Once upon a time, Detroit fans had reason to take pride in their sports teams; in the late 80’s, the Detroit Pistons of the NBA won back to back championships. At the same time, and for years to follow, the Detroit Lions went from having one of the greatest running backs of all time (and failing miserably with him) to having one of the greatest wide receivers of all time (and failing even worse with him). How could this happen? Was it mismanagement, a poor roster, bad luck, or some ungodly mixture of all 3? The Detroit Lions once commanded respect, but for decades, they’ve been the laughingstock of the NFL.
Their horrible luck and management started roughly in 1989, the same year the Detroit Pistons would win their second championship. With an abysmal record of 4-12, the Lions were rewarded with the 3rd pick in that year's draft. They used that pick to select the reigning Heisman winner Barry Sanders, who had just completed one of the greatest individual seasons of all time; 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns in 12 games made him an obvious choice for the most prestigious collegiate award. In his rookie season, Sanders ran for 1,470 yards and 14 touchdowns, snagging the rookie of the year award and a pro bowl appearance, yet the Lions would finish just 7-9; good enough for the 3rd place in their NFC North division. These types of seasons would describe Barry’s entire career with the Lions; he would never make a Super Bowl appearance in his 10 seasons in the NFL. Sanders would have one of the most illustrious careers of any running back, but one triumph eluded him. With a premature retirement at just 31 years old in 2000, Barry would finish just 1,457 yards shy of breaking the at-the-time record set by Walter Payton, 16,726. Sanders would state that he was tired of playing for the Lions, with their continual failure to build around his excellence. Trading away one of his best friends had been the last straw for him, and he retired with plenty of playing left in him.
The Lions would spend the next 7 years endlessly rebuilding in an effort to contend until 2007, when they would receive the 2nd pick after going 3-13. They would pick wide receiver Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson, one of the greatest receivers of all time, and in his first season he would catch 48 passes for 756 yards and 4 touchdowns. The team itself would struggle, going 7-9 and missing the playoffs. The following year, the Lions would have one of the worst seasons of all time, being the first NFL team to go 0-16. Many were fired or traded in the Lions organization; the coach, Rod Marinelli, was gone by December. The next season, The Lions would receive the number 1 pick and select Matthew Stafford, a quarterback to pair alongside Johnson. Again, they would flounder and go 2-14, but the roster was improving, at least it seemed. They would select Ndamukong Suh with the 2nd pick in that year's draft, and their record improved to 6-16. In the next 6 seasons, the Lions would make the playoffs 3 times, but never make it past the Wild Card game. They weren’t truly bad, but they were always underperformers, and never met any expectations having a star quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive tackle. However, Suh would be gone after just 4 seasons with the Lions. Calvin Johnson would meet an early retirement following a third wild card exit in 2016, showing blatant displeasure of playing in Detroit and admitting that the Lions ruined football for him. Stafford would have 5 more great individual seasons, but would be traded in 2021 to the Los Angeles Rams. The Lions had such wonderful draft picks for many years, but were never able to keep their stars for long, or utilize them correctly. Their coaches changed frequently, and never seemed to fit either their players or their own systems right. Their front office made both great and terrible draft choices; in 2008, they selected tackle Gosder Cherilus, who never panned out and was always lost when he was playing. Aside from those 3 years, 2007, 2009, and 2010, the only other noteworthy draft pick they made was Darius Slay at pick 13 in 2013. Free agency never went well for them, as Detroit isn’t a very large market and has little appeal unless you’re from the area or take a particular interest. The front office never handled itself or its players well, hiring coaches that were inadequate, trading players and not getting much return, forcing star players into retirement, and not doing enough to build around their centerpieces.
At the time of writing, the Lions are 1-10-1 and hold the best odds to receive the number 1 pick. There are a few great options coming out of college, and the Lions have holes in almost every position, so there are quite a few directions they could take their team into within the next few years. As of the moment, they seem to be doomed to the bottom of the standings until they can fully restructure their flaws, from their players to their front office.
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