Detroit Lions throwback: Reviewing the 1980 season

Song of the Season: “Another One Bites the Dust”

Lions safety Jimmy “Spiderman” Allen picked off six passes in 1980 and nine more the following year, but the biggest interception of his career has to be putting his own lyrics on top of the #1 hit song by Queen and turning it into the official Lions anthem for the season.

With lines like “Come and watch the De-troit Lions, who no one seems to beat!” and “Last year the team was two and fourteen, but this is the year for New Orleans!” , the Spiderman, with help from teammates James Hunter and David Hill, prematurely proclaimed the team’s greatness and Super Bowl aspirations before the season had even started.

As the 4-0 start whipped the area into a frenzy, the Spiderman’s hype song had turned into a radio hit, and the Lions seemingly had back the swagger that had eluded them for over two decades at the time. Unfortunately, by November the Lions’ division lead was shrinking, losses were coming in bunches, and Detroit radio personality Dick Purtan was playing his own remix, “Another One Beats Our Butts” on his morning show.

Maybe the Spiderman was getting way ahead of himself with “Another One Bites the Dust”, but an argument can also be made that he was ahead of his time with it as well. By the second half of the decade, the Bears had their “Super Bowl Shuffle”, Florida State had “The Seminole Rap”, the L.A. Raiders did the “Silver and Black Attack”, and the Philadelphia Eagles warned that “Buddy’s Watching You” in their own take of the 80s music video craze.