1981 Detroit Lions Roster
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 8-8
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference
Coach: Monte Clark (8-8)
Location: Detroit, Michigan
1981 Detroit Lions StatisticsTeam Record: 8-8
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference
Coach: Monte Clark (8-8)
Location: Detroit, Michigan
1981 Detroit Lions Results
The Detroit Lions of the National Football League ended the 1981 season with a record of 8 wins and 8 losses, finishing second in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference.
Detroit piled up points with 397 points, while the defense allowed 322. Billy Sims rushed for a team-leading 1,437 yards for the Lions.
Eric Hipple threw for 2,358 yards. Freddie Scott hauled in 53 balls for 1,022 yards.
Jimmy Allen picked off 9 opponent throws.
Monte Clark coached the team.
Click on column headings to sort.
| # | Player | Pos. | Birth Date | Height | Weight | College | Hometown | GP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Jimmy Allen | FS | March 6, 1952 | 6'2" | 194 | Pierce College CA) | Clearwater, FL USA | 15 | 15 |
| 60 | Al Baker | RDE | December 9, 1956 | 6'6" | 265 | Colorado St. | Jacksonville, FL USA | 11 | 11 |
| 76 | Karl Baldischwiler | LT | January 19, 1956 | 6'5" | 265 | Oklahoma | Okmulgee, OK USA | 16 | 16 |
| 73 | Russ Bolinger | RG | September 10, 1954 | 6'5" | 255 | California-Riverside | Wichita, KS USA | 16 | 16 |
| 27 | Luther Bradley | DB | May 7, 1955 | 6'2" | 195 | Notre Dame | Florence, SC USA | 16 | 0 |
| 24 | Dexter Bussey | FB | March 11, 1952 | 6'1" | 195 | Oklahoma | Dallas, TX USA | 16 | 15 |
| 31 | Ken Callicutt | RB | August 20, 1955 | 6'0" | 190 | Clemson | Chester, SC USA | 16 | 0 |
| 53 | Garry Cobb | LLB | March 16, 1957 | 6'2" | 227 | USC | Carthage, NC USA | 16 | 16 |
| 77 | Curley Culp | DT-NT-G | March 10, 1946 | 6'2" | 265 | Arizona St. | Yuma, AZ USA | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Gary Danielson | QB | September 10, 1951 | 6'2" | 195 | Purdue | Detroit, MI USA | 6 | 4 |
| 45 | Jeff Delaney | DB | October 25, 1956 | 6'0" | 195 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 5 | 0 |
| 72 | Chris Dieterich | T-G | July 27, 1958 | 6'3" | 262 | North Carolina St. | Freeport, NY USA | 16 | 0 |
| 70 | Keith Dorney | RT | December 3, 1957 | 6'5" | 268 | Penn St. | Allentown, PA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 74 | Joe Ehrmann | DT | March 29, 1949 | 6'5" | 260 | Syracuse | Buffalo, NY USA | 4 | 2 |
| 61 | Homer Elias | LG | May 1, 1955 | 6'3" | 255 | Tennessee St. | Fort Benning, GA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 78 | Doug English | RDT | August 25, 1953 | 6'5" | 255 | Texas | Dallas, TX USA | 16 | 16 |
| 57 | Ken Fantetti | MLB | April 7, 1957 | 6'2" | 230 | Wyoming | Toledo, OR USA | 16 | 16 |
| 63 | Edgar Fields | DT-DE | March 10, 1954 | 6'2" | 255 | Texas A&M | Austin, TX USA | 2 | 0 |
| 65 | Amos Fowler | C | February 11, 1956 | 6'3" | 250 | Southern Miss | Pensacola, FL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 71 | Steve Furness | DT | December 5, 1950 | 6'4" | 255 | Rhode Island | Providence, RI USA | 9 | 2 |
