Detroit Lions Throwback: 1957 Championship season in review

Story of the Season

The ’57 Lions were a team in turmoil from start to finish, even before the opening snap of the regular season. Veteran head coach Buddy Parker abruptly quit during the preseason, announcing his resignation in front of a stunned crowd at the club’s “Meet the Lions” banquet in August.

While Parker never fully elaborated on the reasons for his departure, he was known for fiery and impulsive outbursts (attempting to quit after a loss to the Chicago Bears the year before). Rumors swirled about a rift between Parker, his players, and management, and some accounts of the banquet quote Parker as saying that the upcoming Lions team was lifeless and the worst he ever coached.

As if the sudden coaching change wasn’t distracting enough, negative headlines also followed franchise quarterback Bobby Layne throughout the season. He was arrested for drunk driving two weeks before the season opener, and updates about the story lingered throughout the entire regular season as the case went to trial*.

To complete a trifecta of “how not  to start your season”, the Lions were trounced by Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts in the opening game, 34-14. Layne and Unitas each threw three interceptions, but while Unitas balanced his off with four touchdown passes, Layne had none and was replaced in the second half by backup Tobin Rote.

Following the humiliating loss in the first game, Detroit responded by defeating Green Bay 24-14 at Lambeau Field and then the Los Angeles Rams 10-7 at home to set up an early-season rematch with the Colts.

Four more touchdown passes from Unitas gave Baltimore a commanding 27-10 lead in the 4th quarter before one of the great comebacks in team history. Two touchdowns from Layne to Howard “Hopalong” Cassady, along with two costly Baltimore fumbles, lifted the Lions to an improbable 31-27 win, foreshadowing the events of later in the year.