Unexpected News: A former coach of the Detroit Lions is running for NFL president.

Unexpected News: A former coach of the Detroit Lions is running for NFL president.

Buddy Parker, who led the Detroit Lions to consecutive NFL championships in the 1950s, was selected as a finalist

for the 2024 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Parker emerged victorious on Wednesday, the chosen choice among a dozen coaches and contributors, following

several ballots cast by the committee of twelve. If he receives the endorsement of at least 80% of the whole Hall of

Fame voting panel in January of next year, he will be inducted.

Parker coached the Cardinals, Lions, and Steelers to a combined record of 107-76-9, although his best run of success

was during his six years in charge in Detroit.

Parker was appointed to take over the Lions in 1951, following a year-long stint as co-coach of the Chicago Cardinals

in 1949. This led to the lone winning run in the team’s history.

Prior to Parker taking over as coach, Detroit had the worst record in the NFL for six seasons. The single victory in the

team’s history came when the Lions won the championship in 1935 when Parker was a player.

By having quarterback Bobby Layne hurry the offense to the line to surprise opponents, Parker is credited with

popularizing the “two-minute offense” and helping Layne become a Hall of Famer.

This contributed to the Lions’ rapid rise to prominence in the NFL. Over the course of three seasons, from 1952 to

1954, they went 28-7-1, with a championship game against Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns capping each campaign.

Before losing the 1954 title game, Detroit had won the previous two matchups. In 1956, the Lions almost missed

making it to the final game.

Parker resigned during training camp, despite making a brilliant move to get Tobin Rote from Green Bay prior to the

1957 season. After Layne was sidelined by a broken ankle earlier in the season, his assistant, George Wilson, took

over and won the championship with Rote tossing four touchdown passes in the title game victory over Cleveland.