Greg Landry obit

Former Lions QB and coach Greg Landry passes away

 He was not on the list.

It’s a sad day in the Lions den, as one of the prideful members of the Detroit Lions family has passed away. Greg Landry, a longtime Lions quarterback and then coach, died at age 77.

Landry was Detroit’s first-round pick in 1968 and played with the Lions for a decade. After splitting starting duties with Bill Munson for a few seasons, Landry took over as the full-time starter in 1971 and made his only Pro Bowl in 1972. Landry earned the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 1976 after injuries had derailed his career.

After hanging up his cleats following a stint in the original USFL, Landry moved into coaching. He was the Lions’ QB coach in 1995 and 1996.

For fans of a certain age, and I’m of that age, Landry was the first quarterback for the Lions that we knew. Our condolences to Landry’s loved ones and former teammates.

Read all the best Lions coverage at the Detroit Free Press and Lions Wire.

The quarterback played in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) from 1968 to 1984. He played college football for the UMass Minutemen from 1965 to 1967 and was selected in the first round of the 1968 NFL draft with the 11th overall pick. Landry played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Colts and Chicago Bears. He became an assistant coach after his playing career.

Landry was the first quarterback selected in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft (eleventh overall) after a stellar career at the University of Massachusetts where he was selected All-Yankee Conference for two seasons. With the Lions in 1971, he passed for 2,237 yards and 16 touchdowns and was named to his only Pro Bowl that year. In 1976, Landry passed for 2,191 yards and 17 touchdowns and was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year. He established a couple of passing records with the Lions. He was benched by Lions head coach Tommy Hudspeth late in 1977 and supplanted by Gary Danielson as the starting quarterback the following year.

Landry's request to be traded was granted when he was acquired by the Colts from the Lions for fourth- and fifth-round selections in 1979 (88th and 131st overall–Ulysses Norris and Pittsburgh center Walt Brown respectively) and a 1980 third-round pick (62nd overall–Mike Friede) on April 29, 1979. During his three seasons with the Colts, he played brilliantly in 1979 despite a 5–11 record after a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Bert Jones. Landry passed for a career best 2,932 yards and 15 touchdowns that season. He then played for George Allen on the Chicago Blitz and Arizona Wranglers in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983 and 1984. He started one game as an emergency quarterback for the Chicago Bears in 1984 before retiring as a player.

Landry was also notable as a rusher; in the 1970 opener at Green Bay, he ran for 76 yards on a quarterback sneak, which was for a time the longest rush by a quarterback in NFL history. He rushed for over 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns in his career, exceeding 500 yards on the ground in both 1970 and 1972, as well as averaging ten yards per carry in 1970 and scoring 9 touchdowns in 1972. He currently ranks third on the all-time Lions career passing yardage list (12,451), and ranks second in touchdown passes with 80.

Landry began his coaching career in 1985 handling the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks, and later joined Mike Ditka's staff as quarterback coach in 1986, following the Bears' rout of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. With the Bears, he was also the wide receivers and tight ends coach before taking over as offensive coordinator from 1988 to 1992.

Following the 1992 season, Landry was hired as the offensive coordinator at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for two seasons. The 1994 Illinois Fighting Illini had the second-best passing offense in the Big Ten Conference, which carried the team to a 30–0 win in the Liberty Bowl over East Carolina,

The following year, Landry returned to the Lions as quarterback coach, helping them to become the top offensive unit in the NFL and guiding Scott Mitchell to record-setting passing numbers that season. He retired from coaching after the 1996 season to become a local radio host.