Detroit Lions received Dick Modzelewski. Detroit acquired…
Detroit Lions received Dick Modzelewski. Detroit acquired Dick Modzelewski but quickly moved him to the Giants for Ray Krouse. That downstream trade produced real Lions value: Krouse started all 12 games for Detroit in both 1956 and 1957. Detroit therefore converted the incoming player into two seasons of full-time starting defensive-line service.
Detroit Lions Received
- player Dick Modzelewski
Pittsburgh Steelers Received
- player Dick Alban
Trade Analysis
The Exchange
On 1956-04-26, Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers completed a trade in which Detroit Lions received Dick Modzelewski, while Pittsburgh Steelers received Dick Alban. This review credits only value the acquiring team actually realized and traces later assets only when the downstream connection is supportable.
Detroit Lions Return
Detroit acquired Dick Modzelewski but quickly moved him to the Giants for Ray Krouse. That downstream trade produced real Lions value: Krouse started all 12 games for Detroit in both 1956 and 1957. Detroit therefore converted the incoming player into two seasons of full-time starting defensive-line service.
Pittsburgh Steelers Return
Pittsburgh received Dick Alban and got four consecutive 12-game seasons from him from 1956 through 1959. Alban intercepted 14 passes for the Steelers across those four years, giving Pittsburgh a durable secondary contributor and a substantial direct return from the exchange.
Value in Hindsight
Both teams ultimately received meaningful value: Pittsburgh got four seasons from Alban, while Detroit turned Modzelewski into Ray Krouse and received two full seasons of starting defensive-line play. The outcomes are different but comparably useful. Unidentified picks, cash amounts, or future consideration remain explicit rather than being converted into a guessed player or value. That keeps the comparison tied to documented outcomes instead of the apparent value of the names at the time of the trade.
Where the surviving record is incomplete, the evaluation stays deliberately conservative: documented games, starts, production, and traceable asset outcomes receive credit, while unsupported assumptions about hidden consideration or later careers do not.
Final Verdict
Even Trade. Detroit Lions earns a B-, while Pittsburgh Steelers earns a B-. The grades reflect the actual post-trade service, production, and traceable downstream value described above.