Highlighted Year: Dutch Clark, 1931

Tailback/Defensive Back, Portsmouth Spartans

Age: 25 (Oct. 11)

1^st season in pro football

College: Colorado College

Height: 6’0”   Weight: 182

Prelude:

Clark started at quarterback for three years at Colorado College and received first-team All-American recognition from the Associated Press in 1928, a season in which he rushed for 1349 yards, despite playing for a small college. After spending a year as an assistant coach at the school, he joined the Spartans.

1931 Season Summary

Appeared in 11 of 14 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Scoring

Rushing TDs – 9 [1]

Receiving TDs – 0

Other TDs – 0

Total TDs – 9 [2]

Field Goals – 0

Extra Points – 6 [5]

Points – 60 [3]

Awards & Honors:

1^st team All-NFL: League, UPI, Collyers Eye

Spartans went 11-3 to finish second in the NFL.

Aftermath:

Clark had another outstanding year for the Spartans in 1932, rushing for 461 yards and leading the league in scoring with 55 points, and again receiving consensus first-team All-NFL recognition. He became head coach at the Colorado School of Mines in 1933 but returned to the team, which was now the Detroit Lions, in ’34 and continued from where he had left off, rushing for a career-high 763 yards, which ranked third in the NFL, and scoring 73 points, which placed second. An all-purpose tailback in a ground-oriented single-wing offense, Clark also excelled on defense and was a fine drop-kicker. In seven seasons with the Spartans/Lions, he led the league in rushing touchdowns and scoring three times, was part of a record-setting defense that had seven straight shutouts in 1934, and a key component in Detroit’s NFL Championship season in ’35. Overall, he rushed for 2772 yards while averaging 4.6 yards-per-carry, caught 28 passes for 341 yards, and passed for 1507 yards and 11 TDs. Clark scored 42 touchdowns and kicked 15 field goals and 72 PATs for a total of 369 points. He was a consensus first team All-NFL selection in six of his seven seasons, the Lions retired his number, and Clark was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Charter Member in 1963. An excellent leader, he also coached the Lions in 1937 and ’38 and, following his playing career, was head coach of the Rams for four seasons.  

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970

1938: Lions Beat Pittsburgh to Spoil Whizzer White’s Pro Debut

The Pittsburgh Pirates (the team that would be renamed Steelers in 1940) hadn’t accomplished much in their first five seasons. While they broke even at 6-6 in 1936, they went 13-31-2 in the other four years, including a 4-7 tally in 1937. Coming into the ’38 season, their second under Head Coach Johnny “Blood” McNally, they had added a marquee player in HB Byron “Whizzer” White (pictured above).

White had been a consensus All-American as a senior at Colorado in 1937. He had gotten a college scholarship due to his strong academic record (which would have an effect on his pro football future as well as long-term career) and, having come out of a weak high school football program, White did not have a strong background in the sport. However, he proved to be an outstanding all-around athlete who exhibited great toughness and determination. A shifty runner who, at 6’1” and 187 pounds, also could run with power, he was versatile at a time when that was a prized asset for a football player and could kick, pass, and block effectively. In ’37, he scored 16 touchdowns in addition to booting 23 extra points and a field goal, starred in a Cotton Bowl loss to Rice, and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting.

Having received a Rhodes Scholarship to study abroad at Oxford, White accepted the then-huge sum of $15,000 to put off his further education and play for the Pirates (once assured that he would not lose the scholarship), who had taken him in the first round of the 1938 NFL draft. In becoming the highest-paid player in the NFL, he had to convince those skeptics who questioned the level of competition he had faced at Colorado.

On September 9, 1938 White made his pro football debut as Pittsburgh opened the season against the Detroit Lions. The Lions were a stronger team, having strung together seven consecutive winning seasons going back to 1931 (when they were the Portsmouth Spartans) that included a NFL Championship in ’35. Under player/coach Dutch Clark, Detroit had a solid ground-based attack that was powered by fullbacks Ace Gutowsky and Bill Shepherd and wingback Lloyd Cardwell.

There was a capacity crowd of 18,000 in attendance for the Friday night game at the University of Detroit’s Titan Stadium. Due to an ankle injury, Clark stayed on the sidelines and didn’t take the field for the Lions, but the home team took the lead five minutes into the first quarter when Bill Shepherd kicked a 27-yard field goal.

Detroit got a break later in the period when a bad snap on a Pittsburgh punt went over Stuart Smith’s head and the Lions recovered on the five yard line. Wingback Ernie Caddel ran around right end for a touchdown, although the extra point attempt was blocked.

Midway through the second quarter, the Lions moved into scoring position again thanks to a productive passing attack. Lloyd Cardwell ran the last five yards for a TD and this time the conversion attempt by Monk Moscrip was successful.

White was kept well-contained by the Lions for most of the game and also struggled with the brightness of the lights when fielding kicks. He played 15 minutes in the first half, gained 12 yards, and was held out during the third quarter.

