Bobby F’N Layne
February 17, 2008 on 12:53 pm | In Uncategorized |Growing up in Michigan, as a Lions fan, Bobby Layne has always stood out in Bunyan-esque proportions, due to his devil-may-care, gunslinging swagger and unmatched success as a team leader and Lions quarterback.
As time moves on, Layne’s cache only grows, since the Lions have proved to be such incompetent judges of what characterizes a competent, let alone championship caliber, NFL quarterback.
In the 50 years since the Lions traded Layne to Pittsburgh, they have had just one Pro Bowl QB (Greg Landry) and have only won one playoff game. Layne serves as both an unobtainable yardstick for comparison of what a great quarterback truly is, and also provides a convenient means of denial among Lions fans, allowing them to blame the team’s incredible lack of success as a “Bobby Layne” curse.
If you don’t recall, upon his trade to Pittsburgh, Layne supposedly stated the Lions wouldn’t win a championship in 50 seasons, after their unpopular decision to trade the incorrigible Layne.
Well, it’s been 50 years, and the “curse” seems more real every day. MLive.com talks to several former Lions and a few of Layne’s teammate, about the existence of a “Bobby Layne” curse.
The fact of the matter still remains, the Lions have become the most poorly managed professional sports franchise in recent sports history, no Bobby Layne, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning can alter that unresolvable fact.
Layne liked to party, may have been the greatest big game and late game quarterback of the 50’s, and cut a larger than life figure. 50 years don’t diminish Layne’s accomplishments, in fact, to many hopeless Lions fans, the final verdict could be that the success of Layne, and the Lions of the 50’s, may actually remain the high watermark for this pathetic organization for many years to come.
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Bobby Layne . . . I still have a 1995 SI cover with him on it somewhere with the caption “The Toughest Quarterback of All Time.”
Enough with curses. Besides–curses are broken. Look at the Red Sox–they overcame the “Curse of the Bambino.” This means that, if the Lions were to keep on tract with the BoSox, they will win another NFL title in 35 short years.
Besides, maybe someday they will draft a player, a runningback for example, who will be so good that any team with him cannot possibly fail. Wait, we did, and we failed.
The Lions are cursed. It’s over. Thanks for ruining my day Blogman. Then again, I suppose that when I read a Lions blog, I shouldn’t be expecting sunshine and bubblegum.
Comment by Hondo — February 17, 2008 #
[…] admin_huliq wrote an interesting post today on Bobby F’N LayneHere’s a quick excerptGrowing up in Michigan, as a Lions fan, Bobby Layne has always stood out in Bunyan-esque proportions, due to his devil-may-care, gunslinging swagger […]
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[…] Seahawks.NET wrote an interesting post today on Bobby F’N LayneHere’s a quick excerpt…since the Lions have proved to be such incompetent judges of what characterizes a competent, let alone championship caliber, NFL quarterback. […]
Pingback by Nfl » Bobby F’N Layne — February 17, 2008 #
Yukon–I certainly don’t intend to piss in your corn flakes, as it were. I hope that in some distant, indirect way this blog applies the pressure necessary for the Lions dreadful organization to take the steps necessary to actually improve in the future.
The curse is a case of fan rationalization on a grand scale. There is no curse, except for the bounty of them that fly out of my mouth each and every Sunday in response to the Lions ineptitude.
You and I have the misfortune to know each other well enough to know that we each would like nothing more than actually seeing this team succeed.
It’s remarkable the impact the legendary Layne has locally, though. Most of us never saw him play, but yet we believe that he could march John Wayne-like through brick walls and would spit bullets at his foes meanwhile, guzzling fifths of liquor for fun…
Kitna sort of approaches Layne’s toughness, but is nowhere near the leader or player that Layne was. Layne would have likely bitch-slapped Jeff Backus and put his foot up  George Foster’s ass, that you can bet, an approach that Kitna probably considered but didn’t possess the cajones to follow through with.
As for the aforementioned hall of fame running back, do you ever wonder how many sleepless nights he has had about his damned career with the Lions? I’m not ashamed, I have….
Comment by Steve — February 18, 2008 #
I have those same images of Bobby Layne. His status is legendary. I know of no other individual not named Cobb, Ruth, or Mays that so many people (in this area) who have never seen him play and have only seen brief clips of him would say that he was so great. I just want to enjoy football. It doesn’t have to be a thing of misery does it? Oh well. It’s hockey season and baseball starts in 42 days. I’ll live. Keep the pressure on!
Comment by Hondo — February 18, 2008 #