The
Lions franchise originated in
Portsmouth, Ohio as the Spartans, which played as an independent before joining the
NFL in
1930. In that early Era the quarterback position was not defined as it is today. The leader in passing yards in used until
1947, when the teams first true quarterback ,
Clyde LeForce, was added to the Roster. The acquired
Football card image has his name misspelled as La
Force.
Bobby Layne lead the to Lions to
NFL Championships in
1952,
1953, &
1957. After being injured in
1958 the Lions traded him to
Pittsburgh, mid season. Since then the Lions have fell to the
Curse of Bobby Layne for 50 years.
The NFL instituted the draft in 1936. Six quarterbacks were drafted but never played for the Lions;
Otto Graham,
Y.A. Tittle,
Ed Mioduszewski,
Paul Held,
Jack Kemp, &
Pete Beathard.
1930
Bill Glassgow (
Iowa,
Nebraska)
1931, 33
Glenn Presnell (Nebraska)
1932, 34-36
Earl Dutch Clark (
Colorado College)
1937 Bill Shepherd (
Western Maryland)
1938 Vern Huffman (
Indiana) (Drafted 3rd Round)
1939 Dwight Sloan (
Arkansas)
1940-41
Byron Whizzer White (
Colorado)
1942 Harry Hopp (Nebraska) (Drafted 3rd Round)
1943-44
Frankie Sinkwich (
Georgia)
(Drafted
1st Round / 1st overall)
*Otto Graham (Northwestern)
(Drafted 1st Round / 4th overall in
1944, but*
[
Graham served in the
Military,
Played Pro
Basketball 1945-46, then went to AAFCs
Browns in 1946]
1945 Chuck Fenenbock (
UCLA)
1946
Dave Ryan (Hardin-Simmons)
Clyde LeForce (
Tulsa) 1947-49
(Drafted 17th Round in 1945)
[LeForce served in the Military in 45,
Return to Tulsa in 46, then to Lions in 47)
Ryan Zimmer (
San Jose St.) 1947
Fred Enke (
Arizona) 1948-51
*Y.A. Tittle (
LSU)
(Drafted 1st Round in 1948, but went to the AAFCs Colts)*
Frank Tripucka (
Notre Dame) 1949
Bobby Layne (
Texas) 1950-58
Jim Hardy (
USC) 1952
Tom Dublinski (
Utah) 1952-1954 (Drafted 8th Round)
*Ed Mioduszewski (
William & Mary)
(Drafted
18th Round in 1953) traded to Colts*
*Paul Held (San Jose St. )
(Drafted 19th Round in 1953) cut*
Harry Gilmer (
Alabama) 1955-56
Jerry Reichow (Iowa) 1956-59 (*
Emergency QB)
Tobin Rote (
Rice) 1957-59
Earl Morrall (
Michigan St.) 1958-64
*Jack Kemp (
Occidental) (Drafted 17th Round in 1957) traded to
Steelers*
Warren Rabb (LSU)
1960 (Drafted
2nd Round)
Jim Ninowski (Michigan St.) 1960-61
Milt Plum (
Penn St.) 1962-67
Sonny Gibbs (
TCU) 1964
*Pete Beathard (USC)
(Drafted 1st Round in 1964, but went to
AFL's Cheifs)*
Geroge Izo (Notre Dame)
1965
Tom Myers (Northwestern) 1965-66 (Drafted 4th Round)
Karl Sweetan (
Texas A&M;,
Wake Forest) 1966-67
(Drafted 18th Round)
Greg Landry (U.
Mass) 1968-78
(Drafted 1st Round / 11th overall)
Bill Munson (Utah St.) 1968-75
Greg Barton (Tulsa)
1969
(Drafted 9th Round / 229 overall)
Bill Cappleman (
Florida St.)
1973
Sam Wyche (Furman)
1974
Jack Concannon (
Boston College)
1975
Joe Reed (Baylor, Miss. St.) 1975-79
Gary Danielson (
Purdue) 1976-84
Jerry Golsteyn (N.
Illinois)
1979
Jeff Komlo (
Delaware) 1979-81
(Drafted 9th Round / 231 overall)
Scott Hunter (Alabama) 1979
Eric Hipple (Utah St.) 1980-89
(Drafted 4th Round / 85 overall)
Mike Machurek (
Idaho St. ) 1982-85
(Drafted 6th Round /
154 overall)
John Witkowski (
Columbia)
1984, 88
(Drafted 6th Round / 160 overall)
Joe Ferguson (Arkansas) 1985-87
Chuck Long (Iowa) 1986-89, 91, 94
(Drafted 1st Round / 12 overall)
Brendon Folmar (
California PA)
1987
Todd Hons (Arizona St.) 1987
Rusty Hilger (
Oklahoma St.)
1988
Bob Gagliano (Utah St.) 1989-90
Rodney Peete (USC) 1989-93
(Drafted 6th Round / 141 overall)
Andre Ware (
Houston) 1990-93
(Drafted 1st Round / 7th overall)
Eric Kramer (
N.C. St.) 1991-93
Scott Mitchell (Utah) 1994-98
Dave Krieg (
Milton, WI)
1994
Kent Graham (Notre Dame,
Ohio St.)
1995
Don Majkowski (
Virginia) 1995-96
Johnny Johnson (Illinois)
1996
Matt Blundin (Virginia)
1997
Frank Reich (Delaware) 1997-98
Charlie Batch (E. Michigan) 1998-01
(Drafted 2nd Round / 60 overall)
Gus Frerotte (Tulsa)
1999
Jeff Fox (
Grand Valley St.) 1999
Cory Sauter (
Minnesota) 1999-00
Stoney Case (
New Mexico)
2000
Mike Tomczak (Ohio St.) 2000
Scott Dreisbach (Michigan) 2001-02
Ty Detmer (
BYU) 2001-03
Mike McMahon (
Rutgers) 2001-04
(Drafted 5th Round /149 overall)
Dave Dickenson (
Montana)
2002
Joey Harrington (
Oregon) 2002-05
(Drafted 1st Round / 3rd overall)
Rick Mirer (Notre Dame) 2004
Jeff Garcia (San Jose St.)
2005
Dan Orlovsky (U.Conn) 2005,2008
(Drafted 5th Round /
145 overall)
Jon Kitna (C.
Washington) 2006-08
Josh McCown (
Sam Houston St.)
2006
J.T. O'
Sullivan (UC-Davis)
2007
Drew Henson (Michigan) 2008
Drew Stanton (Michigan St.) 2008
(Drafted 2nd Round / 43 overall)
Daunte Culpepper (C.Florida) 2008
Matthew Stafford (Georgia) 2009
Michigan Panthers of the
USFL
*
Bobby Hebert (NW La St.)
1983-84
*
Whit Taylor (Vanderbilt) 1983-84
*
Mark Miller (
Bowling Green)
1983
*
Mike Rae (USC) 1984
- published: 26 May 2009
- views: 42072