1956 Detroit Lions (NFL) |
| 2nd place Western Conference 9-3-0 .750 |
| Head Coach: Buddy Parker |
| Red Cochran | Offensive Backs |
| Aldo Forte | Line |
| Buster Ramsey | Defense |
| George Wilson | Ends |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Fri | 8/17/1956 | N | Pittsburgh Steelers | 20-15 | W | Toledo, OH | Glass Bowl | 11912 | |
| Sat | 8/25/1956 | N | Chicago Cardinals | 20-17 | W | Mobile, AL | Ladd Memorial Stadium | 14000 | |
| Fri | 8/31/1956 | N | Philadelphia Eagles | 30-14 | W | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 21997 | |
| Fri | 9/7/1956 | H | Cleveland Browns | 17-0 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 48105 | |
| Sat | 9/15/1956 | A | Cleveland Browns | 31-14 | W | Akron, OH | Rubber Bowl | 28201 | |
| Sun | 9/23/1956 | N | Washington Redskins | 17-19 | L | Buffalo, NY | Civic Stadium | 23812 | |
| Sun | 9/30/1956 | A | Green Bay Packers | 20-16 | W | Green Bay, WI | City Stadium | 24668 | |
| Sat | 10/6/1956 | A | Baltimore Colts | 31-14 | W | Baltimore, MD | Memorial Stadium | 42622 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1956 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 24-21 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 56281 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1956 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 20-17 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 55662 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1956 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 16-7 | W | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 76758 | |
| Sun | 11/4/1956 | A | San Francisco 49ers | 17-13 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 46708 | |
| Sun | 11/11/1956 | A | Washington Redskins | 17-18 | L | Washington, DC | Griffith Stadium | 28003 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1956 | H | Baltimore Colts | 27-3 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 55788 | |
| Thu | 11/22/1956 | H | Green Bay Packers | 20-24 | L | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 54087 | |
| Sun | 12/2/1956 | H | Chicago Bears | 42-10 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 57024 | |
| Sun | 12/9/1956 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 45-7 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 52124 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1956 | A | Chicago Bears | 21-38 | L | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 49086 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 50 | Charlie Ane | C | 6-2 | 260 | 25 | Compton JC; Southern California | 12 | 12 |
| 33 | Bill Bowman | FB | 6-2 | 215 | 25 | William & Mary | 6 | 0 |
| 67 | Stan Campbell | ROG | 6-0 | 226 | 26 | Iowa State | 7 | 3 |
| 40 | Howard Cassady | LOH-ROH | 5-10 | 183 | 22 | Ohio State | 12 | 3 |
| 24 | Jack Christiansen | LS | 6-1 | 190 | 28 | Colorado State | 12 | 12 |
| 76 | Lou Creekmur | LOT | 6-4 | 246 | 29 | William & Mary | 12 | 12 |
| 68 | Gene Cronin | RDE | 6-2 | 229 | 23 | Sacramento CC; Pacific | 12 | 6 |
| 25 | Jimmy David | LDH | 5-10 | 178 | 29 | Colorado State | 12 | 12 |
| 43 | Milt Davis | DB | 6-1 | 188 | 27 | Los Angeles CC; UCLA | 2 | 0 |
| 87 | Dorne Dibble | LOE | 6-2 | 195 | 27 | Michigan State | 12 | 12 |
| 87 | Jim Doran | LOH-ROE-LOE | 6-2 | 201 | 29 | Iowa State | 11 | 8 |
| 85 | Sonny Gandee | LLB | 6-0 | 216 | 27 | Ohio State | 12 | 12 |
| 26 | Gene Gedman | ROH-FB | 5-11 | 195 | 24 | Indiana | 12 | 12 |
| 12 | Harry Gilmer | QB | 6-0 | 169 | 30 | Alabama | 11 | 0 |
| 23 | Jug Girard | LOH-P-LOE | 5-11 | 176 | 29 | Wisconsin | 10 | 2 |
| 82 | Leon Hart | FB-LOH | 6-5 | 257 | 28 | Notre Dame | 11 | 7 |
| 21 | Carl Karilivacz | RDH | 6-0 | 188 | 26 | Syracuse | 11 | 11 |
| 70 | Ray Krouse | LDT | 6-3 | 263 | 29 | Maryland | 12 | 12 |
| 28 | Yale Lary | RS-P | 6-0 | 187 | 26 | Texas A&M | 12 | 12 |
| 22 | Bobby Layne | QB-K | 6-1 | 201 | 30 | Texas | 12 | 12 |
| 86 | Bob Long | RLB | 6-3 | 232 | 22 | UCLA | 12 | 12 |
| 57 | Bob Lusk | C | 6-1 | 222 | 24 | William & Mary | 5 | 0 |
| 72 | Gil Mains | RDE-RDT | 6-2 | 243 | 27 | Murray State | 8 | 6 |
| 47 | Jim Martin | K-LB | 6-2 | 227 | 32 | Notre Dame | 12 | 0 |
| 78 | Darris McCord | LDE | 6-4 | 250 | 23 | Tennessee | 12 | 12 |
| 42 | Don McIlhenny | ROH | 6-0 | 197 | 22 | Southern Methodist | 9 | 5 |
| 84 | Dave Middleton | ROE | 6-1 | 194 | 23 | Auburn | 12 | 11 |
| 74 | Bob Miller | RDT | 6-3 | 242 | 27 | Virginia | 12 | 12 |
