By Woodrow Carroll
When the San Francisco 49ers play host to the Detroit Lions at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28 for the right to go to Super Bowl LVIII, it brought up some historical facts. Or better, memories. Believe it or not, the last time the Lions claimed the NFL championship the Lions had to beat the 49ers along the way and on the road!
Back in 1957, the Lions and 49ers were members of the NFL’s Western Conference. The two teams finished the regular season tied for first with 8-4 records. The two clubs split their regular season games with each winning at home.
A playoff was necessitated between Detroit and San Francisco to see who would take on the Cleveland Browns for the NFL Championship. The luck of the draw seemingly went the 49ers way who won the right to be host in the playoff game.
At the time, the 49ers played their home games at Kezar Stadium. The Kezar family had a long history in the San Francisco area and had donated money for the construction of the stadium which ended up being used for a wide variety of events.
Are you a Clint Eastwood fan? Think about the 1971 film, Dirty Harry. The bad guy in Dirty Harry, known as Scorpio (played by Andrew Robinson), worked as a custodian at Kezar Stadium. It is at the stadium that Scorpio is shot although it is only later that Scorpio is finally brought down. That was in 1957.
The playoff game between the Lions and 49ers was all San Francisco’s for the first half. The home team led 24-7 advantage at the halftime break. San Francisco quarterback Y.A. Tittle was having his way while his counterpart with the Lions, Tobin Rote, who was filling in for injured starting quarterback Bobby Layne, was struggling.
The game changer for the Lions may have come early in the second half.
The 49ers Hugh McElhenny took off on a 71-yard run. It was a run that many observers thought covered 150 yards, given that McElhenny weaved and cut to avoid numerous Lions’ tacklers.
McElhenny did not score, however! And, the 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal to make the score 27-7. Few imagined at the time that the 49ers’ field goal was to be the final points put on the board that season by San Francisco.
Tom “The Bomb” Tracy! There is a name for you. With the Lions hurting for running backs, the little-used Tracy stepped up. Two touchdown runs by Tracy, one a 58-yard burst, pulled the Lions back from the brink of disaster. The Lions took a 28-27 lead, then added a field goal to close out the scoring to make the final score 31-27, Detroit.
Sports memorabilia collectors can tell you that tickets were printed for the anticipated Cleveland Browns game at San Francisco,. $7.50 for good seats at Kezar Stadium.
That road victory by Detroit in the 1957 Western Conference playoff game was the last time Detroit had won a playoff game on the road.
Near the end of the regular season, the Lions defeated the Browns, 20-7, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. A couple of weeks later, the Lions swarmed all over Cleveland, 59-14, in Detroit for the NFL championship.. George Wilson, who later the first head coach of the Miami Dolphins, was the man calling the shots for the Lions in 1957.
Wilson’s coaching counterpart in the 1957 playoff game was Frankie Albert, San Francisco Bay area legend, having guided Stanford to victory over Nebraska in the 1941 Rose Bowl. In the pro ranks, Albert was quarterback for the 49ers well into the 1950s.