1960 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season (won NFL Playoff Bowl) August 2023 March 2026 1960-Lions-mediaguide.jpg Detroit Lions 1960 7–5 2nd NFL Western George Wilson Briggs Stadium Won NFL Playoff Bowl(vs. Browns) 17–16 Lions seasons The 1960 Detroit Lions season was the 27th in the Motor City, and 31st season overall in franchise history. The Lions had only one win entering November, but had only one loss in their final seven games and finished at 7–5, one game short of the Western Conference championship (won by Green Bay). However, the Lions won the inaugural third place Playoff Bowl over the Cleveland Browns at the Miami Orange Bowl. Due to this being the NFL's last 12-game regular season and the addition of the Dallas Cowboys giving the league 13 teams - meaning each team was required to have a bye during the season - the 1960 Lions are the last NFL team that did not play its season opener until October: Detroit drew its bye during Week One, which was in the last week of September. Oddly, in the next season in which each NFL team had a bye week (in 1966, due to addition of the Atlanta Falcons giving the league 15 teams), the Lions did not have their bye until Week 15 (the last week of that season). Offseason NFL draft 1960 NFL draft 1960 Detroit Lions 1 3 Johnny Robinson Safety LSU yes yes no 2 15 Warren Rabb Quarterback LSU yes 3 27 Bob Scholtz Center Notre Dame yes 4 39 Jim Andreotti Center Northwestern no 4 42 Roger Brown Defensive tackle Maryland State yes yes 6 63 Gail Cogdill Wide receiver Washington State yes yes Roster 1960 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks 14 Earl Morrall 15 Jim Ninowski 18 Warren Rabb Running backs 41 Terry Barr 45 Dan Lewis 33 Nick Pietrosante 34 Ken Webb Wide receivers 40 Howard Cassady 89 Gail Cogdill 87 Glenn Davis 84 Dave Middleton Tight ends 80 Jim Gibbons 88 Steve Junker Offensive linemen 61 Grady Alderman G 75 John Gordy G 60 Bob Grottkau G 70 Willie McClung T 50 Bob Scholtz C 66 Harley Sewell G 73 Ollie Spencer T/C Defensive linemen 76 Roger Brown DT 53 Bill Glass DE 71 Alex Karras DT 72 Gil Mains DT 78 Darris McCord DE/T 74 Jim Weatherall DT 88 Sam Williams DE Linebackers 57 Carl Brettschneider OLB 47 Jim Martin OLB/K 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 55 Wayne Walker OLB/MLB Defensive backs  81 Night Train Lane CB  28 Yale Lary FS/P  44 Dick LeBeau CB  43 Gary Lowe SS  21 Bruce Maher CB  20 Jim Steffen CB  23 Dave Whitsell SS Reserve lists -- Hal Boutte WR (Military) 54 Max Messner LB (IR) 7px Note: rookies in italics Source: Regular season According to the team, a total of 39,153 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1960 campaign.Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4. The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194. Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 Bye 2 October 2 at Green Bay Packers L 9–28 0–1 32,150 3 October 9 San Francisco 49ers L 10–14 0–2 49,825 4 October 16 at Philadelphia Eagles L 10–28 0–3 38,065 5 October 23 Baltimore Colts W 30–17 1–3 53,854 6 October 30 at Los Angeles Rams L 35–48 1–4 53,295 7 November 6 at San Francisco 49ers W 24–0 2–4 48,447 8 November 13 Los Angeles Rams W 12–10 3–4 54,019 9 November 20 at Chicago Bears L 7–28 3–5 46,267 10 November 24 Green Bay Packers W 23–10 4–5 54,123 11 December 4 at Baltimore Colts W 20–15 5–5 57,808 12 December 11 Dallas Cowboys W 23–14 6–5 43,272 13 December 18 Chicago Bears W 36–0 7–5 51,017 Thursday (November 24: Thanksgiving)https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MwIqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gSYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6773%2C2056751 Milwaukee Journal Johnson Chuck Stumbling Packers fall to Lions November 25, 1960 15, part 2https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aBdWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7eIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5219%2C4190018 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Lions turn tables on Packers, 23-10 November 25, 1960 2B A bye week was necessary in 1960, as the league expanded to an odd-number (13) of teams (Dallas); one team was idle each week. Game summaries Week 9 Packers 0 0 10 0 Lions 9 7 7 0 November 24 Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan 54,123 36 F; wind 10 mph on yes Q1 DET Safety, blocked punt through end zone DET 2–0 Q1 DET Jim Ninowski 7 yard run (Jim Martin kick) DET 9–0 Q2 DET Ken Webb 1 yard run (Jim Martin kick) DET 16–0 Q3 GB Paul Hornung 12 yard field goal DET 16–3 Q3 GB Paul Hornung 8 yard run (Paul Hornung kick) DET 16–10 Q3 DET Jim Gibbons 11 yard pass from Jim Ninowski (Jim Martin kick) DET 23–10 yes Thanksgiving Day game Source:Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-27. Standings Playoff Bowl The first Playoff Bowl game for third place was played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the week following the NFL Championship game. Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Playoff Bowl January 7, 1961 Cleveland Browns W 17–16 Orange Bowl34,981 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 369 References Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com Detroit Lions on The Football Database Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Category:1960 in Detroit