| 79 | Gerry Perry | LDE-LDT | 6-4 | 237 | 26 | Pepperdine; Compton JC; California | 12 | 0 |
| 15 | Jerry Reichow | QB | 6-2 | 217 | 22 | Iowa | 8 | 0 |
| 60 | Jim Salsbury | ROG-C | 6-1 | 233 | 24 | UCLA | 11 | 9 |
| 56 | Joe Schmidt | MLB | 6-1 | 220 | 24 | Pittsburgh | 12 | 12 |
| 66 | Harley Sewell | LOG | 6-1 | 230 | 25 | Texas | 12 | 12 |
| 75 | Ollie Spencer | ROT | 6-2 | 245 | 25 | Kansas | 12 | 12 |
| 20 | Bill Stits | RDH-OHB | 6-0 | 194 | 25 | UCLA | 12 | 1 |
| 30 | Tom Tracy | FB | 5-9 | 205 | 22 | Tennessee | 4 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 3 | Howard Cassady | B | Ohio State |
| 3 | 27 | Don McIlhenny | B | Southern Methodist |
| 4 | 38 | Jerry Reichow | QB | Iowa |
| 5 | 50 | Tom Tracy | B | Tennessee |
| 6 | 62 | Bob Lusk | C | William & Mary |
| 7 | 74 | Gene Cronin | G | Pacific |
| 8 | 86 | Jack Powell | T | Texas A&M |
| 9 | 98 | Cal Jones | G | Iowa |
| 10 | 110 | Joe Silas | DE | South Carolina |
| 11 | 122 | Lou Wacker | B | Richmond |
| 11 | 124 | Tom Selep | B | Maryland |
| 12 | 134 | R.B. Nunnery | T | Louisiana State |
| 13 | 146 | O.K. Ferguson | B | Louisiana State |
| 14 | 158 | Ronnie Falls | LB | Duke |
| 15 | 170 | Horace Allert | DE | Texas State |
| 17 | 194 | Ken Wind | E | Houston |
| 18 | 206 | Turk Petrarca | B | Boston College |
| 19 | 218 | Dale Vaughn | B | Virginia Military Institute |
| 20 | 230 | Joe Stephenson | E | Vanderbilt |
| 21 | 242 | Bob Blechen | C | Whittier |
| 22 | 254 | Dick Marazza | T | Clemson |
| 23 | 266 | Bobby Garrard | B | Georgia |
| 24 | 278 | Jarv Walz | E | Central Michigan |
| 25 | 290 | Jerry Hall | B | Rice |
| 26 | 302 | Joe Walden | B | West Texas A&M |
| 27 | 314 | Bryan Burnthorne | G | Tulane |
| 28 | 326 | John Smith | G | Northwestern |
| 29 | 338 | Doug Peters | B | UCLA |
| 30 | 350 | John Gibbens | T | Texas State |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 58 | 98 | 69 | 75 | |
| Opponents Totals | 23 | 60 | 37 | 68 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 247 | 122 | 111 | 14 | / % | / % | 66 | 668 | |
| Opponents Totals | 181 | 81 | 84 | 16 | / % | / % | 48 | 519 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Layne | 5 | 33 | 33 | 100.0 | 12 | 15 | 80.0 | 0 | 99 |
| Gene Gedman | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| Leon Hart | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Don McIlhenny | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Dave Middleton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Jim Martin | 0 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 4 | 10 | 40.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Bill Bowman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Dorne Dibble | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Jack Christiansen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Yale Lary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jerry Reichow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 36 | 36 | 36 | 100.0 | 16 | 25 | 64.0 | 0 | 300 |
| Opponents Totals | 22 | 21 | 22 | 95.5 | 11 | 20 | 55.0 | 1 | 188 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Layne | 12 | 15 | 80.0 | 0 | 30 | 8/8 | 3/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| Jim Martin | 4 | 10 | 40.0 | 0 | 48 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/4 | 2/4 | 0/2 |
| Team Totals | 16 | 25 | 64.0 | 0 | 48 | 8/8 | 3/4 | 3/7 | 2/4 | 0/2 |
| Opponents Totals | 11 | 20 | 55.0 | 3/ | 3/ | 2/ | 3/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gene Gedman | 135 | 479 | 3.5 | 33 | 7 |
| Howard Cassady | 97 | 413 | 4.3 | 33 | 0 |
| Don McIlhenny | 87 | 372 | 4.3 | 30 | 3 |
| Leon Hart | 76 | 348 | 4.6 | 40 | 5 |
| Bobby Layne | 46 | 169 | 3.7 | 20 | 5 |
| Bill Bowman | 20 | 84 | 4.2 | 13 | 1 |
| Jug Girard | 17 | 67 | 3.9 | 11 | 0 |
| Tom Tracy | 12 | 32 | 2.7 | 9 | 0 |
| Harry Gilmer | 8 | 19 | 2.4 | 6 | 0 |
| Yale Lary | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Dave Middleton | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Dorne Dibble | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Jerry Reichow | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bill Stits | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 507 | 2011 | 4.0 | 46 | 21 |
| Opponents Totals | 373 | 1503 | 4.0 | 9 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Layne | 244 | 129 | 52.9 | 98 | 1909 | 7.8 | 14.8 | 70 | 9 | 3.7 | 17 | 7.0 | 44 | 1865 | 62.0 | |
| Harry Gilmer | 46 | 27 | 58.7 | 16 | 303 | 6.6 | 11.2 | 41t | 4 | 8.7 | 3 | 6.5 | 11 | 292 | 80.3 | |
