Lions cursed: Blame it on Bobby or Bubbles?

By Os Davis | Sunday, May 25, 2008 | ( 0 )

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Funny how curse theories are so prevalent and seemingly so contradictory against the pastiche of the super-skeptical, ultra-technological sports world of the 21st century; on the other hand, fandom has always been firmly rooted in logic-free faith instincts. Besides, can you think of a better way to explain away the apparent divine intervention of stuff like the Steve Bartman foul ball or the Ernest Byner fumble? Surely, Dame Karma plays her role in sports history, and she's a harsh judge.

Over in Detroit Lions Land, much talk will be devoted this season to the Curse of Bobby Layne (please be sure to see the Web site of the same name), as this year marks 50 years since the franchise's best-ever quarterback may or may not have made his famous proclamation dooming Detroit to football irrelevance for a half-century.

After being drafted at No. 2 and No. 3 overall in the 1948 All-America Football Conference and National Football League drafts, respectively (and receiving an offer from the St. Louis baseball Cardinals as well), Layne chose to go with the NFL’s Chicago Bears. The thanks he got from owner George Halas was a trade to the New York Bulldogs the next season.

Going to the newborn Bulldogs (the team became the football Yankees in 1950 and folded after the ’51 season) turned out a blessing for Layne in terms of development, however: Rather than warming the bench in Chicago behind Sid Luckman, Layne played nearly every down at quarterback for New York and amassed 299 attempts in 12 games.

After coming to the Lions in a trade in 1950 – incidentally, trades were a lot more common in the NFL in those days, eh? – Layne’s career and legend took off. Later, former NFL GM Ron Wolf would credit Layne with having “turned the Lions’ franchise around.” Sports Illustrated called him in 1995 “The Toughest Quarterback Who Ever Lived."

In terms of numbers, Layne’s almanac entry reads something like this: started at QB in Detroit for all but one regular-season game from 1950 to 1957 ... in that time, led Lions to three NFL championship games, back-to-back titles ... six-time Pro Bowler, two-time first-team All-Pro ... in 1950 and 1951, led league in passing attempts, passing yardage and yards per game ... threw for league-leading 26 TDs and 7.8 yards per attempt in 1951 ... topped 2,000 yards passing in four seasons, three with Detroit ... ran for 250 yards or more in four seasons, including 411 and 343 in 1952 and 1953 ... kicked 34 career field goals, including 12 on 15 attempts in 1956 ... was a Time magazine cover boy ... inducted into NFL Hall of Fame in 1967.

Layne was your prototypical on-field hard-playin’, off-field hard-drinkin’ guy of the old days, but was well ahead of his time in dealing with front-office and media types. Layne refused to play for coach Bo McMillin on the grounds that McMillin wanted to do the play-calling (imagine this conflict today), which soon led to McMillin’s departure.

And a championship for Detroit in 1952. And 1953. And an appearance in the 1954 championship, an unfortunate 56-10 demolition at the hands of the Cleveland Browns (imagine this matchup today). In 1957, Layne was replaced at quarterback by Tobin Rote after suffering a broken leg. The Lions went on the take the title again that year with Rote at the helm, prompting the coaching staff to implement the genius plan of a platoon system at quarterback. (Imagine this ... no, on second thought, don’t. Has this ever worked, eh, Mr. Whisenhunt?)

Layne rationally refused to play in the system, complaining to Sport magazine and other press. Before he could retire, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for draft choices and a young Earl Morrall.

It is at this moment that, legend tells us, the Curse of Bobby Layne was born, the man supposedly proclaiming that the Lions wouldn’t win a title for 50 years. Though Layne was actually traded two games into the 1958 season, most Detroit fans believe (hope, pray) that Layne’s half-century ran from 1957-2007.

The only problem with the theory is that, unlike the William Sianis Billygoat Curse or the Curse of the Bambino or even the Ghost of the Pottsville Maroons haunting the Cardinals as they flee from city to city trying evade their sordid past, the story about Layne appears to be utterly apocryphal. Were it not for the amazing information-multiplying powers of the Internet, the story might hardly be known at all today.

In revisiting the curse, Tom Kowalski in February asked Lions luminaries like Greg Landry, Joe Schmidt, Chris Spielman and Rod Marinelli about Layne’s famous hex; none of them had heard the tale and Kowalski, too, admits that “no documentation was found to support” Layne having made the statement.

All in all, it adds up to one heck of a story, but not much of a curse on which to blame the woes of a franchise. After all, the hasty replacement and/or departure of a franchise quarterback typically dips the baddest of organizations into waters of mediocrity for a few years afterward. (The Lions played musical quarterbacks from 1958-1960, going 14-20-2 with four different guys starting at the position.) No, this mystery goes deeper, and in researching this article, an alternate cause for the Lions’ woes has been found, and RealFootball365 has located the culprit.

That’s right. The two-dimensional leaping lion logo first graced Lions helmets back in 1960. Since donning the kitty cat, Detroit is 1-9 in the playoffs (proving, perhaps, that the ugliest curses can’t always stop a supernatural force like Barry Sanders). The uniform has stayed much the same since then, as has the losing. In fact, the very first game that featured the Lions going back to the logo-less helmets of the good old days was in Week 3 of the 1994 season; that game saw the Lions produce a 20-17 victory at Dallas that would in fact act as the difference against the New York Giants and squeeze Detroit into the playoffs as the third wild-card team.

Heck, maybe the problem isn’t even in the logo itself; after all, the uglification of the simple blue design by means of a jagged force-shield-looking border in 2003 did little to reverse the Lions’ fortunes. (Seriously, were they going for the Black Lightning look there or what?)

Maybe it’s the name. Here’s another bit of lore mostly unknown outside of Motor City: The informal name of the leaping feline is ... Bubbles.

That’s right, Bubbles.

Bubbles.

A little space, please.

It’s freaking man-eating carnivore supposedly representing a blue-collar team in the world’s most dangerous ball sport, for Nitschke’s sake! You don’t name it Bubbles! What is this?! Zsa Zsa Gabor’s poodle?! Bubbles?!? You name it Killer or Ferocious Rex or how about Leo for (a half-century’s worth of) crying out loud!

Fans of Detroit, perhaps you’re not desperate enough yet, currently still soothed in dreams of a Red Wings and/or Pistons championship, but it’s time to do something about that cat. Out with the old, in with new, the times they are a changin' and all that. Get rid of Bubbles immediately and that championship water will flow again.

Then again, maybe they could just fire Millen ...

Getting to the bottom of everything throughout the year at RealFootball365.com

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	About Os Davis Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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