Football Daily

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A great post on the legendary center of the Lions, Alex Wojciechowicz, from the Vintage Detroit website .

Born July 16, 1968 - Wichita, Kansas - Barry Sanders the running back from Oklahoma State during the 1986 through 1988 seasons. The FootballFoundation.org states that Sanders learned how to work hard as a youngster helping his father put on roofs in the hot Wichita summers. This work ethic stuck with his through his gridiron career at both the college and the professional levels and paid dividends on Saturdays and Sundays. The hard work also taught him to be selfless and humble as even after scoring one of his many touchdowns he would generally just hand the ball to an official and trot off the field, with out an attention grabbing celebration to be seen. While Oklahoma State he played behind All-America Thurman Thomas for two seasons. He used this "grooming" time wisely in the seasons that he spent as a back-up becoming a special teams demon, even leading the nation in kickoff return average in 1987. When Barry became the featured Cowboy back, he put together what the NFF describes as the most remarkable season ever compiled by a college running back. That year he set 34 NCAA records in winning the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp, and Maxwell Awards as the nation's top player. Barry led the nation in rushing with his 2,628 yards, 3250 all-purpose yards, and scored 234 points. Sanders ran for over 300 yards in six games and exceeded 200 yards seven times. Barry was rewarded for these feats in college by being selected as the top pick of the Detroit Lions in the 1989 NFL Draft, spending 10 seasons in the Motor City. In fact he became the first player to ever rush for 1000 or more yards in his first ten seasons according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website. On the road to professional pigskin immortality Sanders, with 1,304 yards rushing in 1990, topped all runners, and then repeated claiming the top NFL ground gainer title in 1994 with 1,883 yards and in 1996 running for 1,553 yards. His 44 receptions for 283 yards in 1994 gave him a combined 2,166 yards from scrimmage. The most impressive feat of his remarkable career, however, is when he won the NFL MVP award in 1997, as he rushed for a league-best 2,053 yards and gained another 305 yards on 33 catches for an amazing 2,358 combined yards gained. To ice that he gained at least 100 yards in 14 consecutive games! The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Barry Sanders in 2004 while Mr. Sanders also entered the College Football Hall of Fame for his legendary college career at Oklahoma State in 2003. Many have described Barry Sanders as the best pure running back to ever play the game, as he left the NFL at a fairly young age with a lot of yardage on his stat bio.

Born August 12, 1915 in South River, New Jersey, was two-way Pro Football Hall of Fame Center and Linebacker, Alex Wojciechowicz. Wojciechowicz played college football for the Fordham Rams from 1935 to 1937 and was a member of the line that became known as the Seven Blocks of Granite.

He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 1938 NFL Draft and played for the Lions from 1938 to 1946. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1939 and 1944. In 1946, he was released by the Lions and then sold to the Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he played from 1946 to 1950. He won two NFL championships with the Eagles in 1948 and 1949.

They don't make them much better than this football player!

Born December 24, 1921, in Bluefield, Virginia  was the University of Virginia’s legendary halfback Bullet Bill Dudley. Some so-called experts thought Dudley was too small to play football in the collegiate ranks as he weighed in at 152 pounds with a 5’-10” frame per the NFF.

Virginia’s Coach, Frank Murray, decided to give Bill a chance to prove all of the other recruiters wrong. What Dudley did was to become the only player to win MVP honors in college,  the Armed Forces and professional levels.

During the 1941 season Bullet Bill led the nation with 18 touchdowns, 134 points scored, a 6.2 rushing average per play and 29 touchdowns. The National Football Foundation selected Bill Dudley into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1956. The Pittsburgh Steelers did not hesitate a second to pick Bill and the first pick in the 1942 Draft of the NFL. In his 9 pro seasons he had 8217 total yards and recorded 23 interceptions and played in 3 Pro Bowls. In fact the Pro Football Hall says that Bill won a rare triple crown of awards in the NFL, he was the interception leader, the top rusher and held the punt return title in 1946. Bill Dudley found the door wide open for him to enter into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

Towering at 6'5" and weighing over 300 lbs, Roger Brown wasn't just a football player; he was a force of nature. From 1960 to 1966 and again from 1967 to 1969, he terrorized offensive lines in the trenches for the Detroit Lions, solidifying his place as one of the team's most iconic defensive tackles.

But Brown wasn't just a cog in the machine. His individual talent shined brightly. He earned six consecutive Pro Bowl selections (1962-1967), a feat unmatched by any Lions defensive lineman before or since. Two First-Team All-Pro selections (1962, 1963) further cemented his status as an elite performer.

