Inside The Mind Of A Detroit Lions Fan
The experience of being a die-hard fan of the worst NFL team in modern history and why the city of Detroit continues its support year after disappointing year.
Being a Detroit Lions fan conjures all the emotions you would expect. It’s frustrating, wearying, arduous, infuriating, and any other word you can use to describe a recurring disappointment. But the experience doesn’t stop there; more surprisingly, it’s earnest, loyal, and truehearted. Being a fan of the Detroit Lions requires a grit that is uniquely Detroit, and it’s an experience that comes with more optimism than you might expect.
Backing up the claim that the Detroit Lions are the worst NFL franchise in modern history is remarkably easy. If you’re a Cleveland Browns or New York Jets fan, you may find yourself taking objection to the idea that a team has been historically worse than yours. But, if you follow along with me, I’ll do my best to convince you that the disenchanted label of the worst franchise in the NFL belongs to the Lions. If you are from Detroit, the inadequacy is well known but stay with me because misery loves company, and we will get through this together.
To understand how the Detroit Lions achieved such an unwelcome title and why fans stick by their team, we must understand the history and how this team became the worst franchise in modern times. We will have to step through the archives of the good, the bad, and the ugly football played by the Lions.
Let’s turn the clock back almost 60 years, just before the Super Bowl Era begins, and look at the essential metric to team success, winning. We will focus on not only wins but specifically playoff wins. Here is a chart of the total playoff wins per team since 1966.
This metric gets even worse. The above chart is just the Super Bowl Era; if we can turn back the clock to 1958, the result stays the same for the Lions. It isn’t easy to comprehend that 64 seasons have been played since 1958 and the Detroit Lions have a single playoff win to offer the city.
If you don’t laugh, you will cry, and for a Lions fan, nothing is more comical than comparing Tom Brady’s illustrious career against the futility of the Super Bowl Era Lions. Take a moment to allow this chart to sink in:
How can a league built for parity among teams lead to such unequal outcomes? How can one team in which the roster rotates from year to year and decade to decade seemingly have perennial success? In contrast, another team with the same rotating roster will continually lose?
Does it come down to the coaches, front office, and management for the Lions? Let’s start our focus there:
The Coaches:
Given that the Lions have only won a single playoff game since 1957, it’s not a surprise that we don’t have a head coach in modern history that we look back to as the “Good ole days.” The most successful coach in recent memory is objectively Jim Caldwell. But don’t be fooled, using the standard of any other NFL team; Caldwell’s tenure in Detroit was nothing to boast over. Granted, he is one of the only coaches in Lions history to walk away from the job with a winning percentage above .500 and led the team to two wild-card appearances only to lose in both. His time with the team never resulted in a meaningful win despite having a prime Matthew Stafford and high expectations. After four seasons of underperforming the front offices’ forecasts, Jim Caldwell was fired on January 1st, 2018.
Lions fans have not shed a tear at the departure of any head coach in the last 65 years, and unless something changes soon for the 2022 Detroit Lions, Dan Campbell will be shown the door sooner or later with little to no sorrow from the fanbase.
It is hard to say that the outcome of games would be much better if the Lions had Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, or Don Shula on the sideline. The Detroit Lions’ woes sometimes seem to be from the disappointing culture and a long historical standard of falling short. Maybe there is a coach charismatic enough to change the tide, but for now, Lions fans can only hope for a tilt from the status quo.
The Management:
Much like the past head coaches of the Detroit Lions, there is no General Manager that Lions fans sit back and reminisce fondly over. In the General Manager’s list, you will find Matt Millen, and all remaining Lions fans will cringe at mentioning that name. He was unfortunately allowed to run the team for eight miserable years before finally being fired at the end of the 2008 season. While Millen ran the Lions, the team finished his tenure with a tumultuous winning percentage of .277 — Millen’s misses in the draft and the annoyance of his contract extension after his first five years with the team will long live as one of the worst times to be a Lions fan and the list of rough times is a long one.
With the coaches and management highlighted, let’s now focus on the players from the Detroit Lion’s past. Have they possessed talent worth mentioning? Have they had the talent to go the distance? The answer to that is a resounding yes. Let’s look at some of the Detroit Lion’s greats and the unfortunate end of their careers with the team.
