75 years ago, a team called the Portsmouth Spartans moved to Detroit and became the Lions. The Great Depression and a lack of revenue caused the move as George Richards, who at the time owned radio giant WJR, bought the team and moved them to the Motor City. The rest, as they say, is history.
To celebrate the Lions' 75th anniversary, the team is doing a number of different things to honor the franchise. The most noticeable to the fans is the change to this year's jerseys. It's nothing major, but a patch with the logo of the team's 75th anniversary will be on both the home and away uniforms.
For two games this season, the patch will be the smallest difference with the uniforms as the Lions will wear their classic throwbacks (middle below) on November 9 against the Jaguars and on Thanksgiving against the Titans. Before introducing the black alternates, whose future is unknown after 2008, the throwbacks were a short-lived Thanksgiving tradition, so it's nice that we will get to see them on two separate occasions this year.
The final major way the Lions are celebrating their 75th year is by having, what else, a 75th anniversary team. The cool thing is that fans will get to vote on the Lions' official website for who they want on the anniversary team. A selection committee and a paper ballot vote will also be taken into consideration to form this team that will be introduced on November 9 as that is the commemorative game for this entire celebration.