Notes: New TV show examines Detroit Lions’ Curse of Bobby Layne

While some of our Pride of Detroit staff who shall remain nameless are tired of hearing about the Curse of Bobby Layne, it turns out ESPN+ and Peyton Manning are not. Season 3’s premiere episode of the series “Peyton’s Places,” hosted by the Hall of Fame quarterback, airs on Sunday, October 30 and is all about the so-called curse on the Detroit Lions. The Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett has a long writeup about the upcoming episode.

For anyone who has no idea what we are talking about, the Detroit Free Press posted a one-minute primer video explaining it a few years ago. A two-minute video from 2013 by ESPN’s Greg Garber fills in some of the modern day bits of the story. A more extended explanation of the curse (almost eight minutes, so not that long) comes to us from NFL Films, watchable on YouTube.

The importance of Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne in Lions history is pretty substantial; it is worth revisiting the background of this figure in Detroit sports in preparation for the Peyton’s Places episode. There’s a great halftime feature “Legends of the Game” from CBS back in 1980 on YouTube (which won’t play embedded here) which includes interview clips with Layne. It’s neat to hear his voice, which sounded pretty much the same even decades after he was a star in Detroit.

Do you believe in the curse? Do you even care about the curse? Tune in this Sunday anyway to see Detroit superfan Keegan-Michael Key simulate the Billy Sims kick to the face! Now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:

• Our own Erik Schlitt and co-host Joe Kania posted their new Detroit Lions Breakdown podcast episode, in which they preview the Lions’ upcoming game against the Dolphins.

• On the latest episode of Twentyman in the Huddle, Tim Twentyman from the official team site had field position optimization specialist Jack Fox on the show. Twentyman also posted an article about how Jeff Okudah is building confidence through solid performances.

• There was indeed a Barry Sanders design in the new SMPLFD collection for this season:

• Kyle Meinke and Ben Raven from MLive posted their latest Dungeon of Doom podcast episode. Former Lions offensive lineman TJ Lang appeared as a guest on the show.

• Yesterday, an article from CBS Sports in our Notes suggested the Lions should trade a running back before the trade deadline. Today, we have an article from The Athletic (subscription required) that floats the possibility of the Lions trading a tight end.

• Sounds like the Lions rookies are getting into the Halloween spirit:

• The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner and Colton Pouncy recorded a new episode of the podcast One of These Years.