One of the two touchdown passes caught by Steve Junker
December 29, 1957: The NFL Championship Game is held at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. For the 4th time in the last 6 seasons, it will be between the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns.
Although separate by just 170 miles of road, and even less as the crow flies, over Lake Erie, the teams were in separate divisions: The Lions has won the NFL Western Division in 1952, '53, '54, and now again in '57; while the Browns had won the NFL Eastern Division every year since entering the League in 1950. In fact, they had reached their league's championship game every year, until the year before this:
* 1946, in the All-America Football Conference: Beat the New York Yankees. Aside from playing in Yankee Stadium, they had no official connection to the baseball team of the same name.
* 1947: Beat the Yankees again.
* 1948: Beat the Buffalo Bills. This team was folded along with the AAFC, and bears no connection besides name to the current Bills franchise, which was founded with the American Football League in 1960, and joined the NFL with the 1970 merger.
* 1949: Beat the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams were then admitted to the NFL.
* 1950: Beat the Los Angeles Rams.
* 1951: Lost to the Rams.
* 1952: Lost to the Lions in Cleveland, 17-7.
* 1953: Lost to the Lions again, in Detroit, 17-16.
* 1954: Beat the Lions in Cleveland, 56-10.
* 1955: Beat the Rams.
* 1955: Beat the Rams.
In 1956, their 1st season without Otto Graham as quarterback, they fell to 5-7. But in 1957, their 1st season with Jim Brown in their backfield, they went 9-2-1, giving them the best record in the League. The only blemishes on their record were a loss away to the Philadelphia Eagles, a draw away to the Washington Redskins, and a loss away to the Lions, 3 weeks before the Championship Game.
The Lions had seen the retirement of their great running back, 1948 Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker. And, unlike the Browns, with Paul Brown, they had lost the coach who had led them to glory: Buddy Parker, who had also been a player on their previous NFL Championship team, in 1935, had left in a dispute with ownership. George Wilson was now the head coach, while Parker was quickly hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But they still had Bobby Layne as quarterback, and they still had a Heisman winner in their backfield: 1955 winner Howard "Hopalong" Cassady. And John Henry Johnson was also in their backfield now. And they still had another Heisman winner for Layne to pass to: 1949 winner Leon Hart.
Their offensive line included center Frank Gatski, guard Harley Sewell, and tackle Lou Creekmur. Their defense was led by end Darris McCord, linebacker Joe Schmidt, cornerbacks Jack Christiansen and Jim David, and safety Yale Lary. Layne, Johnson, Gatski, Creekmur, Schmidt, Christiansen and Lary are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Lions went 8-4. But they were significantly less convincing: A visit to San Francisco resulted in a loss of only 35-31. But they lost 34-14 away to the Baltimore Colts, 35-17 to the Rams in Los Angeles, and 27-7 to the Chicago Bears in Detroit.
To make matters worse, Layne broke his ankle late in the season. Tobin Rote stepped in, and got them to a tie for the Western Division title with the San Francisco 49ers. The Lions trailed 27-7 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, but Rote led them to come from behind, winning 31-27, to set up their meeting with the Browns. As it was an odd-numbered year, it was the West winner's turn to host.
Tobin Rote
Despite the game being in Detroit, the Browns were favored. The Lions quickly made everyone wonder why. Jim Martin kicked a field goal. Rote finished the Lions' next drive with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own. He led another drive, ending with another 1-yard run, by Gene Gedman. It was 17-0 Lions after the 1st quarter.
Jim Brown scored on a 29-yard touchdown run to get the Browns on the board. But Rote threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Steve Junker, and Terry Barr intercepted Browns quarterback Tommy O'Connell, returning it 19 yards for a touchdown. At halftime, it was Lions 31, Browns 7.
The game was effectively over, but, at this point, nobody would consider any team coached by Paul Brown to be finished. Alas, O'Connell was his quarterback now, not Otto Graham. O'Connell led a drive that finished with a 5-yard run by Lew Carpenter, and the Browns were within 31-14. But the Lions put the game away, with Rote throwing a 78-yard touchdown pass to Jim Doran, and a 23-yard pass to Junker. It was 45-14 after 3 quarters.
Rote threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Dave Middleton. Finally, Rote came out of the game, but his backup, Jerry Reichow, threw a 17-yard pass to Cassady, putting the finishing touches on a 59-14 win.
It was the most points scored in an NFL Championship Game, except for the Bears' 73-0 win over the Redskins in 1940. It remains the 2nd-most, as no team has scored more than 55 in a Super Bowl. And the Lions did it with a backup quarterback.
But the Lions have never won another title. Layne joined Parker in Pittsburgh in 1958, and some fans wonder if the Lions might be under "The Curse of Bobby Layne." They went 11-3 in 1962, giving the Packers their only defeat of the season. But, under the system of the time, they didn't make the Playoffs. It was their 3rd straight year finishing 2nd to Green Bay.
They didn't make the Playoffs again until 1970, winning the newly-instituted Wild Card berth in the NFC. From 1957 to 2021, they've won exactly one Playoff game, in 1991, though they went on to lose the NFC Championship Game to Washington. They've hosted exactly 2 Playoff games in 64 seasons. The Lions haven't always been bad, but when they have been bad, they've been atrocious: 2 3-13 seasons, 3 2-14s, and the 1st 0-16 season in NFL history in 2008.
Briggs Stadium was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961. The Lions played there through 1974, moved into the Silverdome in suburban Pontiac in 1975, and back into the city into Ford Field in 2002.
In 1960, George Wilson hired Don Shula to be one of his assistant coaches. In 1961, Shula was named defensive coordinator. In 1963, Shula was named head coach of the Baltimore Colts. Wilson went on to become the 1st head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 1966. He was fired in 1970, and replaced by Shula, who led them to 5 Super Bowls, winning 2.
Tobin Rote would again step in for an injured starter, John Hadl, and lead the San Diego Chargers to the 1963 AFL Championship. Come to think of it, that's the Chargers last league title, too -- and, unlike the Lions, their only one.
Only 3 active NFL teams have won an NFL Championship Game, but not a Super Bowl. Two of them were in this game: The Lions, and the Browns, who have not won one since 1964. The other is the Chicago Cardinals, who last won in 1947, before moving to St. Louis in 1960 and Arizona in 1988.
UPDATE: In the 2023 season, the Lions went 12-5, their best record since 1991. And they won 2 Playoff games, before losing the NFC Championship Game to San Francisco. Maybe things are finally looking up.
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December 29, 1957 was a Sunday. No college football bowl games were played on this day. Baseball was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Syracuse Nationals beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 105-97 at the Onondaga County War Memorial (now the Upstate Medical University Arena) in Syracuse, New York. And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 111-103 at the Cincinnati Gardens.
And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the old Madison Square Garden.
* The Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 2-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
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