Glenn Presnell, seen here on a 1935 National Chicle football card, was a star player for the first Detroit Lions teams, helping lead the Lions to the 1935 National Football League championship.
By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published December 20, 2025
ROSEVILLE — Sometimes the Detroit Lions fumble on the field, and other times their true grit takes them to victory.
As Lions fans get ready for the showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday, Dec. 21, a group of history buffs recently looked back at the Lions franchise from its earliest days to the present.
Jeremy Dimick, Detroit Historical Society director of collections and curatorial, gave a PowerPoint presentation during the Roseville Historical & Genealogical Society meeting Dec. 16 at Roseville Middle School.
Dimick tackled the beginning of the NFL and how the Detroit Lions — briefly known as the Detroit Tigers — endured through the decades. Dimick primarily focused on the 1930s and 1950s.
“These are critical periods for the team,” Dimick said. “The Lions were kind of the gold standard of the league in these two periods.”
In the early years — before multimillion-dollar contracts — many team members didn’t make much money and worked other jobs in the offseason. The Lions were founded in 1929 not in Detroit, but in Portsmouth, Ohio, and called the Portsmouth Spartans.
“They joined the NFL in 1930, and then they hit the ground running,” Dimick said. “In 1931, they go 11 (wins) and 3 (losses) and in 1932 they tied with the Chicago Bears for the best record in the league.”
The NFL didn’t have a playoff system in 1932. So, the guys played a replay game, which was “ultimately the first NFL playoff game and first championship game.”
The faceoff was set for Wrigley Field in Chicago. Because of an ice storm, the game was moved indoors to Chicago Stadium. The field was shorter than a football field, there were no goal posts, and the opponents played on dirt left behind by the circus from the previous week. The Bears were on their game and won.
Football fans have packed many venues, including Navin Field, which became Briggs and then Tiger Stadium in Detroit; University of Detroit Stadium; and the Pontiac Silverdome to cheer on the team. Since 2002, the Lions’ home base has been Ford Field in Detroit.
Mane attraction
In 1934, team handlers felt that Portsmouth wasn’t a large enough town to attract sports fans. They found the perfect buyer in radio executive George Richards, who moved the franchise to Detroit. Dimick said Richards named the team the Lions because “the lion is the king of the jungle, and the Detroit Lions are going to be the kings of the NFL.”
“They start out hot and win their first 10 games. They shut out their first seven opponents,” Dimick said. “The Lions had the second-best offense of the league and the very best defense of the league.”
They lost game No. 11 on Thanksgiving Day 1934 to the Bears, 19-16, but it started an annual ritual. The game was broadcast on NBC radio across the country. It was so popular that the Lions have continued playing on Thanksgiving Day every year for hungry fans.
In the early years — before multimillion-dollar contracts — most team members didn’t make much money and worked other jobs in the offseason. The teammates primarily traveled by train to get to their games, but occasionally hopped a bus.
The 1940s was not a good time for the team, but they were back on their game by the 1950s with the addition of star athletes Bobby Layne, Doak Walker and Leon Hart. By the 1950s, the NFL enterprise began making a profit. The institution’s relationship with fans grew over the years, especially now that people could watch it on television. At one point, Dimick said, the football was white because it showed up better on TV. Lions fanatics saw their team win championships in 1952, 1953 and 1957.
“There isn’t much to talk about for the next 65 years or so,” Dimick said. “Overall, they have a 46% winning percentage over those 65 years.”
Touchdown
“Little did we know 2021 was the start of something new,” Dimick said, referring to head coach Dan Campbell and Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes.
The team’s record improved from 3 wins and 13 losses in the 2021-2022 season to 12 wins and 5 losses two years later from 2023-2024. In 2024, expectations were high and the Lions even made the cover of Sports Illustrated. In the current season, the Lions are 8-6.
“Week by week the road to a championship is looking more difficult, but I’ll leave you with a historical perspective. That 2024 team is similar to the 1934 Lions. They had this powerful offense, they won a franchise record for games, they’re blowing teams out of the water, only to have their season come to an untimely end,” Dimick said. “The next year in 1935, they had a statistically worse team, but the ’35 team were the champions. So, we’ll have to wait a couple more weeks to see how this year is going to play out. Maybe 90 years in the making we’re going to see history repeat itself.”
As a kid, Roseville Historical & Genealogical Society board member John Schober remembers watching the Lions play at Tiger Stadium. He’d love to see the team win the Super Bowl.
“It was very good,” he said of Dimick’s presentation. “I learned a lot. I like history.”
Roseville Historical & Genealogical Society President Dave Bommarito is a “big time” Lions fan and spent plenty of time mingling with other football fanatics at the Pontiac Silverdome for games.
“We’d set up tents and we’d bring our tents,” Bommarito said. “As a young kid, we’d go to games on Thanksgiving. It was cold.”
He found Dimick “very knowledgeable.”
At the end of the evening, a raffle was held and several attendees won Detroit Lions merchandise. The Roseville Historical & Genealogical Society meets once a month. There is no program in January, but the group will start up again in February. For more information, call Bommarito at (586) 246-5587.
The Detroit Historical Society Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. For more information, go to detroithistorical.org.