With Precedent, Lions Look To D-Line For Help

The photograph is signature, perhaps the most famous of all snapshots taken of a franchise that hasn't sniffed a championship in 50 years. You'll find it in the team offices, in the media lounge at Ford Field, and probably in Bill Ford Sr.'s bedroom, for all I know.

Packers quarterback Bart Starr IS in there, believe it or not. He's the one being swarmed and turned into a wrap for some hungry Lions defenders.

It was Thanksgiving Day, 1962, and the Lions were hosting the Pack -- the putrid smell of their last-second loss to the Packers a month or so earlier still lining their nostrils. It was a loss so great that no less than Alex Karras theorized that it may have been the single most destructive force behind the Lions never again returning to championship caliber. The Lions, with the ball, a 7-6 lead and the clock showing under two minutes remaining, needed only to punt and pin the Packers deep and seal the victory. But on third down, QB Milt Plum tried a pass, the Lions receiver slipped, Herb Adderly intercepted, and moments later, Paul Hornung kicked the game-winning FG.

Karras was so violently angry that he hurled his helmet at Plum's head in the locker room after the game.


Karras let Plum know what he thought of the QB's play calling in the '62 debacle in Green Bay

The entire defense, in fact, was violently angry. The Lions were a very good team in 1962, the only real competition for the Packers in the Western Division. Had they beaten the Packers in Green Bay that October afternoon, it would most likely be the Lions, not the Packers, in the NFL Championship game that December.

So after stewing about the loss for weeks, and as the Lions matched the Packers victory-for-victory, the defense was absolutely ready to take on Green Bay in the Turkey Day rematch.

The front seven destroyed the Packers and their vaunted and Hall of Fame-filled offensive line that day. They sacked Starr all afternoon, tossing him around like a rag doll. But one play encapsulated the day, and became the signature shot.

I know you've seen the photo. It's of Karras, linebacker Joe Schmidt, and defensive linemen Darris McCord and Sam Williams, all with their arms wrapped around Starr. There's not a Packer o-lineman in sight.

It's a grand picture for another reason. The Lions, through the years, have actually fielded some pretty darn good defensive lines and front sevens. It's been an area, truthfully, that normally hasn't been much of a concern, even in the more woeful-than-normal seasons. So it's natural that the image of the Lions engulfing Bart Starr would be of note. Even if, in your mind, the signature photo should be of a Lions QB fumbling a snap. Or of a bad snap for an extra point. Or of an offensive tackle springing up, drawing a flag for movement.

The Lions open training camp this week, and again one of the team's strong points is deemed to be the front four -- the defensive linemen with the fat contracts and huge potential.

Cory Redding and Shaun Rogers inside. Kalimba Edwards and DeWayne White on the outside. These four, we are told, might make Lions fans forget names like Karris, McCord, Williams, English, Pureifory, Cofer, and Baker. We'll see. They'll certainly make people forget those players' salaries.

Redding was given the richest contract of any DT in the NFL. Rogers, when he cares to be, can make offensive linemen curl into the fetal position. Edwards is still trying to become dominant. White is just thrilled to be back with Rod Marinelli again (he was in Tampa Bay when Marinelli coached the d-line), and vows to wow.

Again, we'll see.

They may not convene at an opposing quarterback for a photo opportunity as rich as the 1962 pummeling of Bart Starr. But they'd better put some pressure on, because from what I understand, the secondary isn't much to write home about.

Lem Barney has been retired for 30 years, you know.