Bobby Layne Robert Lawrence " Bobby " Layne ( December 19 , 1926 – December 1 , 1986 ) was an American football quarterback who played for 15 seasons in the National Football League . He played for the Chicago Bears in 1948 , the New York Bulldogs in 1949 , the Detroit Lions from 1950 – 1958 , and the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1958 – 1962 . He was drafted by the Bears in the first round of the 1948 NFL Draft . He played college football at the University of Texas . He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968 . His number , 22 , has been retired by the University of Texas Longhorns and Detroit Lions . Early years . Layne was born in Santa Anna , Texas and attended Highland Park High School in Dallas . He played football with teammate Doak Walker . College career . One of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play for Texas , Layne was selected to four straight All - Southwest Conference teams from 1944 - 1947 . He was one of the first inductees into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame . In the 1946 Cotton Bowl Classic , where Texas beat Missouri 40 - 27 , Layne accounted for every point , scoring four touchdowns , kicking four extra points and throwing for two other scores . In 1946 , Layne finished 8th in Heisman Trophy balloting to Glenn Davis of Army and in 1947 he finished 6th to John Lujack of Notre Dame , and was voted the Outstanding Back in the 1948 Sugar Bowl victory over # 6 Alabama . Layne finished his Texas career with a school record 3 , 145 passing yards on 210 completions and 400 attempts . Layne also had success in baseball as a pitcher for Texas as well . In his career as a pitcher he threw two no hitters . Professional career . Drafted into the National Football League by the Chicago Bears , Layne was the 3rd overall selection in the 1948 NFL Draft and was the 2nd overall selection in the 1948 AAFC Draft by the Baltimore Colts . Layne was offered $ 77 , 000 to play for the Colts , but George Halas " sweet talked " him into signing with the Bears . He promised a slow rise to fame in the " big leagues " with a no - trade understanding . After one season , Layne was the third - string quarterback , behind both Sid Luckman and Johnny Lujack , and refused to return to the Bears and tried to engineer his own trade to the Green Bay Packers . Halas , preoccupied with fending off a challenge from the AAFC , traded Layne to the New York Bulldogs for their # 1 draft pick and $ 50 , 000 cash . The cash was to be paid in four installments . The team won only one game and lost 11 , but Layne played well and developed quickly . Layne compared one season with the soon - defunct New York Bulldogs as worth five seasons in the NFL . In 1950 , Layne was traded to the Detroit Lions for defensive end Bob Mann . The Lions also picked up the tab and made the final three payments to Halas ( Halas would remark later that the Lions should have continued the yearly payments indefinitely to him in view of Layne ' s performance ) . From 1950 - 1955 , Layne was re - united with his great friend and Highland Park High School teammate Doak Walker . In 1952 , Bobby led the Detroit Lions to their first NFL Championship in 17 years . Layne would repeat this in 1953 for back to back NFL Championships , but fell short of a three - peat when the Detroit Lions lost to the Cleveland Browns in the 1954 NFL Championship Game . In 1957 , Layne was leading the Lions toward another Championship when fate stepped in . In a game late in the season Layne broke his leg in three places during a pileup . His replacement , Tobin Rote , finished the season and led the Lions to victory in the 1957 NFL Championship Game . During his career , Layne played for the Chicago Bears ( 1948 ) , New York Bulldogs ( 1949 ) , Detroit Lions ( 1950 – 1958 ) and the Pittsburgh Steelers ( 1958 – 1962 ) . After retiring from 15 seasons in the NFL , Layne held the career records for both passes attempted ( 3 , 700 ) and completed ( 1 , 814 ) , as well as yards gained passing ( 26 , 768 ) and passing touchdowns ( 196 ) . Layne was not the most gifted or talented person in the NFL at the time , his passes sometimes looked like wounded ducks on the field , but his drive , leadership , and clutch play ( he is credited with creating the two - minute offense ) made him great . Layne was one of the last players to play in the NFL without a facemask . After football . After retirement , Layne stated the biggest disappointment in his football career was having never won a championship for the Pittsburgh Steelers and especially , Art Rooney . Layne did serve as an assistant coach for the Steelers after his retirement on the staff of Buddy Parker . Layne was known more for his leadership and determination than for pure athletic ability . According to Doak Walker , " Layne never lost a game . . . time just ran out on him . " In 1962 Layne ' s book on the NFL titled " Always On Sunday " was published . Layne was voted into the Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1963 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 . In a special issue in 1995 , " Sports Illustrated " called him " The Toughest Quarterback Who Ever Lived . " In 1999 , he was ranked number 52 on the " Sporting News " ' list of Football ' s 100 Greatest Players . Layne may not have been among the greatest quarterback in stats , but he was one of the greatest quarterbacks in leadership and bravery . He used to play without a facemask and usually drove himself to the edge of physical endurance . Layne , often accompanied by Alex Karras , was well known for his late - night bar - hopping and heavy drinking . It was often said of him , " He would drink six days a week and play football on Sunday . " His heavy drinking may have led to his death shortly before his 60th birthday . Layne is reported to have stated : " If I ' d known I was gonna live this long , I ' d have taken a lot better care of myself . " That line was later used by baseball legend Mickey Mantle , a Dallas neighbor and friend of Layne ' s , who also died in part due to decades of alcohol abuse . Layne also suffered from cancer during his last years , which may have been a factor in his death . " Curse of Bobby Layne " . In 1958 , the Lions traded Layne to the Pittsburgh Steelers . Layne responded to the trade by supposedly saying that the Lions would " not win for 50 years " . This story has been disputed as being a hoax , particularly because the quote was never published at the time . Still , for the next 50 years after the trade , the Lions accumulated the worst winning percentage of any team in the NFL . They are still one of only two franchises that have been in the NFL since 1970 that have not played in a Super Bowl ( the other team is the Cleveland Browns , although the first Browns team did win the Super Bowl after the 2000 and 2012 seasons as the transplanted Baltimore Ravens ) . The Lions , for those 50 years , were 1 - 10 in ten postseason appearances ; their lone playoff win came against Dallas following the 1991 regular season . In the last year of the supposed curse , 2008 , Detroit went 0 - 16 and thus became the first team to lose every game of a 16 - game season . Coincidentally , in the 2009 NFL Draft , right after the curse supposedly expired , the Detroit Lions drafted University of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford first overall . He came from Highland Park High School , the same high school as Layne , and lived in a house on the same street as Layne ' s . In 2011 , Stafford ' s first full injury - free season , he led the Lions to their first playoff berth since 1999 but still failed to win a playoff game when Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints routed them in the Mercedes - Benz Superdome .