Numbers don't fully capture Brown's impact. His size, speed, and relentless motor disrupted offensive schemes. He possessed an uncanny ability to penetrate lines and pressure quarterbacks, forcing hurried throws and interceptions. His ferocious tackling instilled fear in opponents and inspired his teammates.

In a surprising move, Brown was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 1967. He continued his stellar play, earning another Pro Bowl selection in 1967. He returned to the Lions in 1968, proving his loyalty and dedication to the team.

Brown retired in 1969, leaving behind a legacy of dominance and leadership. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009, solidifying his place among the NFL's all-time greats.

The early NFL franchise in Portsmouth, Ohio competed for a couple of NFL titles in the League's first decade.

This team played an important part in early professional football and, in particular, the early NFL. The legacy of the franchise continues today as the Spartans moved to a different state and became the Detroit Lions.

Portsmouth's pro football story is an integral part of the Detroit Lions origin story and we share it here.

Born December 16, 1913, in Slaton, Texas, was legendary NFL Coach Buddy Parker. He played pro ball with both the Lions and the Cardinals, and later went into coaching. Parker was at the helm of the Chicago Cardinals 1947, Championship team, and then again the following season when the lost in the bizarre blizzard Title tilt in Philadelphia in 1949. He then left to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions and when pared with Quarterback Bobby Layne they won the NFL title in 1952 and 1953. In August of 1957 he abruptly walked off the job in Detroit and was soon hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers. his coaching career, Parker went 104–75–9 (.577), while going 3–1 in the postseason. He is one of 43 NFL coaches to have over 100 coaching regular season victories. Parker has the destinction of being one of five Pro Coaches with multiple League titles not to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Born June 8, 1917, in Fort Collins, Colorado, was Byron “Whizzer” White the great University of Colorado halfback from 1935 to 1937. It is amazing that he was able to play to such a high level as he came from a high school in Wellington, Colorado that had only 13 players on the gridiron team. According to the National Football Foundation Whizzer's best collegiate game may have been in 1936 when the Buffs played Utah. The talented back ran wild over the Utes defense as he scored on runs of 90, 41, 40, and 38 yards in a 31-7 victory!    The nightmare of White for Utah continued in the 1937 game as he scored on two more long runs, this time covering yardage of 85 and 37 and then kicked two extra points and a field goal to ice the cake in a 17-7 Colorado win. In 1937 he led the nation in scoring, rushing, total offense, and all-purpose running. He averaged 246 yards a game in all-purpose running, a record until 1988. His longest play in college was a 102 yard kick return against Denver in 1936.  Byron wasn’t just a superior athlete as he graduated as he was also a Phi Beta Kappa and a Rhodes Scholar. The NFF voters chose Byron Whizzer White to be inducted into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. Whizzer played pro football with Pittsburgh in 1938, studied at Oxford University in England in 1939, played professionally with Detroit in 1940- 1941. In two of his seasons, he led the National Football League in rushing. Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White was an American lawyer later in life, who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 to 1993. 

Born December 19, 1926, in Santa Anna, Texas, was Bobby Layne the legendary University of Texas quarterback. The National Football Foundation says Bobby was not what one would call a great runner nor a classic passer but what he did out of the T-formation was remarkable. In 1945 Layne missed part of the season serving in the Merchant marine but returned near season’s end to help the Longhorns reach the Cotton Bowl and  he completed 11 of 12 passes and was part of all six Texas touchdowns as his team blew out Missouri, 40-27. By the time Layne had finished his college career he was an All America and had set 11 school records on the gridiron. Bobby Layne found his way along inside the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Layne then went to the National Football League and continued a record- setting career with Detroit and Pittsburgh. As a Lion he threw a clutch last second pass to help Detroit win the 1953 NFL Championship game. During his 15 year NFL career Bobby had two seasons where he was voted as First-Team All-NFL, four other seasons as a Second Team All-NFL and claimed the 1956 NFL scoring title. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Bobby Layne in 1967.  

The life and football career of College Football Hall of Fame star, Harley Sewell. Born April 18, 1931, Jefferson County, Oklahoma was the University of Texas two-way player at guard and linebacker, Harley Sewell. Sewell was indeed a versatile player that the Longhorn’s used to gain advantages over opponents. One such instance of note according to the FootballFoundation.org was the 1952 Cotton Bowl where Texas blanked the Vols of Tennessee 16-0 in. Sewell was named Defensive Most Valuable Player as he led a defense that held Tennessee to six first downs with negative 14 yards rushing. The National Football Foundation selected Harley Sewell for entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.