Barry Sanders:
From 1989 to 1998, arguably the greatest running back in the history of the NFL suited up for the Detroit Lions. From a statistical perspective, Barry Sanders’ fans can claim he is the greatest of all time. But the most compelling justification for the greatest-ever assertion can only be made with the human eye. Barry Sanders was an absolute marvel to watch; he made a habit of making fully grown men look like fools on the football field as they tried to make sense of his next move, which they seldom guessed correctly. If you have been living under a rock for the last 30 years, I highly recommend watching a highlight video for Barry Sanders; that is always time well spent.
If the Lions possessed one of the greatest running backs to play the game, how were they never able to win more than one playoff game during his tenure? Barry Sanders had that same question for the Detroit Lions front office. After ten statistically great years with the team, Barry Sanders announced his retirement; many believed he was still well within the prime of his career and was quickly approaching the total rushing yards record set by Walter Payton. Barry Sanders was and continues to be a quiet and humble human being; when he was initially asked why he retired, Barry was quoted saying, “My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it.” but years after his retirement Barry Sanders released a book entitled “Barry Sanders: Now You See Him…” and he mentions in the autobiography that he doubted management would build a winning team around him and the drive and passion for staying focused became harder and harder for him to maintain. The doubt in the resolve of the front office to build a winning team is a criticism Barry shared with the fanbase, and that concern is still very prevalent today.
Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford:
The dynamic duo of Calvin Johnson & Matthew Stafford made highlights for the Detroit Lions from 2009–2015. Still, this great QB and WR pairing never resulted in a playoff win, and most of their season together ended in disappointing losing records. After the 2015 season concluded, Calvin Johnson retired suddenly, and just like Barry Sanders before him, Calvin Johnson was still in the prime of his career. Calvin Johnson, also a humble and quiet man, cited his lingering back pain as the reason for his early retirement. While most believe this to be true, he has since opened up about wanting to be released from his contract with the Detroit Lions, but the team never let his contract go. He was forced to retire partially because of pain, but he also didn’t have the will to play for a losing team any longer.
Matthew Stafford is considered the best quarterback to play for the Lions; At the same time, some will make a case for Bobby Layne, but Stafford owns almost every major passing record in Detroit. Most fans, at this point, call Stafford the greatest QB in franchise history. Staffords’ dedication to the team was always easy to see. He played through injuries, rotating rosters, and coaches. Stafford showed up every week and gave it his all. But after 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions, he requested a trade from Sheila Ford Hamp, and she obliged his request. A trade to the Los Angeles Rams was made early in 2021 for two first-round picks and Jared Goff as his replacement in Detroit. As if it were some clever joke from the universe, Matthew Stafford would go on the win the super bowl his first season away from the Detroit Lions.
The Lions have had the talent and the supporting cast to make deep runs in the playoffs, but it never happened, and we have always been far from the best of all outcomes. The unfortunate reality of the Lions’ futility is often chalked up to bad luck, and who can blame us for oversimplifying the problem? But we have to give the devil its due and admit that the Detroit Lions’ woes are based in reality, but something innate and mysterious connects the Lions with the Motor City.
The Parallel Between The City of Detroit And The Lions:
The City of Detroit and the Detroit Lions have a trajectory since the 1950s that is eerily similar. During the 1950s, the Detroit Lions won 3 championships, and Detroit, the city, was booming off the back of the auto industry, which fueled its rise for over 50 years. Detroit was the nation’s fourth largest city, and things couldn’t have been looking more optimistic for the Detroit Lions and the City the football team was founded to represent.
Detroit’s downfall, starting in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, was due to many complicated factors. Still, chief among them was the decentralization of automotive production plants and manufacturers looking for lower-wage workers. Companies began moving their operations all over the midwest and even into the Sunbelt in search of lower costs. The rise of labor-saving technologies that reduced the need for assembly line workers also played a role in the fall of population and prosperity for Detroit, which still plagued the city.
Detroit hit an inflection point after its bankruptcy in 2013, and the only place to go was up. Depending on the neighborhood, Detroit feels like an up-and-coming city trying to find its identity after the slow and tumultuous bottoming out. If you visit the town today, you’ll see it brimming with life in places like the North End, West Village, and Corktown. But the bruises from the last 50 years remain. Shuttered industrial buildings lined the highways, and boarded-up windows were still clear and present throughout Detroit. As the city of Detroit decouples from the auto industry and looks to build a new future, the Detroit Lions continue to be owned by the Ford Family.
