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The Detroit Lions are an American football team based in Detroit , Michigan . Originally based in Portsmouth , Ohio and called the Portsmouth Spartans, the team began play in 1929 as an independent professional team, one of many such teams in the Ohio and Scioto River valleys. For the 1930 season, the Spartans formally joined the NFL as the other area independents folded because of the Great Depression. Despite success within the NFL, they could not survive in Portsmouth , then the NFL's smallest city. The team was purchased and moved to Detroit for the 1934 season.

The Lions have won four pre-Super Bowl NFL Championships, the last in 1957, and have yet to qualify for the Super Bowl.

Ranking the Detroit Lions: Players in the middle of the pack serve a key role ALLEN PARK -- As the Detroit Lions get ready to report to training camp Friday, here's a partial breakdown of the top 50 players on the team's roster.

Lions ready for training camp Detroit Lions offensive tackle Jeff Backus says he has a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the season.

Lions' Backus optimistic entering training camp Jeff Backus has experienced a lot of misery on the football field since leaving Michigan and getting drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2001, losing 111 games and winning just 33 times. This season, he insisted, will be different. "There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic," Backus said during the team's last minicamp.

Detroit Lions Fantasy Football Preview The Detroit Lions may have only won two games over the last two seasons, but fantasy owners should be aware that there is some potentially great talent on this roster. The Lions will be led by young quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford showed last season that he has the toughness and intangibles to lead a NFL team, and he should see a big improvement in production this year. Newcomers Jahvid ...