What Happened to the Detroit Lions Before “The Old Man” Died

          Part Three:

          Bobby Ross & Barry Sanders

When you have a history like the Detroit Lions, the ‘cursed’ feeling around the team has been known to drive away people from the franchise.

We’ve heard it all before in how the Lions are ‘cursed’ and always seem to be perennial losers. When you’re part of a league in the NFL that gives you over 130 million dollars in cap room and countless opportunities throughout the year, such as the NFL draft, free agency, and trades to improve your team though, there’s no reason a team shouldn’t improve one year to the next. For many NFL teams, they are able to improve easily. Just look at the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, and how they went from no playoffs, to divisional playoffs, to being on top of the world in 3 years.  

“There’s no magic formula (Samuelsen),” to achieve what the Seattle Seahawks did, but when you’re the Detroit Lions though, it seems like it takes one to put a stop to unprecedented events.

No matter how close the Lions seem to get, something bad just has to happen. A fumble at the right time by Reggie Bush, an improbable 3^rd down conversion in the 4^th quarter, a 61 yard field goal by Justin Tucker, and other events during the season ruining Week 15 MNF are exact examples of the improbability (Week 15: Baltimore Ravens vs. Detroit Lions Highlights). And since, “it’s the Lions (Samuelsen),” the saying ‘you haven’t seen everything’ hangs in the air and the heartbreak continues.  And it’s continued since William Clay Ford Senior (WCF) first took ownership more than 50 years ago, and until the Lions win a Super Bowl, it’ll be the monkey on the Lions’ back.  And as it continues, it adds insult to injury with fans, players, and coaches. Then, as the hurt builds and builds, it culminates with the one thing that keeps the Lions from getting over the hump: people giving up and leaving.

Fans and broadcasters passionately say all the time that they can’t take all the losing on 97.1 “The Ticket,” and sometimes even the die-hard Lions fans exhaust all of their passion and give up on the Detroit Lions. And as Pat Caputo said, the Lions are “national pundits… (who) falling over themselves,” take the life out the Detroit Lions “family” week after week. And as the Lions keep losing, the Lions lose out on players and coaches that could take the franchise to the next level.

The story is an easy one to tell; no one can take it. Someone may deny this by saying, “I was feeling like I did enough, ready to move on (Schottey),” like with Barry Sanders. Eventually though they’ll later say, “I lost the determination to do it every day (Schottey).” That seems to be the theme synonymous with Detroit. With Barry Sanders though, one may ask, why him at running back with his talent, destined for the hall of fame, abruptly ended his career after 10 years?

Barry Sanders, a  star running back coming out of Oklahoma State, drafted 3^rd overall by Detroit, was destined for greatness from day one of in the NFL. Even with being a lesser 5’8’’, modeling his running style after legends like Tony Dorsett, O.J. Simpson, and Gale Sayers, Barry tailored his running to be instinctive and creative, dominating the opposition in the process (Schottey). For anyone watching, Barry Sanders’ escapeability stunned defenders and fans alike as he ran for touchdown after touchdown, piling up 99 of them, and a 3^rd most ever 15,269 yards in his glorious career. With countless 1500-plus yard seasons, countless trips to the playoffs, and being essential to the Lions winning a division title and playoff game in 1991, Sanders seemed to have a fulfilling career that would continue into the 21^st century. Sanders had something else in mind though when he announced his retirement after the 1998 season.

The Lions in 1998 at the time were extremely mediocre at 5-11 and with a down year, Barry noted there was too much to deal with and consequently walked away from the game. Even with the, “tough decision,” as noted by Sanders, the Lions being in constant turmoil and a rebuilding state, gave him the grounds to retire (Schottey).  He, also having the expectation of being the one who would carry the Lions to the promise land, showed the mental pressure was too much for him. Now with Sanders long gone, the only things remaining are the memories of his dazzling jukes and cuts, and the image of him on the Madden 25 videogame cover as the Lions, “fanbase… still stings from Sanders’ retirement. (Schottey)” Then just 2 years later during the 2000 season, it was déjà vu with Lions Head Coach Bobby Ross.

Ross, after experiencing Sanders leaving, a failed playoff game in 1999 against the Packers, the usual Lions mediocrity, and, “difficulty getting players to commit to the… program (Lacy),” got fed up. That combined with medical concerns caused him to resign midseason. It was another huge shock to fans, when Ross was coaching allegedly better the playoff-winning predecessor Wayne Fontes.

Later Ross had regret over leaving, but he described problems in creating and keeping a winning culture (Lacy). The Lions ‘curse’ seemed to somehow impede him and in the end, he couldn’t take it.

Through Bobby Ross, Barry Sanders, and many other examples, it showed that the losing culture of the Detroit Lions deflects instead of attracts talent. And in the process, the Lions become worse instead of better, effectively destroying confidence in the team. Talk about pushing someone while they’re down, huh?

Honestly though, no one wanted to see the Lions stay in the state they did. WCF was always passionate throughout his ownership to win a championship. As retired kicker Jason Hanson said about players in Detroit, “We weren’t a product of him (WCF), we were people (Birkett).” And time after time, players came back to say, like Hanson and Sanders, that they felt guilty about never winning a championship for Ford (Birkett). WCF’s ownership was based on “kindness and generosity (Birkett),” but the Lions’ losing culture and the way WCF managed though drove people away from the organization.

Now though, the tide is changing. With one of the most potent offenses and physical defenses in the NFL, the Lions path to success may be close to reaching its climax. The new Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell though has to keep that upswing. He has to instill the discipline and work ethic that produces championships and a winning culture. He has to make sure players are committed to a change of the Detroit Lions’ culture for good. Most importantly though, Caldwell and the Lions front office has to prevent the most talented team the Lions have ever had from leaving under the conditions so many before did. Calvin Johnson’s face after MNF Week 15 is a prime example that shows even he can’t keep dealing with the continuous losing (Week 15: Baltimore Ravens vs. Detroit Lions Highlights). And if he were to leave, good luck in winning a championship.

The time for the Lions to win is now.

Works Cited

Birkett, Dave. "Jason Hanson Feels Bad about Detroit Lions Not Winning More for William

Clay Ford." The Detroit Free Press. N.p., 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Lacy, Eric. "Former Detroit Lions Coach Bobby Ross Says Jim Caldwell Has a 'tremendous

Background'" M-Live. N.p. Samuelsen, Jamie. "

Samuelsen, Jamie. "Jamie Samuelsen's Blog: Three Keys the Detroit Lions Should Get from

Seahawks' Super Bowl Win." The Detroit Free Press. N.p., 4 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar.

2014.

Schottey, Michael. "Detroit Lions Legend Barry Sanders Talks Madden Cover and Why He Left

the Game." Bleacher Report. N.p., 25 Aug. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Week 15: Baltimore Ravens vs. Detroit Lions Highlights. Dir. NFL Videos. Perf. The Detroit

Lions and The Baltimore Ravens. NFL.com. N.p., 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 Dec. 2013.