William Clay Ford Sr. purchased the Detroit Lions in 1963 for a reported $6 million, and the Ford family has been running the team ever since. The results have been rough for the Ford family, and the criticism of the poor performance is warranted. William Clay Ford Sr. has been far too loyal when considering the general managers tasked with making critical decisions for the Detroit Lions. His loyalty extended to Matt Millen, and his allowance of the team setback will long go down as a defining feature of Ford’s ownership.
Making a case that the Ford family should not own the Detroit Lions is an assertion I will not be making here. Shelia Hamp Ford has made moves in recent years that give the Lions fans hope for a bright future. It could be the undying optimism I’ll talk about in the next portion of this article, but the young core this team has put together has all the writing on the wall for future success.
Why Does Detroit Continue The Support?
What option does the city have? The Lions are the team that we get to cheer for, take it, or leave it. That assertion is fair enough, but many people would leave it if it were that simple. To be clear, plenty of former Lions fans have. But the fact remains, the Detroit Lions are an NFL team that sells out most of their home games at Ford Field. During exceptionally terrible years, like the current season (2022), attendance will plummet toward the end of the season. Still, when hopes are high at the beginning of the year, the stadium is sold out, with only standing room available. After all the years of losing, there is never talk of the Lions organization packing their bags and heading for greener pastures. The NFL and the owners are steadfast in their resolve to keep the Lions squarely in the city they have always been. Other teams have faired differently after years of underperforming.
Examples of teams relocating because of poor team performance that led to poor fan support:
- 1987 Cardinals -> From St. Louis to Phoenix
- 1995 Rams -> From Los Angeles to St. Louis
- 1997 Titans -> From Houston to Nashville
That’s just a few instances of teams that were bounced from their hometowns, and more exist in other professional sports.
A Dream Of New Ownership:
It’s been hoped for years by a large portion of the fanbase that the Fords would sell the team. The hopes of new owners have dovetailed into rumors through the years. Many high-profile names have been thrown into the ring of potential suitors, Dan Gilbert, at one point, was tapped to be a potential buyer, and even Jeff Bezos’ name has been thrown into the mix. The truth is that Sheila Ford Hamp will likely not be selling the team any time soon. Here entails the biggest complaint as a Lions fan. Many fans believe that the current owner takes the loyalty of the existing fanbase for granted. Why make a winner when the stadium sells out every year? What motivation do the Fords have for putting more money towards the team? That is a question heard often, and it resembles the same refrain Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson made after their untimely retirements.
Detroit Lions fans are loyal, far more than the team deserves, that is for sure. Where does Detroit’s loyalty come from? There is no definitive answer to that question. The people of Detroit are conditioned to fight through hard times and never give up. I could be looking through rose-colored glasses, but the idea tracks the city’s history. Nothing has been easy or given without a fight for this city in a long time. Why would residents of Detroit expect the football team to make things easy on them, either? The people of Detroit have grit and don’t quit without a fight. It could be argued that they should have left this team a long time ago but simply put, they aren’t built that way, and they likely never will be. Whatever success lies ahead for Detroit will be hard fought, and they expect the same for the football team.
On Being A Fan Of The Detroit Lions:
There hasn’t been winning for the Lions in a long time, making it difficult, if not impossible, to be a “fair-weather fan” of this team. The people who call themselves fans find the Detroit Lions to have intrinsic value. Many Lions fans grew up in Detroit; we went to the games with our parents, gathered with our families, and watched the Thanksgiving day games together; we remembered the astonishing runs from Barry Sanders and heard the tales of Bobby Layne, Lem Barney, and Joe Schmidt. The Detroit Lions’ fans have experienced the disappointment together, and through the years, solidarity has sprung up in the place of resentment.
At this moment, there is no sign of the tide changing. The Lions are in the middle of another dreadful year, even still, Ford Field is packed, and the fans are loud. Loyalty against better judgment comes at a steep cost, the hope that the payoff of supporting a winning team will be stronger than the frustration of constant losing.
’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’
- Alfred Lord Tennyson
Honestly, I’ve tried my best not to finesse the blunt truth; supporting the Detroit Lions is brutal, but when Hell freezes over and the stars align, we’ll be there rooting for the Honolulu Blue in the name of our late family member and friends, all which would have loved to be with us when they finally make it to the big game. For today and every day in the future, Fight Lions, Fight!
Resources:
- https://theweek.com/articles/461968/rise-fall-detroit-timeline
- http://ap.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/politics-reform/essays/motor-city-story-detroit