| Jerry Reichow | 6 | 3 | 50.0 | 2 | 19 | 3.2 | 6.3 | 14 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 16.7 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 17.4 |
| Jug Girard | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 19 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 118.8 |
| Don McIlhenny | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Bill Stits | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Howard Cassady | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 50.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 301 | 160 | 53.2 | 118 | 2250 | 7.5 | 14.1 | 70 | 13 | 4.3 | 23 | 7.6 | 55 | 2195 | 60.1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 297 | 138 | 46.5 | 131 | 2045 | 6.9 | 14.8 | 11 | 3.7 | 28 | 9.4 | 140 | 1905 | 42.6 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Middleton | 39 | 606 | 15.5 | 56t | 5 |
| Dorne Dibble | 32 | 597 | 18.7 | 56t | 2 |
| Jim Doran | 25 | 448 | 17.9 | 31 | 0 |
| Gene Gedman | 15 | 142 | 9.5 | 43 | 1 |
| Leon Hart | 14 | 116 | 8.3 | 29 | 1 |
| Howard Cassady | 9 | 83 | 9.2 | 21 | 0 |
| Don McIlhenny | 8 | 70 | 8.8 | 21 | 2 |
| Bill Bowman | 5 | 34 | 6.8 | 18t | 1 |
| Jerry Reichow | 4 | 63 | 15.8 | 41t | 1 |
| Bill Stits | 3 | 52 | 17.3 | 27 | 0 |
| Jug Girard | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Tom Tracy | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 160 | 2250 | 14.1 | 70* | 13 |
| Opponents Totals | 138 | 2045 | 14.8 | 11 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale Lary | 8 | 182 | 22.8 | 73t | 1 |
| Jack Christiansen | 8 | 109 | 13.6 | 33 | 0 |
| Jimmy David | 7 | 4 | 0.6 | 3 | 0 |
| Bob Long | 2 | 47 | 23.5 | 40 | 0 |
| Bill Stits | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Joe Schmidt | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Carl Karilivacz | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 28 | 360 | 12.9 | 73t | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 23 | 243 | 10.6 | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale Lary | 42 | 1698 | 40.4 | 61 | 0 | |||||
| Jug Girard | 10 | 448 | 44.8 | 54 | 0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 52 | 2146 | 41.3 | 61 | 0 | 197 | 37.5 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 59 | 2326 | 39.4 | 233 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Cassady | 13 | 83 | 6.4 | 34 | 0 | |
| Yale Lary | 22 | 70 | 3.2 | 38 | 0 | |
| Jack Christiansen | 6 | 73 | 12.2 | 66t | 1 | |
| Jug Girard | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 43 | 233 | 5.4 | 66t | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 197 | 6.2 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Cassady | 16 | 382 | 23.9 | 42 | 0 | |
| Jack Christiansen | 6 | 116 | 19.3 | 22 | 0 | |
| Yale Lary | 4 | 76 | 19.0 | 29 | 0 | |
| Bill Stits | 3 | 48 | 16.0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Bill Bowman | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 24 | 0 | |
| Charlie Ane | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Jim Salsbury | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Jerry Reichow | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 33 | 687 | 20.8 | 42 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 48 | 1041 | 21.7 | 1 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Cassady | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Doran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sonny Gandee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Gene Gedman | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Harry Gilmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Leon Hart | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Carl Karilivacz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Krouse | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Yale Lary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Layne | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bob Long | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Gil Mains | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Miller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 0 |
| Bill Stits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Tracy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 14 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 23 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 16 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 0 |
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