1978 Detroit Lions Roster
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 7-9
Finishing 3rd in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference
Coach: Monte Clark (7-9)
Location: Detroit, Michigan
1978 Detroit Lions StatisticsTeam Record: 7-9
Finishing 3rd in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference
Coach: Monte Clark (7-9)
Location: Detroit, Michigan
1978 Detroit Lions Results
The Detroit Lions of the National Football League ended the 1978 season with a record of 7 wins and 9 losses, finishing third in the NFL's Central Division of the National Football Conference.
The Lions scored 290 points, but the defensive squad allowed 300. Dexter Bussey rushed for a team-leading 924 yards for Detroit.
Gary Danielson passed for 2,294 yards. David Hill topped pass catchers, hauling in 53 balls for 633 yards, while Horace King and Freddie Scott contributed to the receiving game as well.
Jimmy Allen picked off 5 opponent throws.
Monte Clark coached the team.
Click on column headings to sort.
| # | Player | Pos. | Birth Date | Height | Weight | College | Hometown | GP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Jimmy Allen | FS | March 6, 1952 | 6'2" | 194 | Pierce College CA) | Clearwater, FL USA | 14 | 14 |
| 60 | Gary Anderson | G | September 22, 1955 | 6'3" | 253 | Stanford | Fairfield, CA USA | 1 | 1 |
| 60 | Al Baker | RDE | December 9, 1956 | 6'6" | 265 | Colorado St. | Jacksonville, FL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 76 | Karl Baldischwiler | LT | January 19, 1956 | 6'5" | 265 | Oklahoma | Okmulgee, OK USA | 16 | 15 |
| 89 | Luther Blue | WR | October 21, 1954 | 5'11" | 185 | Iowa St. | Valdosta, GA USA | 16 | 15 |
| 62 | Lynn Boden | RG | June 5, 1953 | 6'3" | 270 | South Dakota St. | Stromburg, NE USA | 16 | 16 |
| 43 | Andy Bolton | RB | May 23, 1954 | 6'1" | 205 | Fisk | Memphis, TN USA | 6 | 0 |
| 27 | Luther Bradley | RCB | May 7, 1955 | 6'2" | 195 | Notre Dame | Florence, SC USA | 16 | 16 |
| 53 | Willie Brock | C | September 20, 1955 | 6'3" | 250 | Colorado | Portland, OR USA | 4 | 0 |
| 29 | Mike Burns | SS | April 6, 1954 | 6'0" | 181 | USC | Oakland, CA USA | 15 | 11 |
| 24 | Dexter Bussey | RB | March 11, 1952 | 6'1" | 195 | Oklahoma | Dallas, TX USA | 16 | 16 |
| 31 | Ken Callicutt | RB | August 20, 1955 | 6'0" | 190 | Clemson | Chester, SC USA | 13 | 0 |
| 66 | Karl Chandler | C-G | February 15, 1952 | 6'5" | 250 | Princeton | Delaware County, PA USA | 11 | 0 |
| 72 | Bill Cooke | DT-DE-T | February 26, 1951 | 6'5" | 249 | Connecticut | Lowell, MA USA | 12 | 0 |
| 16 | Gary Danielson | QB | September 10, 1951 | 6'2" | 195 | Purdue | Detroit, MI USA | 16 | 11 |
| 58 | Tony Daykin | LB | May 13, 1955 | 6'1" | 215 | Georgia Tech | Taipei, Taiwan | 16 | 0 |
| 57 | Dan Dickel | LB | August 24, 1952 | 6'3" | 225 | Iowa | Fort Riley, KS USA | 4 | 0 |
| 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 | 14 | 13 |
| 70 | Bill Fifer | T | October 26, 1955 | 6'4" | 250 | West Texas A&M | Kerrville, TX USA | 8 | 0 |
| 65 | Amos Fowler | C-G | February 11, 1956 | 6'3" | 250 | Southern Miss | Pensacola, FL USA | 16 | 0 |
| 38 | Lawrence Gaines | RB | December 15, 1953 | 6'1" | 237 | Wyoming | Vernon, TX USA | 13 | 1 |
| 71 | Dave Gallagher | DE-DT | January 2, 1952 | 6'4" | 256 | Michigan | Piqua, OH USA | 1 | 0 |
| 83 | William Gay | DE-DT-TE | May 28, 1955 | 6'5" | 250 | USC | San Francisco, CA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 64 | Dan Gray | DT | January 29, 1956 | 6'6" | 240 | Rutgers | Phillipsburg, NJ USA | 14 | 0 |
