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Detroit Lions
The History of the Detroit Lions, a professional American football franchise based in Detroit, Michigan, dates back to 1929 when they played in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans. Currently in its 87th season, the Lions are one of the National Football League’s oldest franchises.
The History of the Detroit Lions, a professional American football franchise based in Detroit, Michigan, dates back to 1929 when they played in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans. Currently in its 87th season, the Lions are one of the National Football League’s oldest franchises.
![Picture](/uploads/6/3/5/6/63563495/lions-logo-61-69.png?250)
The Spartans were initially in 1929 in Portsmouth, Ohio, drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-pro teams in the Ohio-Kentucky-West Virginia tri-state area. They immediately made an impact by twice defeating the Ironton Tanks, a nearby independent professional team who had regularly played NFL member teams since the early 1920s with considerable success. Portsmouth residents agreed to fund the construction of Universal Stadium, a venue comparable to those in neighboring communities along the Ohio River, prompting the NFL to offer league membership in 1930. Portsmouth became the NFL’s second smallest city, ahead of only Green Bay. During the team’s first year in the league it complied a record of 5-6-3 in league contests.
The 1940's were not a high point of the Lions history. They won a total of 35 games, for an average of 3.5 a season, including going 0-11 in 1942. The 1942 team’s offense was so bad, it scored only 5 touchdowns all season and never scored more than 7 points in a single game. In the middle of the decade they had some success, finishing 6-3-1 in 1944 and 7-3 in 1945. The lions were less successful in the latter half of the decade; from 1946 to 1949, the Lions won a total of 10 games. On January 7, 1961, the Lions defeated the Browns 17-16 in the first-ever Playoff Bowl matching the runner-up from the two conferences into which the NFL was divided at the time. Although the Lions recorded a 4-0 record in the pre-season, they were winless during the regular season with a record of 0-16. They become the first team in NFL history to lose all 16 games in a single season and thereby they won the right to the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
The 1940's were not a high point of the Lions history. They won a total of 35 games, for an average of 3.5 a season, including going 0-11 in 1942. The 1942 team’s offense was so bad, it scored only 5 touchdowns all season and never scored more than 7 points in a single game. In the middle of the decade they had some success, finishing 6-3-1 in 1944 and 7-3 in 1945. The lions were less successful in the latter half of the decade; from 1946 to 1949, the Lions won a total of 10 games. On January 7, 1961, the Lions defeated the Browns 17-16 in the first-ever Playoff Bowl matching the runner-up from the two conferences into which the NFL was divided at the time. Although the Lions recorded a 4-0 record in the pre-season, they were winless during the regular season with a record of 0-16. They become the first team in NFL history to lose all 16 games in a single season and thereby they won the right to the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.