1963 Detroit Lions season

1963 Detroit Lions season
Head coach George Wilson
Home field Tiger Stadium
Results
Record 5–8–1
Division place 4th NFL Western
Playoff finish did not qualify

The 1963 Detroit Lions season was their 30th season in Detroit and their 34th season overall. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle indefinitely suspended Lions Defensive Tackle Alex Karras along with Packers Halfback Paul Hornung for placing bets on NFL teams. Five other Lions players were fined $2000 each for betting on games that they did not play in. The Lions franchise was fined $2000 each on two counts for failure to report information promptly and for lack of sideline supervision.[1] The gambling controversy proved to be a big distraction on the field as well, as the Lions could not build on the success of the previous season, finishing 5–8–1.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School
1 12 Daryl SandersOffensive TackleOhio State

[2]

Preseason

Paper Lion

Paper Lion, published in 1966, is a non-fiction book by prominent American writer George Plimpton. Plimpton pitched to a lineup of baseball stars in an All-Star exhibition, presumably to answer the question, "How would the average man off of the street fare in an attempt to compete with the stars of professional sports?" He chronicled this experience in his book, Out of My League. In Paper Lion, Plimpton joins the training camp of the 1963 Detroit Lions on the premise of trying out to be the team's third-string quarterback. (The coaches were aware of the deception; the players were not until it became apparent that Plimpton did not really know how to receive the snap from center.) Plimpton, then thirty-six, showed how unlikely it would be for an "average" person to succeed as a professional athlete. When finally inserted at quarterback for a series in a scrimmage conducted in Pontiac, Michigan, Plimpton managed to lose yardage on each play, convincing many in the crowd that he was a professional sports clown inserted for amusement purposes, not someone who was genuinely giving his best effort.

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 14, 1963 at Los Angeles Rams W 23–2
49,342
2 September 22, 1963 at Green Bay Packers L 31–10
45,912
3 September 29, 1963 Chicago Bears L 37–21
55,400
4 October 6, 1963 San Francisco 49ers W 26–3
44,088
5 October 13, 1963 at Dallas Cowboys L 17–14
27,264
6 October 20, 1963 Baltimore Colts L 25–21
51,901
7 October 27, 1963 Minnesota Vikings W 28–10
44,509
8 November 3, 1963 at San Francisco 49ers W 45–7
33,511
9 November 10, 1963 at Baltimore Colts L 24–21
59,758
10 November 17, 1963 Los Angeles Rams L 28–21
44,951
11 November 24, 1963 at Minnesota Vikings L 34–31
28,763
12 November 28, 1963 Green Bay Packers T 13–13
54,016
13 December 8, 1963 Cleveland Browns W 38–10
51,382
14 December 15, 1963 at Chicago Bears L 24–14
45,317

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
• Lions 10 1003 23
Rams 0 020 2

[3]

Standings

NFL Western Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Chicago Bears 11 1 2 .917 10–1–1 301 144 W2
Green Bay Packers 11 2 1 .846 9–2–1 369 206 W2
Baltimore Colts 8 6 0 .571 7–5 316 285 W3
Detroit Lions 5 8 1 .385 4–7–1 326 265 L1
Minnesota Vikings 5 8 1 .385 4–7–1 309 390 W1
Los Angeles Rams 5 9 0 .357 5–7 210 350 L2
San Francisco 49ers 2 12 0 .143 1–11 198 391 L5

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve Lists
  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics

Notes and references

  1. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.282
  2. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 395
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-May-22.
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