A Look at the 1957 Detroit Lions

We are relatively close to another NFL season; the Schedule Release is that last key NFL date during the offseason before the Hall of Fame Game (the first NFL preseason game) starts. This year marks a milestone, as the Super Bowl will turn 60 this season. I had been meaning to do more in-depth looks at NFL championship runs, and the first one I wrote was about the Chicago Cardinals' 1947 run to their most recent championship to date--the longest current championship drought in pro sports.

I had to think long and hard regarding my next piece, and it came to me very recently and was inspired by last season. So here it is, a look at the Detroit Lions' 1957 NFL Championship.

Once upon a time, sports fans, the Detroit Lions were actually a juggernaut. Even crazier, so were the Cleveland Browns. The Lions were quite a strong team in the 1950s, having won back-to-back NFL Championships to join the one they captured all the way back in 1935. The Lions entered the 1957 season a year removed from narrowly losing the NFL's Western Conference; finishing a half game behind the Chicago Bears in the standings.

Detroit's 1957 season started with a loss in Baltimore against the Colts, but they would win three straight to move into a tie for first in the Western Conference with the Colts and the San Francisco 49ers. The three team race was tight for the whole season, and entering the twelfth and final week, the three teams were tied at 7-4. Even crazier: all three teams had separate games in Week 12. Imagine if RedZone was around back then. Now, in the event that two teams finish tied atop the conference's standings, those two teams would face off in a playoff tiebreaker. However, the possibility of a three-team tie to end the season was there, and that would result in the Colts getting a bye while the Niners and Lions face off in one game, with the winner heading to Baltimore.

The three-team scenario would not play out. The Lions and Niners won, but the Colts lost in the final week, so as a result, the Lions faced the Niners in a playoff to determine the Western Conference Championship. The playoff saw the Niners (in their first ever playoff appearance overall) lead 27-7 in the third quarter, but the Lions fought back, scoring 24 unanswered points for the rest of the second half. Yes, six decades before "28-3," there was "27-7."

The Lions won, 31-27, to claim the Western Conference and advance to the NFL Championship Game against a Cleveland Browns team who dominated the Eastern Conference outright and finished with a 9-2-1 record; the best overall in the entire league. Despite the Lions winning their regular season meeting with the Browns, Cleveland entered the championship as three-point favorites. The Lions took that personally. The home crowd at Detroit's Briggs Stadium saw a complete beat down. The Lions took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and wouldn't come close to looking back. Even after losing star QB Bobby Layne (more on him later) due to injury, the Lions remained relentless and went on to completely dominate the Browns.

The Lions blasted the Browns, 59-14, on December 29, 1957, to win their fourth NFL Championship and their third championship in the decade. The team's first score was a field goal, and they followed it up by scoring eight touchdowns! Browns had absolutely no chance; this game was over from the get-go. However, in what would go on to be true Lions fashion, the good times would end right after that final Sunday of 1957.

This man, of course, is Robert Lawrence Layne. Born in Santa Anna, Texas on December 19, 1926, Layne was drafted third overall by the Bears in 1948, and after a season with the Bears and playing with the New York Bulldogs in 1949, Layne ended up with the Lions in 1950, going on to lead the team to those three championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957. In that 1957 season, Layne threw for 1,169 yards, six touchdowns, and twelve interceptions, while also running for 99 yards. In a surprising move, the Lions traded Layne to the Pittsburgh Steelers just two games into that following season. The Lions received two draft choices and this guy named Earl Morrall. That name sounds familiar, I wonder why.

Layne was allegedly quoted as saying after the trade that the Lions "wouldn't win for another 50 years." Since that trade, the Lions plummeted. Hard. This championship in 1957 is their last to date. Think about how long ago that was. I Love Lucy ended. Pal Joey hit theaters two months prior to the championship game. Joe Besser's short-lived Stooges run began. In baseball, the Giants and Dodgers each played their final seasons in New York City before moving to California. And pro football was still three years away from the debut of the American Football League.

Since the Lions' 1957 championship, the team has only qualified for the playoffs 14 times. They have a 3-14 playoff record since then; the worst in the NFL. Their win over the Niners in that Western Conference playoff still remains their most recent road playoff win to date. Ironically, they had a chance to break that skid against the Niners in the NFC Championship two years prior, and even more ironic, the Lions had a big lead that they lost late in the second half. The other seasons have been marred by horrific records, centered by Detroit's 0-16 campaign in 2008. Last year saw the Lions finish 15-2, but they were blasted in the Divisional Playoff by the Washington Commanders.

While the Lions remain one of only four teams who have never reached the Super Bowl, they have the unfortunate distinction of being the only team who was fully operational during the entire Super Bowl era to have never played in the big game. The Jacksonville Jaguars debuted in 1995, and the Houston Texans debuted seven years later in 2002. The Browns were out of operation from 1996-98. The "Curse of Bobby Layne" continues to hover over Detroit long after Layne passed away in 1986. The Lions' 1957 championship remains legendary in the overall history of this great sport, but in Motor City, it's a memory that becomes more and more distant with each time the Lions fall short of the ultimate goal.