| 79 | William Gay | LDT | May 28, 1955 | 6'5" | 250 | USC | San Francisco, CA USA | 16 | 14 |
| 66 | Tommie Ginn | C-G | January 25, 1958 | 6'3" | 253 | Arkansas | Scotia, CA USA | 13 | 0 |
| 26 | Hector Gray | DB | January 2, 1957 | 6'1" | 192 | Florida St. | Miami, FL USA | 16 | 4 |
| 62 | Curtis Green | DE | June 3, 1957 | 6'3" | 256 | Alabama St. | Quincy, FL USA | 14 | 4 |
| 35 | Alvin Hall | KR | August 12, 1958 | 5'10" | 193 | Miami (OH) | Dayton, OH USA | 16 | 1 |
| 51 | James Harrell | LB | July 19, 1957 | 6'1" | 224 | Florida | Tampa, FL USA | 16 | 0 |
| 81 | David Hill | TE | January 1, 1954 | 6'2" | 229 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | San Antonio, TX USA | 15 | 15 |
| 17 | Eric Hipple | QB | September 16, 1957 | 6'2" | 196 | Utah St. | Lubbock, TX USA | 16 | 10 |
| 28 | James Hunter | RCB | March 8, 1954 | 6'3" | 195 | Grambling St. | Silsbee, TX USA | 12 | 12 |
| 32 | Rick Kane | RB | November 12, 1954 | 5'11" | 200 | Oregon | Lincoln, NE USA | 16 | 2 |
| 25 | Horace King | RB | March 5, 1953 | 5'10" | 208 | Georgia | Athens, GA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 19 | Jeff Komlo | QB | July 30, 1956 | 6'2" | 200 | Delaware | Cheverly, MD USA | 3 | 2 |
| 64 | Larry Lee | G-C | September 10, 1959 | 6'2" | 265 | UCLA | Dayton, OH USA | 16 | 0 |
| 48 | Robbie Martin | PR | December 3, 1958 | 5'8" | 179 | Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo | Los Angeles, CA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 3 | Eddie Murray | K | August 29, 1956 | 5'10" | 177 | Tulane | Halifax, NS Canada | 16 | 0 |
| 86 | Mark Nichols | WR | October 29, 1959 | 6'2" | 210 | San Jose St. | Bakersfield, CA USA | 12 | 0 |
| 82 | Bob Niziolek | TE | June 30, 1958 | 6'4" | 220 | Colorado | Chicago, IL USA | 4 | 0 |
| 80 | Ulysses Norris | TE | January 15, 1957 | 6'4" | 230 | Georgia | Monticello, GA USA | 12 | 2 |
| 23 | Ray Oldham | SS | February 23, 1951 | 6'0" | 200 | Middle Tenn. St. | Gallatin, TN USA | 16 | 16 |
| 89 | Tracy Porter | WR | June 1, 1959 | 6'2" | 196 | LSU | Baton Rouge, LA USA | 12 | 0 |
| 75 | Dave Pureifory | LDE | July 12, 1949 | 6'1" | 260 | East. Michigan | Pensacola, FL USA | 15 | 15 |
| 87 | Freddie Scott | WR | August 5, 1952 | 6'2" | 180 | Amherst | Grady, AR USA | 16 | 15 |
| 20 | Billy Sims | RB | September 18, 1955 | 6'0" | 212 | Oklahoma | St. Louis, MO USA | 14 | 14 |
| 1 | Tom Skladany | P | June 29, 1955 | 6'0" | 192 | Ohio St. | Bethel Park, PA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 44 | Wayne Smith | LCB | May 9, 1957 | 6'0" | 171 | Wisc-LaCrosse | Chicago, IL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 50 | Terry Tautolo | LB | August 30, 1954 | 6'2" | 232 | UCLA | Corona, CA USA | 11 | 0 |
| 39 | Leonard Thompson | WR | July 28, 1952 | 5'11" | 192 | Oklahoma St. | Oklahoma City, OK USA | 16 | 16 |
| 38 | Vince Thompson | RB | February 21, 1957 | 6'0" | 230 | Villanova | Trenton, NJ USA | 13 | 1 |
| 55 | Tom Turnure | C-G | July 9, 1957 | 6'4" | 250 | Washington | Seattle, WA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 59 | Charlie Weaver | LB | July 12, 1949 | 6'2" | 220 | USC | Greenwood, MS USA | 7 | 0 |
| 52 | Stan White | RLB | October 24, 1949 | 6'1" | 225 | Ohio St. | Dover, OH USA | 16 | 16 |
