1972 Detroit Lions Roster
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 8-5-1
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference
Coach: Joe Schmidt (8-5-1)
Location: Detroit, Michigan
1972 Detroit Lions StatisticsTeam Record: 8-5-1
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference
Coach: Joe Schmidt (8-5-1)
Location: Detroit, Michigan
1972 Detroit Lions Results
The Detroit Lions of the National Football League ended the 1972 season with a record of 8 wins and 5 losses and 1 ties, finishing second in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference.
Detroit ran up 339 points, while the defense allowed 290. Altie Taylor rushed for a team-leading 658 yards for the Lions, while Greg Landry and Steve Owens additionally aided the ground game.
Greg Landry threw for 2,066 yards. Altie Taylor hauled in 29 balls, while Larry Walton added 485 receiving yards. Ron Jessie and Charlie Sanders provided receiving help, too.
Lem Barney picked off 3 opponent throws.
Joe Schmidt coached the team.
Click on column headings to sort.
| # | Player | Pos. | Birth Date | Height | Weight | College | Hometown | GP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86 | Al Barnes | WR | July 4, 1949 | 6'1" | 170 | New Mexico St. | Los Angeles, CA USA | 9 | 5 |
| 20 | Lem Barney | LCB | September 8, 1945 | 6'0" | 188 | Jackson St. | Gulfport, MS USA | 14 | 14 |
| 73 | Bob Bell | RDT | January 25, 1948 | 6'4" | 250 | Cincinnati | Philadelphia, PA USA | 14 | 9 |
| 87 | Craig Cotton | TE | July 7, 1947 | 6'5" | 216 | Youngstown St. | Elizabeth, PA USA | 14 | 6 |
| 40 | Nick Eddy | RB | August 23, 1944 | 6'1" | 210 | Notre Dame | Dunsmuir, CA USA | 2 | 1 |
| 24 | Mel Farr | RB | November 3, 1944 | 6'2" | 210 | UCLA | Beaumont, TX USA | 10 | 4 |
| 54 | Ed Flanagan | C | February 23, 1944 | 6'3" | 245 | Purdue | San Bernardino, CA USA | 14 | 14 |
| 76 | Rocky Freitas | RT | September 7, 1945 | 6'6" | 270 | Oregon St. | Kailua, HI USA | 14 | 14 |
| 68 | Frank Gallagher | LOG | March 2, 1943 | 6'2" | 245 | North Carolina | Chester, PA USA | 14 | 7 |
| 77 | John Gordon | DT | August 29, 1948 | 6'6" | 260 | New Mexico St. | Detroit, MI USA | 2 | 0 |
| 58 | Gene Hamlin | C | July 26, 1946 | 6'3" | 245 | West. Michigan | Detroit, MI USA | 5 | 0 |
| 74 | Larry Hand | RDE | July 10, 1940 | 6'4" | 250 | Appalachian St. | Paterson, NJ USA | 14 | 14 |
| 81 | John Hilton | TE | March 12, 1942 | 6'5" | 225 | Richmond | Albany, NY USA | 5 | 1 |
| 31 | Leon Jenkins | CB | August 26, 1950 | 5'11" | 165 | West Virginia | Columbus, OH USA | 4 | 0 |
| 89 | Ron Jessie | WR | February 4, 1948 | 6'0" | 185 | Kansas | Yuma, AZ USA | 14 | 14 |
| 64 | Gordon Jolley | OT | May 22, 1949 | 6'5" | 250 | Utah | Provo, UT USA | 5 | 0 |
| 66 | Bob Kowalkowski | RG | November 5, 1943 | 6'3" | 240 | Virginia | Upper Darby, PA USA | 14 | 14 |
| 11 | Greg Landry | QB | December 18, 1946 | 6'4" | 210 | Massachusetts | Nashua, NH USA | 14 | 14 |
| 44 | Dick LeBeau | FS | September 9, 1937 | 6'1" | 185 | Ohio St. | London, OH USA | 14 | 7 |