The Pirates never crossed midfield until the final period, but in the fourth quarter, White sparked an 80-yard scoring drive that featured short runs into the line and a long pass interference penalty. He caught a pass from tailback Max Fiske for a 35-yard gain that went to the Detroit 37 – Pittsburgh’s first penetration into Lions territory. The prize rookie finished off the series by scoring from three yards out on a slant off-tackle.

A few minutes later White fumbled a punt at his 15 yard line that he recovered at the four. It didn’t affect the outcome – the Lions came away with a convincing 16-7 win.

Overall, it was a modest beginning for Whizzer White, who gained 41 yards rushing, had the 35 receiving yards, and completed a pass for another seven yards. However, the consensus was that he had shown that he could play effectively at the professional level. “I think he is worth every cent of the $15,000 I am paying him,” said Pittsburgh’s owner Art Rooney of White. “I am sold on him.”

Things did not go well for Pittsburgh the rest of the way. The club was defeated twice more before winning back-to-back games in New York, against Brooklyn and the Giants. But when Rooney sold the team’s best passer and other first round draft choice, tailback Frank Filchock, to the Redskins, the Pirates lost their remaining contests to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Division with a 2-9 record. Detroit finished at 7-4, putting the Lions in second place in the Western Division, a game behind Green Bay.

Whizzer White continued to be a bright spot for Pittsburgh as he went on to lead the NFL in rushing with 567 yards on 152 carries (3.7 avg.) as well as yards from scrimmage with 655. He received consensus first-team All-NFL honors (UPI, INS, Pro Football Writers, Collyers Eye) and headed off to Oxford for the next year. White returned to the NFL, ironically enough with the Lions, who traded for his rights. He played two more seasons while attending law school and again led the league in rushing in 1940 with 514 yards.

White served in the Navy during World War II, finished his law degree at Yale, and went on to a distinguished legal career that culminated in his being named as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court by President Kennedy in 1962, serving for 31 years. Long after his pro sports career was over, he was still able to more than hold his own in pickup basketball games against law clerks less than half his age in the Supreme Court’s gym.

1934: Detroit’s Consecutive Game Shutout Streak Comes to an End After 7 Games

The November 3, 1934 game between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Pirates at University of Detroit Stadium wasn’t a close contest; the Lions won convincingly, 40-7. However, when Pittsburgh tailback Harp Vaughan completed a 62-yard TD pass to end Muggsy Skladany on a fake punt (the only pass completion of the day for the Pirates), it was the first time the Lions had been scored upon all season after a total of seven consecutive shutouts.

The Lions were in their first season in Detroit after a group headed by a radio executive, George Richards, bought the Portsmouth Spartans (of Portsmouth, Ohio) and relocated the four-year-old franchise. Coached by the no-nonsense George “Potsy” Clark, the team featured a group of single-platoon players who were equally adept at playing defense as well as offense such as Dutch Clark (pictured; the biggest star and a charter Pro Football Hall of Famer) and Glenn Presnell at tailback; wingback Ernie Caddell; Ace Gutowsky, solid at fullback on offense and linebacker on defense; and Roy “Father” Lumpkin, an offensive blocking back and defensive linebacker. Linemen included George “Tarzan” Christensen, a tackle and, at 240 pounds, the biggest player on the team; guard Ox Emerson; tackle “Cowboy Jack” Jackson; center and linebacker Chuck Bernard; and ends “Wild Bill” McKalip and “Big John” Schneller. Harry Ebding was both a two-way end and wingback.

There was nothing unique about the Detroit defense – they played the standard 6-2-2-1 alignment of that era and the linemen were no bigger than average. They simply outplayed their opponents from week to week, starting with the New York Giants in the 9-0 season-opening win. From there, they won 6-0 over the Chicago Cardinals, 3-0 on the road over the Green Bay Packers (thanks to a then-league record 54-yard field goal by Presnell), 10-0 over the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-0 over the Boston Redskins (intercepting 4 passes and holding the Redskins to 112 total yards), 28-0 over the Brooklyn Dodgers (the first team to penetrate as close as the Detroit 20 yard line, thanks to a fumble recovery), and 38-0 over the hapless Cincinnati Reds (who never got beyond midfield; the franchise folded before the end of the season).

During the streak, the Lions allowed their opponents a total of 835 yards (119.3 per game) and intercepted at least 19 passes (statistics for interceptions in the 1930s are a bit inexact).

While the 1920-21 Akron Pros had recorded 13 straight shutouts and the 1926 Pottsville Maroons had also put together a seven-game streak, these came before the football had been slimmed down and passing rules relaxed. Detroit’s streak remains unique, and no team since has come close to duplicating the feat (or is likely to).

The Lions won two more games after the streak ended before losing the last three games of the season – including a 19-16 defeat in a Thanksgiving showdown with the Chicago Bears – to end up 10-3 and in second place behind the Bears in the Western Division. They outscored their opponents 238-59, allowing just seven touchdowns all season (two of them by rushing, another still-standing league record).