1942 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season November 2013 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1942 0–11 5th NFL Western Bill Edwards and Bull Karcis Briggs Stadium Did not qualify Lions seasons The 1942 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League. The Lions suffered the first winless season since Cincinnati went 0–8 in 1934.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 301 This was the first NFL season during U.S. involvement in World War II, which led to player shortages, and thus a depletion of talent. The Lions were hit especially hard by the loss of star halfback Byron “Whizzer” White and tackle Tony Furst.Barnas, Jo-Ann; ‘Missing Their Engine Parts: War Machine Hampered the 1942 Lions, Who Went 0–11’; The Washington Post, December 9, 2001, p. D1A Head coach Bill Edwards was sacked after three games, but the decision had no effect on the Lions’ fortunes. While there were talks of suspending play, it was ultimately decided to allow all professional sports to continue as morale boosters on the home front.https://www.detroitathletic.com/blog/2015/11/22/the-1942-lions-were-a-winless-toothless-mess/ The 1942 Lions were a winless, toothless mess 2017-12-31 Detroit Athletic November 22, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20180101135448/https://www.detroitathletic.com/blog/2015/11/22/the-1942-lions-were-a-winless-toothless-mess/ January 1, 2018 dead It would remain the only winless season for the Lions until 2008.Haney Jeff 2008-11-20 All-defeated or undefeated? Unlikely - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper https://lasvegassun.com/news/2008/nov/20/chances-are-no-one-goes-0-16-or-16-0/ 2022-07-19 lasvegassun.com enBak Richard 2015-11-22 The 1942 Lions were a winless, toothless mess https://www.vintagedetroit.com/the-1942-lions-were-a-winless-toothless-mess/ 2022-07-19 Vintage Detroit Collection en-US Offseason NFL Draft 1942 NFL draft 1942 Detroit Lions 1 5 Bob Westfall FB Michigan yes 2 15 Alf Bauman DT Northwestern yes 3 20 Bob Dethman B Oregon State 4 30 Mickey Sanzotta B Case Western Reserve yes 5 35 Joe Blalock E Clemson 6 45 Murray Evans BB Hardin-Simmons 7 55 Tom Colella HB Canisius yes 8 65 Joeph Franceski T Scranton 9 75 Emil Banjavic WB Arizona yes 10 85 Bill Diehl C Iowa 11 95 John Polanski FB Wake Forest yes 12 105 Joe Stringfellow HB Southern Miss y 13 115 Tony Arena C Michigan State yes 14 125 Wolf Heinberg T UC Santa Barbara 15 135 Mac Speedie E Utah yes yes 16 145 Firman Bynum T Arkansas 17 155 Dick Fisher B Ohio State 18 165 George Speth T Murray State yes 19 175 Blair Heaton E Susquehanna 20 185 Ben Collins B West Texas A&M nohttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/1942_draft.htm 1942 Detroit Lions Draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com July 19, 2026 Regular season Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 20 at Chicago Cardinals L 0–13 0–1 Comiskey Park 18,698 Recap 2 September 27 Cleveland Rams L 0–14 0–2 Briggs Stadium Recap 3 October 4 Brooklyn Dodgers L 7–28 0–3 Briggs Stadium Recap 4 October 11 at Green Bay Packers L 7–38 0–4 State Fair Park Recap 5 October 18 Chicago Cardinals L 0–7 0–5 Briggs Stadium Recap 6 October 25 Green Bay Packers L 7–28 0–6 Briggs Stadium Recap 7 November 1 at Chicago Bears L 0–16 0–7 Wrigley Field Recap 8 November 8 Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–35 0–8 Briggs Stadium Recap 9 November 15 at Cleveland Rams L 7–27 0–9 League Park Recap 10 November 22 Chicago Bears L 0–42 0–10 Briggs Stadium Recap 11 November 29 Washington Redskins L 3–15 0–11 Briggs Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. September 20: Night game. Standings Roster 1942 Detroit Lions final roster Backs 11 Emil Banjavic RB/CB/P 25 Bill Callihan RB/S 10 Lloyd Cardwell RB/CB 46 Tommy Colella RB/CB/P 23 Murray Evans RB/S 31 Frank Grigonis FB/LB 34 Elmer Hackney FB/LB 14 Johnny Hall RB/CB 44 Harry Hopp RB/CB 12 Ned Mathews RB/CB 42 Mickey Sanzotta FB/LB 33 Harry Seltzer FB/LB 40 Chet Wetterlund RB/CB/P Linemen/Linebackers 51 Sloko Gill C/LB 72 Hank Goodman T/DT 66 Bill Kennedy G/DG 61 Augie Lio G/DG/K 71 Ted Pavelec G/DG 60 Larry Sartori G/DG 52 John Schiechl C/LB 73 George Speth T/DT 75 Emil Uremovich T/DT 68 Socko Wiethe G/DG Ends/Receivers 85 Charlie Behan 80 Bill Fisk 88 Larry Knorr 82 Perry Scott 81 Joe Stringfellow 22 Paul Szakash 50 Alex Wojciechowicz C/LB Reserve 52 Tony Arena LB/C (inactive) Stan Batinski G/DG (Military) Dave Diehl E (inactive) Tony Furst T/DT (Military) 32 John Polanski FB/LB (Military) Stillman Rouse E (Military) 79 Alex Schibanoff T/DT (Military) 65 Tony Zuzzio G/DG (Military) rookies in italics Awards and records Most giveaways, single game: 12 (vs. Chicago Bears)NFL Records http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/team/turnovers www.nfl.com 2 November 2018 en References 35em External links 1942 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1942 Detroit Lions at JT-SW.com 1942 Detroit Lions at The Football Database Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Category:1942 in Detroit Category:NFL winless seasons