Lions All-Grit Team: Defensive Line

The Detroit Lions have had a strong history of defensive linemen throughout their history.

With the Lions' culture being built around grit, perhaps no position on the field embodies this trait more than the interior defensive line. Detroit has had the benefit of having a number of players who anchored their defense throughout their history.

Here are the four defensive tackles representing the Lions on the All-Grit team

Alex Karras (1958-1970)

One of the toughest players of his era, Karras was a force for the Lions' defensive line over his 12 NFL seasons. A Hall of Fame inductee in 2020, the longtime Lion earned First Team All-Pro honors three times in addition to a slew of Second Team honors.

Karras did serve a suspension in 1963 when he was found to be gambling on NFL games, but returned the following season and finished fourth in Comeback Player of the Year voting.

Though tackles were not kept as an official stat in his era, he was credited with a total of 100 sacks over the course of his career. Karras went on to carve out a career in acting as well as broadcasting after retiring as a player.

Roger Brown (1960-1966)

The Lions built one of the league's strongest defensive lines in the '60's as a result of drafting Brown in the fourth-round of the 1960 draft and pairing him with Karras. After recording 12 sacks in his second NFL season, Brown earned All-Pro honors in year three and was a force on the defensive interior.

In 1962, Brown sacked Packers quarterback Bart Starr seven times in what was later called, "The Thanksgiving Day Massacre." One of those was for a safety, which tied an NFL record as he recorded two safeties that season.

Brown had four seasons with double-digit sacks during his seven years with the Lions. He was traded to the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 1967 season, but was inducted into the 'Pride of the Lions' in 2018. He finished his Lions career with 63.5 sacks.

MORE: Lions All-Grit Team: Linebackers