The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference North Division. The team plays its home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit. The franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans and joined the NFL on July 12, 1930. [13] After being purchased by George A. Richards in 1934, the franchise was relocated to Detroit and renamed to the Detroit Lions in reference to the city's Major League Baseball franchise, the Detroit Tigers. [14] [15] [16]
The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", [17] [18] [19] is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. [20] The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them. [21]
In 1936, the league introduced the NFL draft after team owners voted on it in 1935. [22] [23] The intention of the draft is to make the NFL more competitive, as some teams had an advantage in signing players. [21] [23] From 1947 through 1958 the NFL designated the first overall selection as a "bonus" or "lottery pick". The pick was awarded by a random draw and the winner who received the "bonus pick" forfeited its selection in the final round of the draft and became ineligible for future draws. The system was abolished prior to the 1959 NFL draft, as all twelve teams in the league at the time had received a bonus choice. [24] [25]
Since the first draft, the Lions have selected 91 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural NFL draft was Sid Wagner, a guard from Michigan State; he was the 8th overall selection. [13] [26] The Lions have held the first overall pick four times and selected Frank Sinkwich in 1943, Leon Hart in 1950, Billy Sims in 1980, and Matthew Stafford in 2009. [27] In the most recent draft, held in 2023, the Lions chose Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell in the first round. [28]
The Lions did not draft a player in the first round on seven occasions. [27] Seven of the team's first-round picks—Otto Graham, Calvin Johnson, Alex Karras, Johnny Robinson, Barry Sanders, Y. A. Tittle, and Alex Wojciechowicz—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame; [29] [25] two of these, Graham and Tittle, chose not to play for the Lions and joined the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) instead. [30] [31] The Lions also used three first-round picks in the 1960s to select players–Pete Beathard, John Hadl, and Johnny Robinson–who chose to sign with the NFL's pre-merger direct competitor, the American Football League (AFL) instead. [32] [33] [29]
† | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
---|---|
* | Selected number one overall |
Position abbreviations | |
---|---|
C | Center |
CB | Cornerback |
DB | Defensive back |
DE | Defensive end |
DT | Defensive tackle |
E | End |
FB | Fullback |
G | Guard |
HB | Halfback |
LB | Linebacker |
QB | Quarterback |
RB | Running back |
S | Safety |
T | Tackle |
TE | Tight end |
WB | Wingback |
WR | Wide receiver |
The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on April 21–22, 2001.
The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marquis in New York City, New York. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so. There were 255 draft selections: 223 regular selections and 32 compensatory selections. A supplemental draft was also held after the regular draft and before the regular season. This was the first draft presided over by new NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and was followed by the second and third rounds on Friday, April 29. The draft concluded with rounds 4–7 on Saturday, April 30. It was the first draft to be held in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and the state of Nevada.
The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 season. The draft was held outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, from April 27–29, 2023.
The 2024 NFL draft will be the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held around Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan, on April 25–27, 2024. The Chicago Bears hold the first pick in the draft, due to a previous trade with the Carolina Panthers, who had the worst record in the season before.
The 2025 NFL draft will be the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held around Lambeau Field and Titletown campus in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025.