Many Lions fans have fond memories of Barry Sanders..
The Lions move back to Detroit took planning – and plenty of grit…
DETROIT (FOX 2) – Many Lions fans have fond memories of Barry Sanders running through defenses into the end zone at the Pontiac Silverdome. That was back in the
If you wanted to cheer on your team — it wasn’t happening there.
“I went to the first game at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1975 and I was so angry they called them the Detroit Lions and they played in Oakland County,” said Mayor Mike Duggan.
Flash forward to today where the Lions are just one game away from the Super Bowl. They don’t play in Pontiac anymore, they are in Ford Field right in the heart of the city.
The effort that it took to bring them back from Pontiac? Let’s just say it took a lot of grit.
“When the idea was first announced, everybody thought we were crazy,” Duggan said. “They said the Lions weren’t coming back to Detroit, it was inconceivable.”
Back then Duggan was Wayne County’s deputy county executive in 1996 and Dennis Archer was the mayor.
1990s. where Ford Field and Comerica Park, well, they weren’t much.
“Most of the area is vacant except for a few run-down buildings and commercial businesses,” said FOX 2’s reporter Al Allen in an old report.