Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions Kickers, The 1983 Playoff Loss to the Niners

Of late, I have been highly critical of the Lions organization, which is obviously a warranted criticism.  That being said, if there is one thing that the Lions have done right throughout the years, at least since 1980, it is selecting kickers.

The mere fact, given all of the tumult and roster turnover that has occurred within the Lions organization, that the Lions have had only two kickers in 28 seasons is thoroughly astounding.

In particular, the impact of Jason Hanson, in my opinion, never has been fully appreciated.   Hanson drilled a 56-yard kick, with the wind aiding him, in Charlotte Sunday, against the Panthers.

It’s truly amazing, that one of the primary criticisms of Sunday’s coaching performance by Rod Marinelli was that Hanson wasn’t allowed to attempt a 58/59 yard field goal during the game’s third quarter.  Think about that for a second.  How many kickers have ever earned such a high level of confidence among both fans and media observers that when, in most cases, weighing the chances of that kick actually being made versus the importance of maintaining a primacy of field position at the game’s late juncture, that nearly every coach would elect to punt in 95% of similar situations, and no one would question it?

In other words, the criticism being tendered is, Jason Hanson is an excellent enough kicker that Rod Marinelli should have defied the odds and common sense logic, and gave his best player, on an admittedly 0-10 team, a shot at making a nearly 60-yard field goal!

Hanson has done an excellent job this season, and figures to remain a franchise fixture for the foreseeable future.  The importance of this constant of dependability, since 1980, will never be fully appreciated until the Lions have to hand that unenviable task to another player, hopefully, a long time down the road.

I have a friend who lent me dvr’d  copies of the Lions crushing 1983 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, during the franchises 50th season.  Other than the ambivalent mix of good and bad memories that viewing the game stirred up, it was a brilliant game, nonetheless.

The Lions Gary Danielson, if you recall, replacing an injured Eric Hipple,  threw 5 interceptions.   Many Lions fans obsess over Eddie Murray missing a last second field goal, which would have won the game, but seem to forget that he had also missed one earlier from a similar distance, too.

Given these two facts alone, the Lions had no business even being in the ballgame, against a Niners team helmed by Joe Montana.  In this particular case, the Lions possessed a punishing defense and an excellent defensive front, which caused the Niners offense to spin it’s wheels all day.

Billy Sims, amid a very public contract squabble, had an excellent day and flashed his knack for making big plays and a nose for the end zone.  He even got to exhibit his celebratory high step, as he kicked the final few yards into the end zone untouched, to cap one drive.

The image that will be forever etched in my mind, and is emblematic of the failings of the Lions organization, is the close up shot of then Lions Head Coach Monte Clark as Murray was about to attempt his kick.  Clark, with a look of complete submission and desperation, looked skyward, and pressed his hands together in supplication.

In my many years of watching televised sports, I have rarely seen such a genuinely human and heartfelt moment from any team’s head coach.

What is even more poignant, and pivotal, given the Lions current situation of being 0-10, and their well-documented struggles during the last 25 seasons, is that when Murray actually misses the kick, Monte Clark’s visage becomes an oracular view of things to come.  He has the most defeated, devastated look that you can ever imagine.

In my estimation, from that point on, the Lions have never fully recovered as an organization.  They had reached a certain vista, after a multitude of seasons worth of extremely hard work, and from the point on have never quite regained their organizational footing.  Rather than achieving even a marginal foothold, they continue to slip further and further downward.

Clark’s expression is the same expression that each of us wears when we have attempted to, with an unchecked zealotry, accomplish a goal or mission, and subsequently, experienced desolate failure.

If there is one moment which can convey and sum up the failures of the last 25 years of Lions football, Clark’s pained, gagging-back-vomit-because-he-is-so-completely-overwhelmed-with-instant-grief look, says it all.