1966 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 1966-Lions-mediaguide.jpg Detroit Lions 1966 4–9–1 6th NFL Western William Clay Ford Sr. Edwin J. Anderson Harry Gilmer Tiger Stadium Did not qualify Lions seasons Dick LeBeau, Roger Brown, Pat Studstill Pat Studstill The 1966 Detroit Lions season marked the team's 37th year in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 6–7–1, winning only four games.1966 Detroit Lions They missed the playoffs for the ninth straight year and incurred their second losing record in a row. Offseason NFL draft 1966 NFL draft 1966 Detroit Lions 2 24 Nick Eddy Running back Notre Dame yes 3 39 Bill Malinchak Wide receiver Indiana yes 4 55 Doug Van Horn Guard Ohio State yes 4 59 Willie Walker Wide receiver Tennessee State yes 5 67 Bill Cody Linebacker Auburn yes 6 87 Wayne DeSutter Offensive tackle Western Illinois no 7 103 Johnnie Robinson Wide receiver Tennessee State yes 8 117 John Pincavage Running back Virginia no 9 136 Dick Cunningham Offensive tackle Arkansas no 10 148 Bruce Yates Offensive tackle Auburn no 10 150 Tom Brigham Defensive end Wisconsin no 11 164 Jack O'Billovich Linebacker Oregon State no 12 178 Randy Winkler Offensive tackle Tarleton State yes 13 192 Bill Masselter Tackle Wisconsin no 14 211 Denis Moore Tackle USC no 15 225 Bill Sullivan Defensive end West Virginia no 16 239 Jerry Gendron Wide receiver Wisconsin–Eau Claire no 17 253 Ralph Dunlap Defensive end Baylor no 18 267 Bill Johnson Wide receiver Livingstone no 19 286 Bob Baier Tackle Simpson no 20 300 Allen Smith Running back Findlay no no no Undrafted free agents + 1966 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeDempsey HarrisonRunning backWayne StateTom SayerTackleButlerHaywood SharpleyRunning backWayne State Personnel Staff / Coaches 1966 Detroit Lions Owner / Team President - William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice President / General manager - Edwin J. Anderson Director of Player Personnel - Russ Thomas Treasurer - Newton S. Peters Publicity Director / Business Manager - Lyall Smith Assistant Publicity Director - Elliott Trumbull Equipment manager - Roy Marklem Head coach – Harry Gilmer Quarterbacks / Offensive Backs - Sammy Baugh Offensive Line - Lou Rymkus Wide Receivers - Johnny North Defensive Secondary - Carl Taseff Defensive Line - Carl Brettschneider Linebackers Coach - Joe Schmidt Trainer - Millard Kelley Assistant Trainer - Kent Falb https://archive.org/details/lions-1966-media-guide-detroit-c/page/n3/mode/2up 1966 Detroit Lions official guide July 24, 2026 https://www.profootballarchives.com/1966nfldet.html#gsc.tab=0 1966 Detroit Lions ProFootballArchives.com July 24, 2026 https://pro-football-history.com/franchise/42/detroit-lions-coaches Detroit Lions coaches pro-football-history.com July 24, 2026 Final roster 1966 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks 18 Tom Myers quarterback 14 Karl Sweetan Running backs 45 Bobby Felts 31 Amos Marsh 35 Tom Nowatzke 34 Jim Todd no y Wide receivers 89 Gail Cogdill 87 John Henderson wide receiver 81 Bill Malinchak y 25 Pat Studstill P 40 Willie Walker American football y Tight ends 88 Ron Kramer Offensive linemen 50 Mike Alford C 54 Ed Flanagan American football C 75 John Gordy G 66 Bob Kowalkowski y G 70 Daryl Sanders T 73 Roger Shoals T 72 J. D. Smith offensive tackle T 60 Doug Van Horn y G Defensive linemen 76 Roger Brown defensive tackle DT 74 Larry Hand DE 71 Alex Karras DT 83 Jerry Mazzanti no DE 78 Darris McCord DE 82 Jerry Rush DT Linebackers 59 Ernie Clark American football OLB 67 Wally Hilgenberg OLB 53 Mike Lucci MLB 51 Lou Slaby MLB 55 Wayne Walker linebacker OLB Defensive backs 46 Jim Kearney American football CB 44 Dick LeBeau CB 21 Bruce Maher SS 47 Wayne Rasmussen FS 49 Johnnie Robinson y CB/S 43 Bobby Smith defensive back FS 27 Bobby Thompson defensive back CB 48 Tom Vaughn American football SS Special teams 1 Garo Yepremian y K Reserve lists 61 Jim Edgerly y no G IR 80 Jim Gibbons American football TE IR 24 Bruce McLenna y RB IR 57 Jack O'Billovich y LB IR 16 Milt Plum QB IR 23 Tom Watkins American football RB IR -- Warren Wells WR Military Taxi squad 52 Bill Cody American football y LB -- Bill Cottrell y C 38 Frank Marsh S 40 active, 7 reserve, 3 taxi / practice squad rookies in italics Regular season Schedule GameDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecapSources 1 September 11 Chicago Bears W 14–3 1–0 Tiger Stadium 52,225 Recap 2 September 18 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–17 1–1 Pitt Stadium 35,473 Recap 3 September 25 Atlanta Falcons W 28–10 2–1 Tiger Stadium 47,615 Recap 4 October 2 at Green Bay Packers L 14–23 2–2 Lambeau Field 50,861 Recap 5 October 9 Los Angeles Rams L 7–14 2–3 Tiger Stadium 52,793 Recap 6 October 16 at Baltimore Colts L 14–45 2–4 Memorial Stadium 60,238 Recap 7 October 23 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–27 2–5 Kezar Stadium 36,745 Recap 8 October 30 Green Bay Packers L 7–31 2–6 Tiger Stadium 56,954 Recap 9 November 6 at Chicago Bears T 10–10 2–6–1 Wrigley Field 47,041 Recap 10 November 13 at Minnesota Vikings W 32–31 3–6–1 Metropolitan Stadium 43,939 Recap 11 November 20 Baltimore Colts W 20–14 4–6–1 Tiger Stadium 52,383 Recap 12 November 24 San Francisco 49ers L 14–41 4–7–1 Tiger Stadium 53,189 Recap Jim Taylor, "Lions 'Roasted' by 49rs, 41–14," Detroit Free Press, Nov. 25, 1966, pp. 1D–2D.Bob Brachman, "49ers Find Mother Lode," San Francisco Examiner, Nov. 25, 1966, pp. 52, 55. 13 December 4 at Los Angeles Rams L 3–23 4–8–1 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 40,039 Recap 14 December 11 Minnesota Vikings L 16–28 4–9–1 Tiger Stadium 43,022 Recap — Bye Notes: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. November 24: Thanksgiving. A bye week was necessary in 1966, as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta). One team was idle each week. Standings References External links 1966 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1966 Detroit Lions at jt-sw.com 1966 Detroit Lions at The Football Database (FootballDB.com) Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Detroit Lions Category:1966 in Detroit