1932 Championship Game
From the NFL Official Encyclopedia - 1989 Edition by Don Smith, Gallery Books
1932 Championship Game - Because tie games did not count in the standings, the Chicago Bears (6-1-6) and Portsmouth Spartans (6-1-4) tied for first place in 1932. A hastily scheduled playoff game, the first ever for the NFL, was played indoors in Chicago Stadium. The field was only 80 yards long and the sidelines were close to the stands.
Out of this game came three significant rules changes that helped to make pro football a more offensive-oriented game. The changes included moving the goal posts to the goal line and the hash-marks 10 yards in-bounds, and making a forward pass legal anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. The NFL owners liked the idea of a season ending championship game, so they split the league into two divisions in 1933, with the two first place teams playing for the NFL championship.
Coach George Halas directed the Bears to a 9-0 victory over the Spartans, and the play of the game was a Bronko Nagurski's pass to Red Grange for a touchdown. Footballhistorian.com Research Dept.
1926 American Football League... Long Forgotten! Football Historian Although there have been four attempts to field American Football League, the first was a dismal failure and lasted only one season, 1926. The original AFL and the final standings: Philadelphia Quakers 7-2..... New York Yankees 9-5..... Cleveland Panthers 3-2..... Los Angeles Wildcats 6-6-2..... Chicago Bulls 5-6-3..... Boston Bulldogs 2-4..... Rock Island Independents 2-5-1.... Brooklyn Horsemen 1-3..... Newark Bears 0-4-2. Outside of New York area - attendance was low - and only three teams remained in business at the end of the season - the Quakers, Yankees and Wildcats, who played all its games on the road. Timothy J. Mara had just purchased a National Football League franchise the year before (1925-New York Giants), and was forced into head-to-head financial competition with the AFL 1926 New York Yankees, who played in Yankee Stadium. Mara had suffered financially during 1926 and at season's end challenged the Yankees to a game. Yanks' owner C. C. Pyle agreed to it at first, but on second thoughts backed down. So, Mara then approached the Philadelphia Quakers, champions of the new American League. The Quakers, anxious to face a NFL team, quickly agreed. The AFL had achieved in one year what other challengers to the NFL could not.
Thus, an inter-league playoff game, often referred to as the football's first 'Super Bowl' was born. However, the fact is the New York Giants finished in seventh place in the established NFL during the regular season. Still, there was a heighten fan interest in an inter-league game that put the game 'under scrutiny.' On the day of the 'big game' (December 12, 1926) a blinding snowstorm engulfed the Giants' Polo Grounds and obliterated the yard lines. And only an estimated 5,000 fans braved the snowstorm, and watched as the Giants creamed the Quakers 31-0. The Quakers managed to collect only one first down in the entire game en-route to their crushing defeat. So, clearly outclassed, the new league's owners folded after only one season. The National Football League granted a franchise license to the New York Yankees for 1927. They remained in the league for two more seasons before going out of business. footballhistorian.com - Archives - Pro Football History copyright 2007 footballhistorian.com
Changing the Rules in Pro Football... Early 1930s
Two men who came into professional football in the early 1930s contributed highly to the game of football.
George Preston Marshall was granted a franchise in Boston in July of 1932 and Bert Bell became a part owner of the Philadelphia Eagles in time for the 1933 season.
Marshall thought up the idea that the league be split into two divisions and the champions of each division would play each other for the World Title. To convince fans that the World Champion was the best team, Marshall insisted that the schedule be set up so each team played the same number of opponents and most important - that they should have the same opponents - something that had never happened in pro football before.
In order to compete with college football - which drew A huge audience - Marshal and Chicago Bears' owner George Halas pioneered two more rule changes:
No. 1 - the goals posts were moved forward to the goal line.
No. 2 - Passing was made legal anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Bert Bell, who always sounded like he had a sore throat, discovered early-on that it was impossible for the Eagles and other league have-nots to compete with the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants.
