1905-1919: After the University of Detroit was unable to field a football team due to financial reasons a group of football players led by Bill Marshall formed their own team to compete against other are amateur teams. Adopting the team colors red and white the Heralds continue to operate even after the University of Detroit football team resumed play. In 1911, the Heralds left campus and operated as a semi-pro team. The Heralds soon began to charge for admission as they began recruiting players outside of Detroit to play. Despite not being from Ohio, the Heralds competed in the Ohio League with other charter NFL franchises.

1920: The Detroit Heralds were among 14 teams in the first year of the American Professional Football Association. However, they were unsure if they actually wanted to join the league and played a very limited schedule against other APFA teams. After pounding the Cleveland Panthers 40-14 to open the season, Heralds would suffer a 12-0 loss to the Chicago Tigers in their first league game. The Heralds would get their first league win against the Columbus Panhandles. The Panhandles seem to have a grip on the game, but lost 6-0 when Joe Fitzgerald, intercepted a pass from Frank Nesser and ran it back for an 85-yard touchdown. Following a 21-0 loss to the Chicago Cardinals the Heralds lost a home game against the Akron Pros due to inclement weather. The Heralds would lose two home games to bad weather, as they won just one of four league games and posted an overall record of 2-3-3.

1921: For their second season the Detroit Heralds would become the Detroit Tigers adopting the name of the city’s baseball team. The Tigers played well early in the season, opening with a scoreless tie against the Rock Island Independents, before earning a 10-7 win against the Dayton Triangles. However, the Tigers would lose their next four games as players began to grow frustrated with the team and left after they went unpaid. The Tigers would earn a win against the non APFA Bay City Independents, before suffering a 27-0 shutout loss to the Triangles on November 13th. Following the game the Tigers would fold, with their players being allocated to the Buffalo All-Americans after they were unable to use players they were sharing with another professional team in Pennsylvania. Those players would return for a matchup with the Detroit Maroons, playing to a scoreless tie as they posted a record of 2-5-2. Following the folding of the Detroit Tigers, the NFL would not waste much time bringing a new team to the Motor City, with the Detroit Panthers joining the league in 1925. Like the Heralds/Tigers the Panthers would last just two seasons. Detroit would have a third team called the Wolverines in 1928, before finally get a permanent team with the Lions in 1934.