| 67 | Donnie Green | T | July 12, 1948 | 6'7" | 272 | Purdue | Washington, DC USA | 7 | 0 |
| 63 | Donnie Hickman | G | June 11, 1955 | 6'2" | 261 | USC | Flagstaff, AZ USA | 7 | 0 |
| 81 | David Hill | TE | January 1, 1954 | 6'2" | 229 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | San Antonio, TX USA | 16 | 16 |
| 28 | James Hunter | LCB | March 8, 1954 | 6'3" | 195 | Grambling St. | Silsbee, TX USA | 9 | 5 |
| 45 | Ray Jarvis | WR | February 2, 1949 | 6'0" | 200 | Norfolk St. | Chesapeake, VA USA | 2 | 2 |
| 32 | Rick Kane | RB | November 12, 1954 | 5'11" | 200 | Oregon | Lincoln, NE USA | 15 | 0 |
| 25 | Horace King | FB | March 5, 1953 | 5'10" | 208 | Georgia | Athens, GA USA | 15 | 15 |
| 11 | Greg Landry | QB | December 18, 1946 | 6'4" | 210 | Massachusetts | Nashua, NH USA | 5 | 5 |
| 26 | Tony Leonard | DB | February 28, 1953 | 5'11" | 170 | Virginia Union | Richmond, VA USA | 3 | 0 |
| 86 | Willie McGee | WR | May 14, 1950 | 5'11" | 179 | Alcorn St. | New Orleans, LA USA | 4 | 0 |
| 63 | Mike Montler | C | January 10, 1944 | 6'5" | 254 | Colorado | Columbus, OH USA | 4 | 4 |
| 50 | Paul Naumoff | LLB | July 3, 1945 | 6'1" | 215 | Tennessee | Columbus, OH USA | 15 | 13 |
| 55 | Ed O'Neil | MLB | September 8, 1952 | 6'3" | 236 | Penn St. | Warren, PA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 74 | Brad Oates | RT | September 30, 1953 | 6'6" | 274 | Duke | Mesa, AZ USA | 16 | 15 |
| 42 | Reggie Pinkney | DB | May 27, 1955 | 5'11" | 190 | East Carolina | St. Louis, MO USA | 13 | 0 |
| 72 | Ernie Price | DE | September 20, 1950 | 6'4" | 248 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | Corpus Christi, TX USA | 3 | 1 |
| 75 | Dave Pureifory | LDE | July 12, 1949 | 6'1" | 260 | East. Michigan | Pensacola, FL USA | 8 | 8 |
| 14 | Joe Reed | QB | January 8, 1948 | 6'1" | 195 | Baylor | Newport, RI USA | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | Bruce Rhodes | SS | April 17, 1952 | 6'0" | 187 | San Francisco St. | San Francisco, CA USA | 15 | 5 |
| 1 | Benny Ricardo | K | January 4, 1954 | 5'10" | 175 | San Diego St. | Asuncion, Paraguay | 16 | 0 |
| 82 | Ken Sanders | LDE | August 22, 1950 | 6'5" | 240 | Howard Payne | Valley Mills, TX USA | 7 | 7 |
| 87 | Freddie Scott | WR | August 5, 1952 | 6'2" | 180 | Amherst | Grady, AR USA | 16 | 13 |
| 15 | Tom Skladany | P | June 29, 1955 | 6'0" | 192 | Ohio St. | Bethel Park, PA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 53 | John Sokolosky | C | April 2, 1956 | 6'2" | 240 | Wayne State (MI) | Detroit, MI USA | 11 | 0 |
| 31 | Tony Sumler | DB | April 10, 1956 | 5'10" | 185 | Wichita St. | Detroit, MI USA | 1 | 0 |
| 54 | Larry Tearry | C | April 24, 1956 | 6'3" | 260 | Wake Forest | Erwin, NC USA | 14 | 12 |
| 30 | Nat Terry | DB | July 20, 1956 | 5'11" | 167 | Florida St. | Tampa, FL USA | 4 | 0 |
| 84 | Jesse Thompson | KR | March 12, 1956 | 6'1" | 185 | California | Merced, CA USA | 11 | 1 |
| 39 | Leonard Thompson | WR | July 28, 1952 | 5'11" | 192 | Oklahoma St. | Oklahoma City, OK USA | 16 | 1 |
| 52 | Dave Washington | LB | September 12, 1948 | 6'5" | 223 | Alcorn St. | Tuscaloosa, AL USA | 16 | 3 |
| 59 | Charlie Weaver | RLB | July 12, 1949 | 6'2" | 220 | USC | Greenwood, MS USA | 16 | 16 |
| 21 | Walt Williams | LCB | July 10, 1954 | 6'1" | 185 | Ashland | Bedford Hills, NY USA | 15 | 11 |
| 77 | John Woodcock | LDT | March 19, 1954 | 6'3" | 246 | New Mexico | Eureka, CA USA | 16 | 14 |
