Getty Cliff Avril after a sack for the Lions.
The Detroit Lions haven’t exactly had the best football history, and that fact has led to some uncomfortable realizations throughout the years for players.
Such another realization was explained by former defensive end Cliff Avril. Avril, once a solid player if not a star on the miserable 2008 Lions team that went 0-16, admitted recently that he wasn’t proud to say he played for the Lions that season.
Speaking on the Surf & Turf Podcast, Avril joined Willie Colon and explained some of his feelings on where he was with the Lions at the time during one of the darkest eras in franchise history.
“I get drafted to the Lions, I go 0-16 as a rookie, but I have 5 sacks. My whole objective that season was don’t be the reason why,” he said. “I knew there was a new coach coming in the following year, so I needed to put something out there for these guys to keep me around. I go through that season, really I didn’t realize how bad we were until the offseason.”
Avril went on to say that he witnessed multiple Lions players putting themselves on IR that season and basically quitting, which is what he attributed the team’s miserable record to. In the end, though, he said he didn’t notice the effects of the losing until the offseason, when he began to feel a bit ashamed about the team he represented.
“My rookie year offseason. You know you’re out and about, trying to turn up a bit. I’m going out, and I’m almost embarrassed to say I play for the Lions,” he said with a laugh. “This is an NFL team, I’ve been fighting my whole life to get on a team and it’s like ‘who do you play for?’ ‘Uh, I play in the league but I’d rather not say who.’ Like you can’t even put on because it’s crazy.”
There was certainly shame in being attached with that Lions team, arguably the worst team in NFL history. Avril, though, bore little responsibility for their trouble as not only a rookie, but a player who would evolve into one of the better finds the team had in that era.
Still, he wasn’t exactly excited to be representing the Lions as a whole.
Cliff Avril Stats
Drafted out of Purdue in the third round by Detroit in 2008, Avril did burst on the scene as a rookie and pile up 5 sacks. Things only got better from there, as Avril would pile up 39.5 sacks in his time with the Lions, including a high water mark of 11 sacks in the Lions’ resurgent 2011 season. He would depart for Seattle where he’d help the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII. As a whole, Avril finished his career with 299 tackles, 74 sacks and 29 forced fumbles as one of the more underrated and explosive pass rushers in the league.
Prior to the 2018 season, Avril retired after suffering a serious neck injury the previous year.
Lions Playoff History
The Lions have been one of the more miserable teams historically when it comes to the playoffs. Detroit, as the tweet points out, hasn’t won since 1991. It’s not just 1991, however. Prior to that win, the Lions hadn’t won a playoff game since 1957. They had lost three times combined in the 1970s and 1980s. They’ve had plenty of misfortune in the playoffs as well, losing games in heartbreaking fashion and blowout fashion as well.
Strangely enough, however, they don’t have the longest current drought in the league in terms of a playoff win. That belongs to the Cincinnati Bengals, who haven’t won a playoff game since 1990. The Lions last playoff win came in 1991 against the Dallas Cowboys at home.
Longest draught since a team’s last playoff win:
1. Bengals: 1990 Wild Card
2. Lions: 1991 Divisional
3. Browns: 1994 Wild Card
4. Bills: 1995 Wild Card
An opportunity for the Bills to take another step forward today.
Obviously, the Buffalo Bills are one of the next teams on the list, and in terms of this group, they are the squad that looks like they can break through and do the biggest amounts of winning in the future.
Detroit still has a ways to go, but the good news is, they don’t have the worst drought at the very least.
Detroit last appeared in the playoffs in 2018, but quickly bowed out, losing to Avril and the Seattle Seahawks in close fashion. They haven’t been consistent enough through the years at both making the playoffs and also winning when they do manage to get there.
With Matt Patricia in the fold, the goal is to get to be a team that not only makes the playoffs consistently, but is able to deliver big wins when they get there.
Obviously, the Lions are not there yet, but they are at the very least not as embarrassing as when Avril played for them.
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