2:09 PM ET
Eric WoodyardESPN
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Four NFL title banners were hanging from the Detroit Lions' indoor signifier installation connected Friday day arsenic the existent squad works to drawback a five-game losing skid connected Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
The Lions (1-6) haven't celebrated a rubric since 1957, the NFL's second-longest drought without a championship. They besides clasp the longest progressive streak without a playoff victory, having not won successful the postseason since 1992.
There's been truthful galore melodramatic losses and deficiency of occurrence done the years that speculation remains connected whether oregon not the 'Curse of Bobby Layne' lingers implicit the full organization.
In the 1950s, the Lions dominated the decade. With Layne, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, astatine quarterback, Detroit won NFL titles successful 1952 and 1953.
However, Layne suffered a breached leg, opening the doorway for his backup Tobin Rote to pb the squad to the 1957 title. The adjacent year, 2 games into the 1958 season, Lions manager George Wilson shockingly traded Layne to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Earl Morrall and 2 draught picks.
Layne was bitter and supposedly said the Lions wouldn't triumph a title for different 50 years. Sure enough, 64 years later, the franchise has not travel adjacent to winning again.
Legendary backmost Peyton Manning precocious explored "The Curse of Bobby Layne" connected a caller occurrence of "Peyton's Places." Manning was joined by diehard Lions fans Keegan-Michael Key and Jeff Daniels connected the amusement arsenic they tried to exorcise the curse.
Coach Dan Campbell says helium refuses to judge that they're jinxed successful the Motor City.
"No, I don't. I bash not. I can't spell there. I'm not gonna let myself to spell determination due to the fact that I conscionable consciousness similar for me, arsenic a manager oregon for america arsenic players, that's an excuse," Campbell said during Friday's practice. "And I deliberation you make your ain vibe, your ain mojo. You make your ain vigor and I deliberation the much you bargain into that and judge that, that's what you go truthful no, I'm not buying that."
Although Lions rookie Aidan Hutchinson is simply a Michigan autochthonal who attended adjacent Divine Child High School successful Dearborn, Michigan arsenic good arsenic the University of Michigan, helium wasn't alert of the curse until "a mates weeks ago." Detroit's No. 2 wide prime called it absorbing and says, "hopefully we tin interruption that sometime soon."
"It's a large opportunity. I mean, hopefully Peyton exorcised it," Hutchinson told ESPN. "Hopefully we tin determination connected now. It'll beryllium chill if we tin commencement winning shot games present that Peyton came down present and got escaped of it."
Campbell says helium hadn't watched the occurrence but refused to bargain into the franchise's past of misfortune arsenic they're trying to constitute a caller narrative.
"It has to beryllium it. There is simply a curse. If you instrumentality the curse retired of there, we person to judge the information that we're this bad. It's easier for us, who are diehard Lions fans to go, 'yes, determination is simply a curse,'" Daniels told Manning connected the ESPN+ show. "We deed bottommost and past we deed bottommost again and past we got a hammer retired and deed ourselves successful the caput a fewer much times and past we deed bottommost again.
"Down successful the heavy acheronian of my Lions fan's soul, determination is hope."
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