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If you ask most football fans to name the one team that’s historically been the laughingstock of the NFL, I have a feeling the vast majority of them would tell you no franchise even comes close to topping the perpetual ineptitude of the Cleveland Browns.
However, I also think plenty of people who hitched their wagon to the Detroit Lions would disagree, and it’s not hard to see why they think that’s the case when you take a look at the team’s history.
The Browns have certainly struggled mightily over the course of the past few decades, and while they’ve never appeared in (nonetheless won) the Super Bowl in their 75 years of existence, they can at least take a little bit of solace in knowing they have an all-time winning record.
The Lions, on the other hand, have posted a sub-.500 record in their 94 years of existence, and the closest they’ve come to the Super Bowl was an appearance in the NFC Championship all the way back in 1992.
Supporters of both franchises could (and have) spent countless hours debating which one is really the most pitiful franchise in the history of the NFL, and while people in Cleveland may have convinced themselves they were cursed courtesy of the multisport championship drought that the Cavaliers brought to a merciful end after 52 years, Lions fans can point to a real, actual jinx that’s yet to be lifted.
The Detroit Lions may have been cursed by former quarterback Bobby Layne
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Most sports fans are probably familiar with “The Curse of the Bambino,” which Babe Ruth supposedly cast upon the Red Sox after he was traded to the Yankees in 1920, as Boston went 86 years without a World Series win before exorcising those demons in 2004.
The Lions, on the other hand, can allegedly trace their decades of woe back to “The Curse of Bobby Layne.”
Layne cemented himself as a Texas Longhorns legend thanks to his dominant performance as a quarterback in college (where he was also a standout baseball player).
While he was drafted by the Steelers with the third overall pick in the 1948 NFL Draft, he wasn’t a fan of their offensive scheme, and he agreed to sign a contract with the Bears after Pittsburgh traded away his rights.
After spending his rookie season as a third-string quarterback, Layne demanded a change of scenery and got one when he was traded to the New York Bulldogs. However, he was only with the team for a year before he was once dealt and landed on the Lions ahead of the 1950 season.
Layne quickly came into his own in Detriot, and in 1952, he led the Lions to their first NFL Championship since 1935. They’d successfully defend the title the following year, and while Layne would play a role in keeping the dynasty going with another win in 1957, he broke his leg and found his job threatened by backup quarterback Tobin Rote.
On October 6, 1958, the Lions officially passed the torch to Rote when Layne was traded to the Steelers (who’d recently missed out on the chance to secure another stellar QB), a development that reportedly caused the latter to state, “The Lions will not win for 50 years!” before he embarked for Pittsburgh.
That curse was technically lifted in 2008, but the Lions remain in search of their first-ever Super Bowl victory and appearance 65 years later.