Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne is known to football history a winner and a clutch performer – even after regularly drinking all night before games – and for something more mystical and sinister: a curse he supposedly placed on a whole NFL franchise. Nicknamed “The Blond Bomber,” Layne, who was born in Santa Anna, Texas in 1926 and was the third overall pick in the 1948 Draft, led the Lions to the NFL title in 1952 and then again in 1953 after orchestrating a late TD drive in the championship game. But despite those heroics and twice leading the NFL in passing yards, Layne – who once appeared in court for a drunk-driving charge and convinced the judge that his slurring was in fact his Texas drawl – was traded to Pittsburgh in 1958 following an injury. According to legend, a bitter Layne declared that the Lions wouldn’t win for 50 years – a hex later called, “The Curse of Bobby Layne.” The “curse” came to fruition as the Lions – thanks in part to many bizarre failures and cases of ineptitude, particularly at quarterback – won just one playoff game over the next half-century and beyond.