A Look at the Seven

  It has been 85 years since the birth of the Detroit Lions in a tiny city of Portsmouth, Ohio.  On July 12, 1930 the Portsmouth Spartans joined the National Football League and soon after that was sold and moved to the city of Detroit to become what is now the Detroit Lions.
   Since their humble beginnings in what was the smallest NFL city at the time, Portsmouth, the Lions have retire "officially" seven numbers.  This post will take a look at the first number on the list which coincidentally, is the number 7 wore by the first Lion great Earl Harry Clark or better known as "Dutch".

   Clark's football career started at Colorado College, where he played running back, quarterback, linebacker,safety and punt returner.  As a junior he rushed for 1349 yards on 135 carries and scored 103 points of CC's 2013 points. A year later he became  the first All-American football player from any of Colorado's colleges or universities. Clark graduated from CC in 1930 with a B.A. in Biology.

  In 1931 Dutch joined the Portsmouth Spartans as their quarterback and punter.  And in 1932 he led the NFL in scoring with 55 points.  After two years Clark left professional football to coach college football at Colorado School of Mines,  which was the rival of his alma mater CC.  Because of the Great Depression, the Spartans were sold and moved to Detroit and became the Detroit Lions.  1934 Clark returned to Detroit and was a triple threat option on offense.  He became a six time All-Pro and a three time NFL scoring leader.  He led the Lions to a 26-7 victory over the New York Giants to win the 1935 NFL Championship.  Dutch became a player/coach for the '37 and '38 season where he earned a league high $7200 a season.  He retired as a player and became the head coach of the Cleveland Rams through 1939-1942.  Clark served in the Army during World War II and than as Athletic Director for the University of Detroit.

Dutch Clark became a charter member of the College Hall of Fame in 1951.  And in 1963 he became a charter member of the NFL Hall of Fame and was joined by other greats, Jim Thorpe, Red Grange and Curly Lambeau.

Clark at the 1963 Hall of Fame inductee ceremony 

up next Doak Walker #37