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Former Lions QB Rote dies
Posted: Thursday June 29, 2000 09:46 PM
DETROIT (AP) -- Tobin Rote, the quarterback who guided the Detroit Lions to their last world championship in 1957 while filling in for injured Hall of Famer Bobby Layne, has died. Rote, of Port Hope, was 72 when he died Tuesday at a Saginaw hospital after suffering a heart attack, nearly two weeks after undergoing back surgery, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday. Rote, who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1950-56 and is enshrined in that franchise's Hall of Fame, led two professional clubs to championships. Rote, who with Green Bay led the NFL in passing yards in 1956 and in touchdown passes in 1955 and 1956, was dealt to the Lions in 1957 as the Packers made room for future Hall of Famer Bart Starr. In Detroit in 1957, the Lions platooned Rote and Layne at quarterback before Rote finished off the season after Layne broke his leg in the regular season's second-to-last game. The Lions finished that season 8-4, with Rote passing for 1,070 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In the divisional playoff, the Lions trailed the 49ers 24-7 at halftime. Through the dressing room walls at San Francisco's old Kezar Stadium, they could hear the 49ers already beginning their celebration. "We could hear them laughing," Rote said in 1991. "The walls were paper-thin. They were going on about how they were going to spend their championship game money. It made us angry." In the second half, the Lions scored three touchdowns in 4:29, two by little-used fullback Tom "The Bomb" Tracy, and went on to win 31-27. The next Sunday at home in Briggs Stadium, the Lions won their third World Championship in six years with a 59-14 rout of the Cleveland Browns. Rote threw four touchdown passes and ran for another. After his 1957-59 stay with the Lions, Rote went on to the American Football League and guided the San Diego Chargers to the league title, then played briefly in the Canadian Football League and with the Denver Broncos before retiring in 1966.
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