| 53 | Mike Lucci | MLB | December 29, 1939 | 6'2" | 230 | Pittsburgh | Ambridge, PA USA | 14 | 14 |
| 12 | Errol Mann | K | June 27, 1941 | 6'0" | 200 | North Dakota | Breckenridge, MN USA | 14 | 0 |
| 25 | Earl McCullouch | WR-SE | January 10, 1946 | 5'11" | 175 | USC | Clarksville, TX USA | 10 | 0 |
| 83 | Jim Mitchell | LDE | September 15, 1948 | 6'3" | 245 | Virginia St. | Danville, VA USA | 14 | 14 |
| 19 | Bill Munson | QB | August 11, 1941 | 6'2" | 203 | Utah St. | Sacramento, CA USA | 2 | 0 |
| 50 | Paul Naumoff | LLB | July 3, 1945 | 6'1" | 215 | Tennessee | Columbus, OH USA | 14 | 14 |
| 58 | Rick Ogle | LB | January 14, 1949 | 6'3" | 230 | Colorado | Bozeman, MT USA | 4 | 0 |
| 80 | Herb Orvis | DT | October 17, 1946 | 6'5" | 248 | Colorado | Petoskey, MI USA | 14 | 2 |
| 36 | Steve Owens | FB | December 9, 1947 | 6'2" | 215 | Oklahoma | Gore, OK USA | 10 | 9 |
| 27 | Charlie Potts | S | April 29, 1949 | 6'3" | 210 | Purdue | Chicago, IL USA | 10 | 0 |
| 45 | Al Randolph | DB | July 8, 1944 | 6'2" | 205 | Iowa | East St. Louis, IL USA | 6 | 5 |
| 67 | Rocky Rasley | OG | April 27, 1947 | 6'3" | 250 | Oregon St. | Bakersfield, CA USA | 14 | 0 |
| 47 | Wayne Rasmussen | DB | June 7, 1942 | 6'2" | 175 | South Dakota St. | Chicago, IL USA | 7 | 2 |
| 46 | Rudy Redmond | RCB | August 25, 1947 | 6'1" | 196 | Pacific | Spokane, WA USA | 14 | 2 |
| 88 | Charlie Sanders | TE | August 25, 1946 | 6'4" | 225 | Minnesota | Richlands, NC USA | 9 | 8 |
| 82 | Ken Sanders | DE | August 22, 1950 | 6'5" | 240 | Howard Payne | Valley Mills, TX USA | 6 | 0 |
| 84 | Joe Schmiesing | RDT | April 1, 1945 | 6'4" | 245 | Minnesota | Melrose, MN USA | 5 | 5 |
| 71 | Bob Tatarek | DT | July 3, 1946 | 6'4" | 270 | Miami (FL) | Greensburg, PA USA | 2 | 0 |
| 42 | Altie Taylor | RB | September 29, 1947 | 5'10" | 200 | Utah St. | Pittsburg, CA USA | 13 | 13 |
| 65 | Dave Thompson | T-C-G | February 1, 1949 | 6'4" | 270 | Clemson | Langdale, AL USA | 7 | 0 |
| 38 | Bill Triplett | RB-DB | May 9, 1940 | 6'2" | 215 | Miami (OH) | Indianola, MS USA | 14 | 1 |
| 55 | Wayne Walker | RLB | September 30, 1936 | 6'2" | 225 | Idaho | Boise, ID USA | 14 | 14 |
| 63 | Chuck Walton | LG | July 7, 1941 | 6'3" | 253 | Iowa St. | Shattuck, OK USA | 10 | 10 |
| 49 | Larry Walton | WR | February 8, 1947 | 6'0" | 180 | Arizona St. | Johnstown, PA USA | 14 | 0 |
| 59 | Charlie Weaver | RLB | July 12, 1949 | 6'2" | 220 | USC | Greenwood, MS USA | 14 | 1 |
| 18 | Herman Weaver | P | November 17, 1948 | 6'4" | 210 | Tennessee | Villa Rica, GA USA | 14 | 0 |
| 28 | Mike Weger | SS | October 2, 1945 | 6'2" | 200 | Bowling Green | Dallas, TX USA | 14 | 14 |
| 70 | Larry Woods | LDT | May 11, 1948 | 6'6" | 260 | Tennessee St. | Florence, AL USA | 12 | 12 |
| 75 | Jim Yarbrough | LT | October 28, 1946 | 6'5" | 265 | Florida | Charlotte, NC USA | 13 | 13 |
| 51 | Adrian Young | LB | January 31, 1946 | 6'1" | 232 | USC | Dublin, Ireland | 10 | 0 |
| 34 | Mickey Zofko | KR | June 8, 1949 | 6'3" | 195 | Auburn | Melbourne, FL USA | 14 | 1 |
