Lions officially unveiled new logo designs and uniforms on April 20,2009
21.
Bo McMillin
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Alvin Nugent McMillin was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-time All-American at quarterback, McMillin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player as part of its inaugural 1951 class. He was the football coach at Centenary College of Louisiana, Geneva College, Kansas State University and Indiana University. In 1945, he led Indiana to its first Big Ten Conference title and was named AFCA Coach of the Year, after graduating from Centre, McMillin played professionally with the Milwaukee Badgers and Cleveland Indians—two early National Football League teams—in 1922 and 1923. He later returned to the NFL, coaching the Detroit Lions from 1948 to 1950, McMillins career NFL coaching mark was 14–24. McMillin was born on January 12,1895 to Reuben Thomas McMillin and Martha Buchanan Reilly in Prairie Hill, Limestone County, the family moved in 1897 to Waco and in 1901 to Fort Worth. McMillins father was a meat packer, as a child, Bo was known to pick fights, but was also known all his life as one who never drunk nor smoked nor swore. He spoke with a distinctive Texas drawl and he played football as a running back at North Side High School in Fort Worth and Somerset High School in Somerset, Kentucky. At North Side, he played with Red Weaver and was coached by Robert L. Myers, sully Montgomery, Matty Bell, Bill James and Bob Mathias also attended North Side. By the ninth grade, McMillin had reached his full growth at 5 feet 9 inches and 165 pounds, Myers obtained the coaching job at his alma mater, Centre College, and brought all the above-named players with him. McMillin and Weaver did not have sufficient high-school credits to enter college and enrolled at Somerset High School for the 1916-17 year, ive got a boy under my wing down here in Texas whos a football-playing fool and I want him to go to Centre. Id like for you to get him in a school up there. Wrote Myers to a man in Somerset, McMillin began his collegiate career at Centre College in Kentucky. McMillin was a student who supported himself by gambling and liked to play football. McMillin failed all his courses during his year, eventually receiving his A. B. degree from Centre in 1937 with credit for military service. According to McMillin, he initially left Centre with $3,500 in debt and he was a Hall-of-Fame, three-time All-American, triple-threat quarterback on the Centre Colonels football team under head coaches Chief Meyers and Charley Moran. McMillin was the quarterback on Centres all-time football team which was chosen in 1935 and he was nominated for the Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919-era team. In McMillins day of iron man football, he was also a safety man on defense and he began playing football at Centre in 1917, making an impact as a freshman when his 17-yard drop kick defeated the rival Kentucky Wildcats 3–0
22.
Indiana University (Bloomington)
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Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. With over 48,000 students, IU Bloomington is the institution of the Indiana University system. As of Fall 2015,48,514 students attend Indiana University, while 55. 2% of the student body was from Indiana, students from 49 of the 50 states, Washington D. C. and 165 foreign nations were also enrolled. The university is home to a student life program, with more than 750 student organizations on campus. Indiana athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are known as the Indiana Hoosiers, the university is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Among IU Bloomington’s many graduate-level programs are the Kelley School of Business, School of Education, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, indiana’s law school has a program with a first-year team-based approach, a diversion from the typical legal education. In terms of academics and other criteria, IU Bloomington ranks in top 100 national universities in the United States and the top 50 public universities in the country. The schools sports teams are notorious competitors in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference, there are more than 650 student organizations on campus, and more than 5,000 students go Greek in the school’s large community of fraternities and sororities. Indianas state government in Corydon established Indiana University on January 20,1820, construction began in 1822 at what is now called Seminary Square Park near the intersection of Second Street and College Avenue. The first professor was Baynard Rush Hall, a Presbyterian minister who taught all of the classes in 1825–27, in the first year, he taught twelve students and was paid $250. Hall was a classicist who focused on Greek and Latin and believed that the study of classical philosophy, the first class graduated in 1830. From 1820 to 1889 a legal-political battle was fought between IU and Vincennes University as to which was the state university. In 1829, Andrew Wylie became the first president, serving until his death in 1851, the schools name was changed to Indiana College in 1829, and to Indiana University in 1839. Wylie and David Maxwell, president of the board of trustees, were devout Presbyterians and they spoke of the nonsectarian status of the school but generally hired fellow Presbyterians. Presidents and professors were expected to set an example for their charges. After six ministers in a row, the first non-clergyman to become president was the young biology professor David Starr Jordan, Jordan followed Baptist theologian Lemuel Moss, who resigned after a scandal broke regarding his involvement with a female professor. Jordan improved the finances and public image, doubled its enrollment. Jordan became president of Stanford University in June 1891, growth of the college was slow
23.
