NFL in Ballpark Series -Detroit, MI, October 16, 1938 – The first ever Lions game at Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium)



Featured Photo Above:

Combined 1903 World Series Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Pilgrims 

(Color Restoration by Chris Whitehouse of Mancave Pictures)

Baseball History Comes Alive Now Ranked As a Top Five Website by Feedspot Among All Baseball History Websites and Blogs!

(Check out Feedspot's list of the Top 35 Baseball History websites and blogs)




Guest Submissions from Our Readers Always Welcome! Click for details

 

The first ever Lions game at Tigers Stadium, then known as Briggs Stadium, takes place against the then NFL defending Champs, the Washington Redskins.

A sold out crowd of 42,855 saw their faithful Lions put up a valiant struggle, only to fall short to the Redskins by a 7-5 score. The home team jumped to a 5-0 lead on a Regis Monahan field goal. On the ensuing kickoff Redskins returner Andy Farkas took the ball from behind his own goal line and returned it three yards before retreating and getting tackled in the end zone for a Detroit safety.

But Farkas, a former University of Detroit star, would get redemption against his former home team scoring the go ahead touchdown early in the third quarter after teammate Wee Willie Wilkin blocked a punt, giving the Redskins a 7-5 lead and eventual victory.

While the Lions might have been the first NFL team to play in Tiger Stadium, they were not the first professional football team to do so. That honor went to the AFPA’s Detroit Heralds in 1920, and who even played at then Navin Field before then. But pro football had a strong history with Tiger Stadium as the Lions played there up to 1975, after which they would move to the newly built Pontiac Silverdome.

Special thanks to Ron Flatter for helping ID the photo.

 

2 thoughts on “NFL in Ballpark Series -Detroit, MI, October 16, 1938 – The first ever Lions game at Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium)

  1. 2nd graf, 2nd line: change “5-0” to “3-0”. The score only became 5-0 after the subsequent safety.

    4th graf, 2nd line: the 1920 team’s name was the Detroit “Heralds”.

    Thanks for the look-back at a forgotten part of Michigan football history. I fondly remember those old Lions games at Briggs/Tiger Stadium. Most memorable: Their 1962 Thanksgiving Day wipeout of the Packers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

close

Click "Follow" For Automatic Updates and You'll Receive Within 24-Hours My Free Bonus Report:

Gary's Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide!

error

Click "Follow" For Automatic Updates and Free Bonus Report: Gary's Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide!