Lions Set for Monday Night Football in Chicago

The Detroit Lions return to prime time and NFC North action in Week 7 as they travel to Chicago to face the rival Bears on ESPN’s Monday Night Football with kickoff set for 8:30 p.m. ET.

This will be the sixth all-time meeting on Monday Night Football between the two teams and the first time the game will be played in Chicago. The Lions are coming off a resilient, come-from-behind overtime 26-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6, while the Bears will play in their first game following their Bye Week.

HANSON’S MILESTONES
K Jason Hanson scored 14 points and converted all four field-goal attempts, including the game-winner in overtime, in the Lions’ 26-23 win at Philadelphia. Hanson now has 2,074 career points and passed K John Carney (2,062) for the third-most points in NFL history. Hanson’s 2,074 points are the most ever by a player with one franchise.

Hanson has 479 career field goals and passed Carney (478) for the third-most in NFL history. Hanson’s 479 field goals are the most ever by a player with one franchise.

With Hanson’s game-winning 45-yard field goal, along with his first of 46 yards, he now has tallied 180 career field goals of 40+ yards. He joined K Morten Andersen (187) as the only kickers in NFL history with 180 field goals of 40+ yards. On the season, Hanson now has made 10 field goals from 40+ yards.

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STATEMENT FROM LIONS PRESIDENT TOM LEWAND ON THE PASSING OF ALEX KARRAS

“On behalf of the William Clay Ford Family and the entire Detroit Lions organization, we extend our deepest sympathies to Susan, the Karras Family and to all of Alex’s friends and fans across the country,” Lions President Tom Lewand said. “While his legacy reached far beyond the gridiron, we always will fondly remember Alex as one of our own and also as one of the best to ever wear the Honolulu Blue and Silver.”


Alex Karras died this morning in Los Angeles – October 10, 2012

After a heroic fight with kidney disease, heart disease, dementia and for the last two years, stomach cancer, Alex Karras, iconic football player, beloved sports commentator and popular film and TV actor, died at his home in Los Angeles early this morning, surrounded by family.

Born in Gary, Indiana, the fourth of six children, Karras began his football career at Emerson High school where he was an All-State football player for four years. In 1953, he was named to the high school All-American team. He continued on to the University of Iowa where he was All-American for four years and in 1958, was a first round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. He became known as the fiercest of the Lions famed “Fearsome Foursome.” With Detroit, Karras was All-Pro in 1960, ’61, ’63, ’64 and 1967, and named by the Hall of Fame committee to the All-Decade Team of the 1960s. Karras is a member of the Lions 75th Season All-Time Team. In 1970 he was named to the All-Time Big Ten Team as well. In 1991 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in front of 70,000 cheering Hawkeyes.

Karras had always dreamed of being an actor and began his acting career while he was with the Detroit Lions. He gave an indelible performance in PAPER LION, which starred Alan Alda and was based on the book of the same name by George Plimpton. Karras and Plimpton remained friends for life and one of Karras’ sons is named after Plimpton. This performance led to two dozen appearances on the TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson. His spontaneous wit led to working with the very verbal Howard Cossell as co-host of ABC’s popular MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL for three years – who can forget “the University of Mars”?

Lucille Ball took him under her wing and allowed him to train in small parts in many Desilu productions. Then he played an impressive range of roles, including Mongo, the horse-decking cowboy in BLAZING SADDLES, the intimidating football coach in AGAINST ALL ODDS, the “good’ol boy” sheriff in PORKY’S and the bodyguard with a secret in VICTOR/VICTORIA.

Karras earned national acclaim for his vulnerable portrayal of George Zaharias in the moving CBS telefilm, BABE, in which he starred with Susan Clark, who later became his wife. Together, Karras and Clark formed their own production company, Georgian Bay Productions, in 1979. They produced three telefilms for CBS: JIMMY B. AND ANDRE, WORD OF HONOR, and MAID IN AMERICA in which they starred together. This led to the long running television show, WEBSTER, in which they played George and Katherine Papadapolis. They co-produced 150 episodes with Paramount Studio – still seen in syndication worldwide.

He co-wrote a critically acclaimed autobiography, EVEN BIG GUYS CRY, followed by ALEX KARRAS BY ALEX KARRAS, and TUESDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL.

Alex was known to family and friends as a gentle, loving, generous man who loved gardening and preparing Greek and Italian feasts. He began a lifelong commitment to philanthropy starting with his work with the Better Boys Foundation. His love of nature and most especially of the ocean, where he spent many happy days on his fishing boat, led him to support numerous organizations committed to protecting our environment for future generations. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Susan Clark and their daughter, Katherine; by his children, Alex, Jr., Peter, Carolyn, George and Renald from his first marriage to Joan Powell (now deceased). He is also survived by his siblings, Louis, Nan, Paul and Ted as well as five grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to one of the organizations Alex Karras ardently supported: Natural Resources Defense Council, Bioneers, Greenpeace Foundation or the Pesticide Action Network.

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Lions Hold Final Practice Before Bye Week

DETROIT LIONS DAILY UPDATE FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012


The team began its on-field preparation for its Week 6 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles today with a practice in helmets and shorts on the indoor fields at the team’s headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park.

Today, the Lions took their annual team photo, including individual position group pictures.

This week is the team’s scheduled Bye Week and the Lions will return to practice Tuesday, October 9. The Lions will hit the road in Week 6 when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles.


LIONS HEAD COACH JIM SCHWARTZ

On interceptions coming in bunches: “A lot of interceptions come from pass rush. A lot of pass rush comes from game situation; make a team one-dimensional or have a big lead. All those contribute to turnovers, to sacks, to different things like that.”


On the pass combination of QB Matthew Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson not having a touchdown together this season and how surprising that fact is:
“I think everybody’s game plan is starting with, ‘let’s try to keep them from doing that.’ That’s definitely part of the situation. It’s not to say that we can’t be effective and we can’t score on offense. We don’t have any goals on how many touchdowns Calvin and Matthew are going to connect for. What we want to do is we want to score. Whether it’s Calvin or anybody else, our goal is the get in the end zone and score. We don’t play fantasy football. When we’re trying to score we don’t care who does it.”

On Stafford’s performance so far and him being ranked 21st is dropping his confidence:
“The only rating that means anything is that we’re 1-3 right now. If he was 158.3 and we were 1-3, we’d feel the same. Again, ratings and power rankings and stats and fantasy football – it is fun for other people. Our job is to win games. We won one out of first three. We need to do better.”

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LIONS VS. VIKINGS: POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES

JIM SCHWARTZ:
On his level of concern after four games this season: “The first quarter of the season is done; we’re 1-3. We didn’t start off the way we wanted to. There is nothing to say that we can’t get it back and that’s our challenge right now is to dig our way out of this. We’re not going to sit here for a half-hour and tell you all the circumstances of teams that have done it and everything else. But none of that matters. Doesn’t matter if other people have done it, doesn’t matter that people have gone to the playoffs and everything else, have lost three in a row during the season or started off bad; I mean everybody has those experiences. None of those matter to this team. What matters to this team is we need to put these mistakes behind us and we need to play better. When we do we’ll win. There is a reason we’re 1-3 and it hasn’t been bad luck. We’ve made ourselves have to overcome way too much. Even going back to the opener, we won, we were -3 in turnovers. We were lucky to win that game. Last week, today, like I said, five non-defensive scores and today we weren’t able to overcome in scoring enough on offense.”


On what he makes of all the boos of the fans: “They’re voicing their same displeasures as is their right to do. We need to play better. I thought the fans were excellent today. At the end, they were loud as can be, got the ball back, nobody was leaving. I thought our fans were fantastic today. We need to play better if we don’t want to hear boos.”

HANSON MOVES UP
K Jason Hanson, scored 7 points in today’s game as he made field goals of 40 and 31 yards along with a PAT. In doing so he moved past K John Carney (2,062) for third place on the NFL’s all-time scoring list. He now trails K Gary Anderson (2,434) for second place and K Morten Andersen (2,544) for first place on the NFL career scoring list.

One of Hanson’s two field goals made was a 40-yarder in the first quarter. It was his 127th career field goal from 40-49 yards, and he now trails K Matt Stover (128) for third-most field goals from 40-49 yards in NFL history.

Hanson (475 FGs, 635 PATs) now needs four field goals to surpass K John Carney (478) for third place for most career field goals in NFL history and four PATs to pass K Norm Johnson (638) for sixth place for most career PATs.

HANSON'S FOUR-GAME STRETCH
Through the first four games of the season, Hanson has scored 44 points, connected on 12-of-13 field goals (92.3 pct), and has made 7 field goals from 40-49 yards His 44 points through the first four games are the second highest tally of his career to start the season. In 2011, he registered 45 points in the first four games of the season.

Hanson’s 44 points in the past four games are tied for the third-most over a four-game stretch during his 21-year career. Besides the 45 to begin last season, he also tallied 45-points over a four-game stretch in October-November 1993 and 44 points over four games in October-November 1999.

DEFENDING THE PASS
The Lions pass defense allowed just 100 net passing yards today against the Minnesota Vikings. It was the lowest team passing output the Lions allowed since they yielded just 56 yards at Cleveland October 23, 2005.

JOHNSON’S 4-GAME START
With 54 yards receiving today, WR Calvin Johnson increased his tally of receiving yards on the season to 423 yards. It is only the third time in team history that a Lions receiver has gained 400 yards in the month of September and the first to do so while playing just four games. WR Herman Moore did it twice in his career (507 in 1997 and 480 in 1996) with both times occurring in 5 games played during the month.

PETTIGREW AMONG LIONS TIGHT ENDS
TE Brandon Pettigrew caught 7 passes for 67 yards the Minnesota Vikings today. Now with 2,068 receiving yards, Pettigrew passed TE David Sloan (2,024) for fourth on the Lions career receiving yards list by tight ends.

SUH’S PRESSURE
DT Ndamukong Suh was credited with a half-a-sack (.5) today vs. the Vikings. He now is tied with DT Henry Thomas for seventh among Lions defensive tackles for career sacks (since 1982).

HARRIS’ DROP INS
P Nick Harris, who returned this past week as the franchise’s all-time leader in punts, net punting average and punts inside the 20, had four of his five punts downed inside the 20-yard line. It is the most by a Lions punter since Harris had 4 at Minnesota October 12, 2008. This was his eighth game with the Lions with 4+ punts inside the 20-yard line, which is the most in franchise history.

Overall, Harris now has 193 punts downed inside the 20-yard line during his career with the Lions.

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DETROIT LIONS AND SLOWS TEAM UP TO OFFER AWARD WINNING BBQ AT FORD FIELD

DETROIT, MICH. – The Detroit Lions is now offering Detroit’s award-winning barbeque, Slows Bar BQ, at Ford Field. Slows’ partnership with The Detroit Lions is exclusive; outside of Slows Bar BQ and Slows To Go in Detroit, its food is only available at Ford Field. Unlike the traditional approach to stadium concessions, Slows’ chefs will prepare the food served at Ford Field.

“It’s win-win for both the Lions and Slows, another iconic business in Detroit: Our fans can enjoy food that’s been rated among the best in the nation by The Travel Channel, Bon Appetit and others, and Slows will benefit from exposure to sold-out crowds at Ford Field,” said Tom Lewand, The Detroit Lions team president.

“As an organization, one of our goals continues to be providing great value to our premium seat holders and by offering sought-after food and beverage we’re creating an experience at Ford Field that’s unmatched. We appreciate the commitment our fans make to come down to a game and we want to make the stadium experience as rewarding as possible.”

Available exclusively on Ford Field’s Club and Suite levels, Slows will offer a variety of local microbrew beers as well as several items from its award-winning menu:

The Yardbird, a pulled, smoked Amish chicken breast sandwich drenched in mustard sauce, tossed with sautéed mushrooms and cheddar and topped with applewood bacon.

The Reason, a pork butt sandwich, smoked slow and pulled, bathed in sauce and topped with Slows’ signature coleslaw and dill pickle strips.

The MaryAnn, a chopped brisket sandwich, served wet in a tangy smokehouse sauce with dill pickles and thinly sliced onion.

The Genius, a vegetarian ‘chicken’ sandwich coated in sweet sauce and topped with Slows’ signature coleslaw and dill pickle strips.

Side options, including mac-n-cheese, pit smoked beans, and coleslaw.

“Slows is thrilled to partner with The Detroit Lions and extend our footprint beyond the two restaurants that we operate in the city,” said Brian Perrone, Executive Chef and co-owner, Slows Bar BQ and Slows To Go. “The Slows experience is rooted in quality deliciousness and that’s exactly what we’ll offer to fans at Ford Field.”

In conjunction with the recently announced Living for the City initiative, The Detroit Lions is committed to featuring locally sourced food and beverages at Ford Field and in support of Michigan-based businesses.

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DETROIT LIONS DAILY UPDATE FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPT 26, 2012

TRANSACTIONS
The Detroit Lions have signed P Nick Harris and moved P Ben Graham to the Reserve/Injured list.

NOTEBOOK
The Lions began their on-field preparation for their game against the Minnesota Vikings today with a practice in helmets and shorts on the outdoor fields at the team’s headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park.

The Detroit Lions will return home this weekend as they host the Minnesota Vikings Sunday afternoon with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET. The Lions will be looking to bounce back after falling to the Tennessee Titans 44-41 in overtime in Week 3, while the Vikings are coming off a 24-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

HANSON 3-GAME TOTALS
K Jason Hanson has made 10 field goals through the first three games of the season. His 10 field goals are the most he has ever made in a three-game stretch during his 21-year career.

Hanson has made seven field goals from 40+ yards in the first three games, which is also a three-game high during his career.

HARRIS BACK AS A LION
The Lions re-signed P Nick Harris on Tuesday after placing P Ben Graham on the Reserve/Injured list. Harris returns to Detroit after a successful career with the team from 2003-10. He most recently played with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011.

Currently, Harris holds a number of Lions punting records. His 627 career punts for 27,074 yards are the most by a Lions punter, the next closest total belonging to Jim Arnold (1986-93) with 536 punts for 22,893 yards.

Harris also ranks first in career net punting average (36.29), second in career gross punting average (43.18) and first in career punts inside the 20 yard line with 189. His 34 punts inside the 20-yard line in 2005 are the most by a Lions punter in a single season.

PRACTICE REPORT
The following players have been listed on the Detroit Lions’ Practice Report today: S Louis Delmas (knee), LB Travis Lewis (quad), TE Tony Scheffler (calf), QB Matthew Stafford (hamstring), DT Corey Williams (knee), and WR Titus Young (knee) did not practice; LB Justin Durant (back), DE Lawrence Jackson (calf), WR Calvin Johnson (ankle), RB Mikel Leshoure (groin) and G Rob Sims (knee) were limited in practice and T Corey Hilliard (elbow) had full participation in practice.

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DETROIT LIONS VS. ST. LOUIS RAMS: POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES

With today’s 27-23 win over St. Louis in the team’s home-opener, the Lions registered the franchise’s 50th home-opening win in team history. The Lions became the second franchise to record 50 wins in home-openers.

The win was also the team’s 44th victory on opening day, the fourth-most wins in NFL history on opening weekend.

HANSON’S RECORD SEASON
By playing in today’s game, K Jason Hanson has now played in 21 NFL seasons, all with the Detroit Lions. Hanson now holds the NFL record for the most seasons played with one team and for the most seasons played by any player with the team that originally drafted them.

In 2011, he set the NFL record for the most games played with one club and moved that total to 312. He is the only player to ever play 300 games with one team.

With three PATs in today’s game, Hanson moved past K John Carney (628) for seventh place on the NFL’s all-time career PATs list. Hanson now has 630 career PATs.

STAFFORD SURPASSES 8,000 CAREER YARDS IN 30 STARTS

Lions QB Matthew Stafford made his 30th career start today against the St. Louis Rams. With 172 yards in the first half, Stafford surpassed 8,000 career yards and joined Kurt Warner (8,739), Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (8,467), Tony Romo (8,044) and Aaron Rodgers (8,000) as the only quarterbacks to have at least 8,000 passing yards through 30 career starts in the Super Bowl era. Stafford became the fifth quarterback to accomplish this feat. Stafford entered the game with 7,840 passing yards through 29 starts.

Stafford registered his seventh career fourth quarter game-winning drive when trailing or tied as he led the Lions back to a 27-23 victory over the St. Louis Rams. Trailing 23-20 with 1:55 left to play and with only one time out, Stafford and the Lions went on a 9-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 1:45.


He threw for 355 yards in the win against the Rams. His 355-yard outing was the second highest tally in Lions history on opening day (QB Bobby Layne, 364 vs. Pit September 27, 1953). He also joins Layne as the only passers in team history with two 300-yard games on opening day, and Stafford is the first to do it in back-to-back seasons (305, at TB September 11, 2011).

It was Stafford’s 10th career 300-yard game, and he has thrown for 300 yards in exactly one-third of his 30 career starts.

Dating back to 2011, Stafford’s 355 yards was his fourth-straight 300-yard game.

With one touchdown in today’s game, Stafford moved past QB Joey Harrington (60, 2002-05) for fifth place on the team’s all-time passing touchdowns list.

Stafford also registered his first career reception when he caught a deflected pass and gained 3 yards on the play. His reception was the first by a Lions QB since QB Jon Kitna registered a 9-yard catch off a deflection in OT vs. Minnesota September 16, 2007.

Stafford’s 32 pass completions marked the sixth time in his career he has completed over 30 passes in a game. His 32 passes tie for the third-highest single-game tally of his career.

LIONS HEAD COACH JIM SCHWARTZ
On how he approaches Stafford when he has a stretch like he did at the beginning of the game:
“We talked a little bit after some of those drives. I think that one drive, I don’t think we had an incompletion that whole drive – it was 14 plays until the very end when we threw an interception. He’s smart enough; he knows what it is. It wasn’t like he was just having a bad day; he had a couple bad plays and they were able to make those plays. Like I said, we put that behind us. You have to be resilient. We knew there was going to be ups and downs over the course of the game; there’s going to be ups and downs over the course of the season, but you’ve got to have a demeanor that can allow you to bounce back from that and Matthew does.”


LIONS QB MATTHEW STAFFORD

On the Ram’s defense confusing him in the first half:
“No, no. The one where I was throwing on the left side to Pettigrew, that one was a good play; (the) guy undercut it. Really, the goal line fade, same kind of thing. You look at tape and those guys have been turning their backs the whole time. Thought the back shoulder would be there and the kid did a good job. Like I said, I didn’t throw great passes. Cortland Finnegan, he’s a high-price free agent and he showed why. It was a heck of a play getting all the way out to a comeback outside from the slot. It’s going to happen. Obviously you don’t want to have three – you don’t want to have three in the first five games and you don’t want to have three in the first half of the first one. But the guys, we believe in each other. I believe in all the guys in that locker room that we can get it done no matter what happens to start the game. That’s all we did. We went out there and put a little bit of a second-half together and got a win.”

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STATEMENT FROM LIONS TEAM PRESIDENT TOM LEWAND ON THE PASSING OF ART MODELL

“On behalf of the Ford Family and the entire Detroit Lions organization, we wish to extend our deepest sympathies to David, John and the entire Modell family.

“Our game is what it is today in large part due to the exemplary ownership and leadership of Art Modell.

“His work over the years with our first-ever collective bargaining agreement, numerous network TV contracts and the 1970 NFL-AFL merger helped propel the NFL to unimagined heights of popularity.

“We all are forever indebted to him.”

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DENNY HOPKINS OF LINDEN HIGH SCHOOL NAMED DETROIT LIONS FIRST COACH OF THE WEEK FOR 2012

Michigan Army National Guard on Board as Presenting Sponsor of High School Coach of the Week Program

Detroit, MI—The Detroit Lions have named Denny Hopkins of Linden High School the week one recipient of the 2012 High School Coach of the Week Program presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.

Hopkins led his Eagles to a 17-15 victory over arch-rival Fenton on August 24 to claim the Eagles first victory of the season. The victory was also Hopkins’ 100th career victory (100-43) in 14 seasons as Linden’s Head Football Coach. Prior to becoming head coach, he spent 26 years as an assistant coach at Linden. Hopkins, a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, has led Linden to the state playoffs 12 times, including the last 10 seasons in a row. This Friday, Linden will look to go 2-0 as they take on Holly at 7 p.m.

In addition to his accomplishments on the field, Coach Hopkins and the Linden High School Athletic Department are proactive in terms of promoting player health and safety within their school. Baseline cognitive evaluations are administered to all Linden High School student-athletes of contact sports at the outset of the school year. These tests are administered by Dr. Donna Benford of Silver Lake Family Practice. This baseline testing is critical in identifying and managing a concussion once an injury has happened.

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LIONS TERMINATE CONTRACT OF CB AARON BERRY

Allen Park, Mich.— Detroit Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew today announced that the team has terminated the contract of CB Aaron Berry due to personal conduct which adversely affects the club.
“We have repeatedly stressed to everyone in our organization that there will be appropriate consequences when an expected standard of behavior is not upheld,” Lions President Tom Lewand said.

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