2006 Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions had a less-than-successful season in 2005, completing the year with 5 wins and 11 losses. Just the same, the team has plenty of loyal fans, thousands of whom bought tickets and showed up at Ford Field to cheer them on. In fact, their paid attendance averaged well over 61,000 tickets sold per game.

Detroit's plans to upgrade started with a tough new head coach, Rod Marinelli, plus assistants Mike Martz (lured away from his own head coaching role with the St. Louis Rams) guiding the offense and Donnie Henderson the defense. An addition to watch on the field: linebacker Ernie Sims, drafted from Florida State University.

Some Detroit Lions history: The Detroit Lions franchise traces its origin to the Portsmouth Spartans, a team based in Ohio that entered the NFL in 1930. In 1932 the Spartans played in the league's first postseason game, losing 9-0 to the Chicago Bears. In 1934 the club was sold to radio station owner George Richards, who moved the team to Detroit and renamed it the Lions. In 1935 the Lions earned their first NFL title, shutting out 3 of 12 regular-season opponents and soundly defeating the New York Giants in the championship game.

The Detroit Lions built a dynasty during the 1950s, capturing four Western Division crowns and three NFL titles from 1952 through 1957. However, from 1958 to 1981 Detroit reached the postseason just once, in 1970. In 1975 the team moved into the Silverdome, the largest air-supported domed structure in the world.

In 1980 the Lions enjoyed their first winning season in eight years. Powering the offense was running back Billy Sims, who was named NFL rookie of the year. Head coach Monte Clark steered Detroit into the playoffs in 1982 and 1983. The team's division title in 1983 was its first in 26 years.

Head coach Wayne Fontes took the Lions to the postseason in 1991, as Detroit won a franchise-record 12 games and played in its first NFC Championship Game. Fontes won the NFL coach of the year award. Detroit's offense in the early and mid-1990s featured running back Barry Sanders, who recorded nine consecutive 1000-yard seasons from 1989 to 1997. Detroit made the playoffs in 1993, 1994, and 1995 but lost in the first round each year. After a poor 1996 season, Fontes was replaced by former San Diego Chargers head coach Bobby Ross.