The Big Three - Bears, Packers and Giants - had more money than and could afford to pay any college graduate considerably higher salaries. But, they really didn't have to.
'Every kid with talent wanted to play with them,' said Bell later. 'I don't recall offhand any kid with a burning desire to play for the Eagles in those dayws.'
So, Bell proposed the draft and, the league owners went along with it. His' team, the Eagles, finished last in its division, as usual, in 1935, so they got first pick of the graduating seniors in 1936. The Eagles choice Jay Berwanger, a tailback at the University of Chicago, who was considered the finest collegiate defensive/offensive player.
None-the-less, Berwanger could not be persuaded to play professional football - nor could the Bears, to whom he later traded the rights.
So, the first-ever pro football draft was for naught.
However, the draft system certainly proved to be the great equalizer in the years to come and ended the domination of the rich and historic teams over the poor newer clubs.
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Sizzling Hot - 1936 Green Bay Packers |
| They may deserve comparison to any of the great pro teams in pro football history.
With a passing combination of 'Herber to Hutson,' going for the win was not that dangerous because the duo wasn't going to make many mistakes.
If ever a coach had his finger on the pulse of a team, it was long-time coach and founder Curly Lambeau, who cemented his reputation by signing the fragile looking Don Hutson, who carried only 175 pounds on his 6-foot frame. Hutson went on to lead the National Football League (NFL) in pass receptions and receiving yards eight times in his brilliant 11-year career.
After going 9-4 in Hutson's rookie season of 1935, the Packers won their 4th World Title in 1936, with a stunning 10-1-1 record in the regular season and a 21-6 win the title game.
Green Bay played the old Boston Redskins in the NFL championship game, which was the only title game ever played on a neutral field, the Polo Grounds in New York, until the first Super Bowl in 1967 some 30-odd years later. The game was played in NY because Redskins owner George Marshall was in the process of moving his team to Washington due to poor attendance in Boston.
Milt Gantenbein paired up with the speedy Hutson at the other end position during the club's championship era. Gantenbein joined the Pack in '31 and by the time his career ended ten years later, had played with Green Bay on three of its World Championship teams - 1931, 1936, and 1939.
Of course, no team can rise to the occasion and roll to a championships without superior all-around play of its linemen. And, Lambeau had assembled one of the finest offensive lines in NFL football history.
Champ Seibold, a 6-ft, 4-inch, 238-pounder, out of Ripon/Wisconsin-Wisconsin Oshkosh and Ernie Smith, the team's line-leader, anchored the tackle slots and were as 'good as it gets.' Smith, a muscular 6-ft, 2-inch, 224-pounder from the University of Southern California was an All-Pro selection in '39. The pair also had help from Lou Gordon, an 8-year veteran performer who had starred at the University of Illinois in his collegiate days. Gordon was traded by the Bears to the Packers prior to the season.
Standout guard Lon Evans was an All-Pro in '39. Hailing from Texas Christian, Evans excelled on both offense and defense and his ability to fend off opposing charging linemen helped make the passing combo of 'Herber to Hutson,' sizzling hot.
Five Packers were 1939 All-Pro selections - Milt Gantenbein, Don Hutson, Ernie Smith, Lon Evans and power-runner, fullback Clarke Hinkle.
1936 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
Right after the opening kickoff, Lou Gordon recovered a Redskins' fumble at the mid-field stripe, and quarterback Arnie fired a bullet to Hutson who ran passed the Boston secondary as though they were standing still - a 48-yard TD - and Ernie Smith's extra point kick was right on-the-money - Packers leading 7-0.
Boston tied the score on a 2-yard plunge by Pug Renter in the second quarter making the score 7-6. However, Herber dropped back and hit Gantenbein on a 8-yard touchdown pass and Ernie Smith x-point put the Packers up 14-6.
Halfback Bob Monnett iced the game with a 3-yard, fourth quarter touchdown and Tiny Engebretsen ran in the x-point.
Final Score: Green Bay 21, Boston 6.
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