NFL on Thanksgiving Day
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The National Football League on Thanksgiving Day is a traditional series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the inception in 1920. Currently, three NFL games are played every Thanksgiving, the first two are hosted by the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, a third game, with no fixed opponents, has been played annually since 2006. The concept of American football games being played on Thanksgiving Day dates back to 1876, shortly after the game had been invented, in that year, the college football teams at Yale and Princeton began an annual tradition of playing each other on Thanksgiving Day. The University of Michigan also made it a tradition to play annual Thanksgiving games, the Thanksgiving Day games between Michigan and the Chicago Maroons in the 1890s have been cited as The Beginning of Thanksgiving Day Football. In some areas, high-school teams play on Thanksgiving, usually to wrap-up the regular-season, by the time football had become a professional event, playing on Thanksgiving had already become an institution. Records of pro football being played on Thanksgiving date back to as early as the 1890s, with the first pro–am team, members of the Ohio League, during its early years, usually placed their marquee matchups on Thanksgiving Day. For instance, in 1905 and 1906 the Latrobe Athletic Association and Canton Bulldogs, a rigging scandal with the Tigers leading up to the 1906 game led to severe drops in attendance for the Bulldogs and ultimately led to their suspension of operations. During the 1910s, the Ohio League stopped holding Thanksgiving games because many of its players coached high school teams and were unavailable. This was not the case in other circuits, in 1919. The game ended in a tie, leading to a rematch the next Sunday for the league championship. During the Franksgiving controversy in 1939 and 1940, the two teams to play the game were the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, as both teams were in the same state. When the Thanksgiving games resumed in 1945, only the Lions annual home game would remain on the Thanksgiving holiday, in 1951, the Packers began a thirteen-season run as the perpetual opponent to the Lions each year through 1963. In 1966, the Dallas Cowboys, who had founded six years earlier. It is widely rumored that the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host Thanksgiving games as a condition of their very first one, in 1975 and 1977, the St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team. This, combined with St. Louiss consistently weak attendance and opposition from the Kirkwood–Webster Groves Turkey Day Game led to Dallas resuming regular hosting duties in 1978. Notwithstanding the aforementioned St. Louis-hosted games in 1975 and 1977, thus, the AFC could showcase only one team on Thanksgiving, and the AFC team was always the visiting team. Since 2006, a third NFL game on Thanksgiving has been played at night and it originally aired on the NFL Network as part of its Thursday Night Football package until 2011, NBC began carrying the night game in 2012
24.
