Detroit Lions: 15 greatest wide receivers in franchise history

The Detroit Lions have a long and proud history dating all the way back to the 1930s. Here we look at their entire existence and pick the 15 best wide receivers of all-time

One of the longest-tenured NFL franchises, the Detroit Lions have been in the league since all the way back in 1930. However, they weren’t known by their current name back then as they were the Portsmouth Spartans from their inception until the 1934 campaign when they became the Lions.

They also found themselves to be a rather succesful franchise early in their existence. Prior to the AFL-NFL merger, Detroit hoisted four NFL championship trophies, but the success hasn’t been the same since.

Detroit is still one of the 12 remaining teams to never win a Super Bowl, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t fielded some talented players.

Here we will look back at some of those players as we identify the top-15 wide receivers to ever suit up for the Motor City franchise.

His stats don’t hold up in today’s NFL, but John Greene was one of the early stars for the Lions and had a lot of success catching the ball for them. He joined the team in 1944 out of Michigan and played quarterback, tackle, and split end but really excelled as a pass-catcher.

Greene, a former wrestler, was one of the best receivers in the league during his seven-year run and even had the longest reception of the 1946 season when he took a pass 88 yards to the house.

When he retired, he was the all-time leader in receptions, yards, and touchdowns with 2,965 yards on 173 receptions with 26 touchdowns. Again, that may not seem like much in today’s era, but during the mid-1940s when the ground game was king, Greene was one of the more exciting players.

Following his NFL career, Greene had a short stint as an assistant coach with the Lions. He served in that role just one season, which was in 1951.