On a gloomy, damp afternoon 50 years ago Sunday, 54,418 excited football fans made their pilgrimage to Tiger Stadium to see if the Detroit Lions, sporting a four-game winning streak and tied for first place with Minnesota in the NFC Central Division, could defeat the “Monsters of the Midway” led by Chicago’s Dick Butkus.
Local radio listeners — the regional telecast was blacked out in Detroit — were glued to the play-by-play of Van Patrick and Bob Reynolds on WJR-AM (760).
With the Lions in a two-minute drill and trailing, 28-23, little-used Chuck Hughes, who entered the game in the fourth quarter replacing the injured Larry Walton, made a 32-yard catch from quarterback Greg Landry for a first down on the Bears’ 37-yard line.
However, by 3:30 p.m. Oct. 24, 1971, the game’s outcome seemed meaningless. The tragedy that occurred with a minute left to play would forever serve as a glaring reminder of life’s fragility.
It is believed Hughes is the only player from the who died while competing in a game.
