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Portsmouth Spartans

The Detroit Lions, an American football team affiliated with theNational Football League or NFL for short, came from very humble beginnings as the Portsmouth Spartans. The Spartans were created in the early 1930’s in the Ohio valley. They were sponsored by the Green Bay Packers. This team was only around for a very short period of time before making its transition to the National Football League.

History

The Spartans began competing in 1930. During that period of time, baseball was the most popular game in the United States. The Spartans played their initial game on September 14, 1930. The Spartans' head coach was Hall Griffin, a former offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers who attended college at the University of Iowa prior to his professional career.

The 1930 season began ideally with a victory over the Newark Tornadoes, a team coached by John Depler. The Spartans finished the 1930 season a disappointing 5-6-3. Despite not having a winning season, the Spartans gained much acclaim for being the first ever team to play in a night football game against the Brooklyn Dodgers under portable lights at University Stadium.

The 1931 season brought forth several changes. First and foremost, the team made a head coaching change and appointed George “Potsy” Clark as head coach. Clark, a graduate of The University of Illinois at Champaign, had a very impressive background. He had coached at the University of Kansas and Michigan Agricultural College, which is present day Michigan State University. Clark coached both football and baseball at these schools. The second important change was the addition of two rookie running backs, Earl Clarke and Glenn Presnell. Earl Clarke later became a member of the NFL’s 1930’s All – Decade Team. Glenn Presnell was an All-American from the University of Nebraska. These additions bolstered the Spartans' offense and carried them to an 11-2 record for the season.

Although the Spartans seemed to be a team on the rise during the 1931 season, that promising season was brought to an abrupt end by the very team that sponsored them, the Green Bay Packers. The 1932 season was a season that was projected to be the Spartans coming out party, but things just never really seemed to fall into place for the Spartans. Although they had a winning record they finished the season with four ties. The Spartans tied for the league's first place spot with the Chicago Bears. The 1933 season which would be the team’s final season before moving to Detroit was yet again disappointing thus leading to the team’s demise, and the creation of the present day Detroit Lions.


Portsmouth Spartans First Season Roster (1930)

  • G Walt Ambrose (Carrol College)
  • WB/DB/FB Chuck Bennett (Tennessee – Chattanooga)
  • E/DE Chuck Braidwood(Iowa)
  • C Richard Brown
  • E Koester Christensen (Michigan State)
  • G/FB Ebby DeWeese
  • T/G/C/LB/FB/HC Jap Douds (Washington & Jefferson)
  • RB/WB Byron Eby (Ohio State)
  • E/WB Lee Fenner
  • G/E/C/T Bill Fleckenstein
  • RB/WB Bill Glassgow(Iowa)
  • G Al Graham (Tennessee Chattanooga)
  • C Aaron Grant
  • C/T/HC Hal Griffen (Iowa)
  • E/T/G/FB Duke Hanny (Michigan)
  • T Dud Harris (Marietta)
  • T George Hastings(Kentucky)
  • C/E Lou Jennings (Ohio)
  • T Spider Johnson (Minnesota)
  • E Red Joseph
  • FB/WB/RB Cy Kahl
  • FB/WB Tiny Lewis
  • FB/DB/LB Father Lumpkin (Iowa)
  • T/G Babe Lyon (Jackson)
  • E/T Emil Mayer(Marquette)
  • FB/HB Chief McLain(Iowa)
  • G Ernie Meyer
  • RB/HB/FB Ray Novotny
  • RB/FB Frosty Peters (Michigan State)
  • C/G Carroll Ringwalt
  • G Fred Roberts
  • T Sod Ryan (Marshall)
  • T Vin Schleusner
  • T Ron Shearer
  • G Gene Smith
  • G Buck Weaver
  • C/G/T/FB Bull Wesley (Payne)


Portsmouth Spartans First Season Stats

  • Week 1 Sep 13 W 14-0 vs Brooklyn Dodgers
  • Week 3 Sep 23 W 13-3 vs Chicago Cardinals
  • Week 4 Sep 30 W 14-6 vs New York Giants
  • Week 5 Oct 7 W 6-0 vs Cleveland Indians
  • Week 6 Oct 15 W 19-0 vs Frankford Yellow Jackets
  • Week 6 Oct 18 W 19-0 at Brooklyn Dodgers
  • Week 7 Oct 25 W 20-7 at Staten Island Stapletons
  • Week 8 Nov 1 L 14-0 at New York Giants
  • Week 9 Nov 8 L 9-6 at Chicago Bears
  • Week 10 Nov 11 W 14-12 vs Staten Island Stapletons
  • Week 10 Nov 15 W 14-6 vs Cleveland Indians at Cincinnati, OH
  • Week 11 Nov 22 L 20-19 at Chicago Cardinals
  • Week 12 Nov 29 W 3-0 vs Chicago Bears

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