2006 Detroit Lions season
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The 2006 Detroit Lions season was the 77th season in team history. The seaon began with the team trying to improve on their 5–11 record in 2005, but they have failed to improve that record and fell to 3-13. On January 19, the Lions hired Rod Marinelli as the new head coach. From the Tony Dungy coaching tree, Marinelli had previously served as the line coach. The rest of their picks included Wisconsin RB Brian Calhoun, Texas OT Jonathan Scott, West Virginia CB Alton McCann, Southern California Guard Fred Matua, and Tulane LB Anthony Cannon. The Detroit opened up the preseason against the Denver Broncos with a win against the Super Bowl contender. However, their next 3 games they lost, Losing 16–20 against Cleveland Browns on August 18, 3–21 against the Oakland Raiders on August 25, at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan The Detroit Lions opened the regular season at home against the Seattle Seahawks on September 10. The Lions would score first on kicker Jason Hansons 44-yard field goal in the first quarter, however, in the second quarter, Seattle would get back in the game with kicker Josh Browns 20-yard and 51-yard field goals. With the season-opening loss, the Lions were 0–1, at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois The Detroit Lions played their first road game of the year, as in Week 2, they played an NFC North battle against the Chicago Bears. From the get-go, the Lions trailed, as they allowed 24 first half points and it came in the form of opposing QB Rex Grossmans 3-yard TD pass to TE John Gilmore and opposing kicker Robbie Goulds 32-yard field goal in the first quarter. It also came in the form of a 41-yard TD pass to WR Bernard Berrian, the Lions only score of the game came in the form of QB Jon Kitna getting a 1-yard QB sneak for a TD in the third quarter. The Bears put the game well-out of reach, as a 5-yard TD to TE John Gilmore later in the quarter, with the loss, the Lions dropped to 0–2. At Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan Hoping to get win #1, Detroit would tie the game up as QB Jon Kitna completed a 37-yard TD pass to RB Shawn Bryson. In the second quarter, however, the Packers retook the lead for the score of the period. In the third quarter, both shared a touchdown with each other. Green Bay got a 5-yard TD pass to WR Donald Driver, in the fourth quarter, the Packers got some distance, as Favre completed a 4-yard TD pass to RB Ahman Green. The Lions would get a 40-yard field goal by kicker Jason Hanson, Detroit fell behind early, as kicker Jeff Wilkins nailed a 42-yard and a 19-yard field goal to give the Rams an early lead. The Lions would get a goal of their own, as kicker Jason Hanson got a 29-yard field goal
25.
2007 Detroit Lions season
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The 2007 Detroit Lions season was the 78th season for the team in the National Football League. After achieving a 6–2 record at the mark, the Lions lost seven of their last eight games. They finished with a 7–9 record for their seventh consecutive losing season, the Lions improved upon their 3–13 record in 2006 but failed to make the playoffs once again, extending their postseason drought to eight years. The 422 pass completions that Detroit surrendered in 2007 is an NFL record, the 70. 1% completion percentage against the Lions defense was the worst in league history until it was broken by the Colts in 2011. At McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, California The Lions began their 2007 campaign on the road in a game against the Oakland Raiders. After a scoreless first quarter, Detroit got off to a fast start in the second quarter, QB Jon Kitna completed a 13-yard TD pass to WR Roy Williams and kicker Jason Hanson connected on a 46-yard field goal. In the third quarter, the Lions increased its lead with Kitna completing a 16-yard TD pass to rookie WR Calvin Johnson. The Raiders, however, started to catch up with QB Josh McCown completing a 4-yard TD pass to WR Ronald Curry along with RB LaMont Jordan getting a 12-yard TD run. In a wild fourth quarter, Hanson gave Detroit a 46-yard field goal, with the win, Detroit began its season at 1–0. At Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan Following their road win over the Raiders, after a scoreless first quarter, Detroit pounced first with QB Jon Kitna completing a 9-yard TD pass to WR Roy Williams. The Vikings tied the game with QB Tarvaris Jackson getting a 1-yard TD run, the Lions took the lead prior to halftime with kicker Jason Hansons 30-yard field goal. In the third quarter, when Kitna was temporarily out with a concussion, QB J. T. OSullivan came in and completed a 7-yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson to increase Detroits lead. Minnesota, however, tied the game up with kicker Ryan Longwell getting a 32-yard field goal, after both teams failed to score in the fourth quarter, the Vikings got the ball to begin overtime. The Lions forced a fumble nine plays into their drive and would eventually get the win with Hansons 37-yard field goal, with the win, Detroit improved its record to 2–0. In the first quarter, Detroit trailed early as Eagles RB Brian Westbrook ran 25 yards for a TD. The Lions tied the game on a Kevin Jones 2-yard TD run, in the second quarter, the points bonanza continued as McNabb and Curtis hooked up with each other again on a 12-yard TD pass and a 43-yard TD pass to increase the Eagles lead. Detroit responded with QB Jon Kitna completing TD passes of 11 yards to WR Shaun McDonald and 91 yards to WR Roy Williams, Philadelphia capped the half with McNabb completing a 43-yard TD pass to Westbrook. In the second half, the Eagles took control as RB Correll Buckhalter ran 1 yard for a TD run in the third quarter, with the loss, the Lions fell to 2–1
Current season
