The 1961 Detroit Lions season was the 32nd season in franchise history. Detroit was runner-up in the Western conference at 8–5–1, then won a second Playoff Bowl game against the Philadelphia Eagles that was played in the Orange Bowl, 38–10.
This was also the first season that the silhouetted blue lion logo appeared on the helmets.
Offseason NFL draft
Roster 1961 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks 14 Earl Morrall 15 Jim Ninowski
Running backs 40 Howard Cassady 45 Dan Lewis 33 Nick Pietrosante 0 Johnny Olszewski 34 Ken Webb
Wide receivers 41 Terry Barr 89 Gail Cogdill 87 Glenn Davis 25 Pat Studstill
Tight ends 80 Jim Gibbons Offensive linemen 79 John Gonzaga T 75 John Gordy G 77 Dan LaRose T 67 Dick Mills G 50 Bob Scholtz C 66 Harley Sewell G 73 Ollie Spencer T/G 74 Paul Ward G 61 Bob Whitlow C/G
Defensive linemen 76 Roger Brown DT 53 Bill Glass DE 71 Alex Karras DT 78 Darris McCord DE 88 Sam Williams DE Linebackers 57 Carl Brettschneider OLB 54 Max Messner OLB 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 55 Wayne Walker OLB/K
Defensive backs 81 Night Train Lane CB 28 Yale Lary FS/P 44 Dick LeBeau CB 43 Gary Lowe SS 21 Bruce Maher CB
Special teams 47 Jim Martin K Reserve lists 72 Gil Mains DT (IR) 70 Willie McClung T (IR)
Note: rookies in italics
Regular season
According to the team, a total of 39,501 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1961 campaign.Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4. The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194.
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 17 at Green Bay Packers W 17–13 1–0 32,150 2 September 24 at Baltimore Colts W 16–15 2–0 49,825 3 October 1 San Francisco 49ers L 0–49 2–1 38,065 4 October 8 Chicago Bears L 17–31 2–2 53,854 5 October 15 Los Angeles Rams W 14–13 3–2 53,295 6 October 22 Baltimore Colts L 14–17 3–3 48,447 7 October 29 at Los Angeles Rams W 28–10 4–3 54,019 8 November 5 at San Francisco 49ers T 20–20 4–3–1 46,267 9 November 12 at St. Louis Cardinals W 45–14 5–3–1 54,123 10 November 19 at Minnesota Vikings W 37–10 6–3–1 57,808 11 November 23 Green Bay Packers L 9–17 6–4–1 43,272 12 December 3 at Chicago Bears W 16–15 7–4–1 51,017 13 December 10 Minnesota Vikings W 13–7 8–4–1 42,655 14 December 17 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–27 8–5–1 44,231
Standings
Playoff Bowl The Playoff Bowl matched the runners-up of the two conferences to determine third place in the league. It was played in January at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, the week following the NFL Championship game. This season's participants, Detroit and Philadelphia, had met three weeks earlier in the last game of the regular season, a three-point Eagles' road win, and were slightly favored in Miami.
This was the second year for the game and the Lions repeated as winners; it is classified by the NFL as an exhibition game, rather than postseason. Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Playoff Bowl January 6, 1962 Philadelphia Eagles W 38–10 Orange Bowl 25,612 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, , p. 369
References
External links 1961 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1961 Detroit Lions at JT-SW.com 1961 Detroit Lions at The Football Database (FootballDB.com)