Detroit Lions Top 50: #39-35 with VIDEO

38. John Gordy, G, 1957,1959-1967

Gordy played college football at the University of Tennessee. While there he joined Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He was drafted in the second round of the 1957 NFL Draft by the Lions. He played in three Pro Bowls during his professional career.

Gordy also served as president and executive director of the professional football players union, the National Football League Players Association. He was a key negotiator of the first collective bargaining agreement in major professional sports.

Though Gordy’s career spanned 11 years, he actually left the game in 1958 in pursuit of a coaching position at Nebraska, but he returned to the game in 1959 and made a great career out of it.

Gordy’s position involved little, to no flash what so ever. What it did poses was toughness and grit. He paved the running lanes for a decade in Detroit, and for that, he deserves this spot.