The Detroit Lions made history on Saturday by ending their 12-year playoff drought. They beat the San Diego Chargers, 38-10, and clinched their first trip to the NFL playoffs since 1999.
↵Detroit made history of its own with the Lions' playoff-clinching win. For the first time ever in the history of Detroit sports, the Red Wings, Tigers and Lions have made the playoffs in the same calendar year. The Red Wings made it to the Western Conference semifinals earlier in the year, and the Tigers won the ALDS just a couple months ago. Now the Lions are headed to the playoffs as well.
↵The only time Detroit really came close to pulling off this feat before was in 1935. The Lions won their first ever NFL championship that year, and the Tigers won their first ever World Series. Only the Red Wings missed out on a similar level of success. While they did win their first Stanley Cup in the 1935-36 season, they failed to make the playoffs altogether in 1935.
↵To say the least, this has been quite the year for Detroit sports, especially when you add in the fact that both Michigan and Michigan State made it to the 2011 NCAA basketball tournament, Michigan State played in the 2011 Big Ten Championship Game for football and Michigan went 10-2 in football and earned a bid to a BCS bowl game (the Sugar Bowl).