1932 NFL season

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1932 NFL season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 18 – December 11, 1932
Because the Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Bears finished the season tied for first place, a playoff game was held to determine the NFL champion.
ChampionsChicago Bears
1932 NFL season is located in USA Midwest and Northeast
Braves
Braves
Dodgers
Dodgers
Bears
Bears
Cardinals
Cardinals
Packers
Packers
Giants
Giants
Spartans
Spartans
Stapletons
Stapletons

The 1932 NFL season was the 13th regular season of the National Football League. It was a year marked by a decrease in the number of franchises to just eight and the last time all teams were encompassed in a single division.

The league title was won by the Chicago Bears in a championship playoff game against the Portsmouth Spartans.

Teams[edit]

The league decreased to eight teams in 1932.

First season in NFL * Last active season †
Team Head coach Stadium
Boston Braves * Lud Wray Braves Field
Brooklyn Dodgers Benny Friedman Ebbets Field
Chicago Bears Ralph Jones Wrigley Field
Chicago Cardinals Jack Chevigny Comiskey Park
Green Bay Packers Curly Lambeau City Stadium
New York Giants Steve Owen Polo Grounds
Portsmouth Spartans George Clark Universal Stadium
Staten Island Stapletons Hal Hanson Thompson Stadium

Season history[edit]

While the Boston Braves (today's Washington Commanders) joined the NFL for the 1932 season, the loss of the Providence Steam Roller, Cleveland Indians, and Frankford Yellow Jackets reduced the league's membership to just eight teams — the fewest in NFL history. The league would again cut down to just eight teams during the 1943 NFL season due to World War II.

Teams did not play an equal number of games during the 1932 season, with the total of games played ranging from 10 (Chicago Cardinals, Boston Braves) to 14 (Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears). The other four teams in the league played a 12 game schedule.

Following the 1932 season, the NFL would be split into two divisions with the winner of each meeting at the end of the year in a Championship Playoff game.

Championship race[edit]

The Green Bay Packers were unbeaten (8–0–1) after nine games, and after the Thanksgiving weekend, their 10–1–1 record (.909) was still well ahead of Portsmouth at 5–1–4 (.833) and Chicago at 4–1–6 (.800).

In Week Twelve (December 4), the Spartans handed the Packers a 19–0 defeat, while the Bears beat the Giants 6–0. Portsmouth, at 6–1–4 (.857), took the lead, while the Packers (10–2–1) and the Bears (5–1–6) were tied for second (.833).

In Week Thirteen, the Bears hosted the Packers; a Green Bay win would have seen the Packers finish second with an 11–2–1 record (.846) and hand Portsmouth their first ever title. The Bears beat the Packers 9–0, meaning the Bears finished at 6–1–6 (.857), and were tied for first with Portsmouth.

Despite the fact that their December 18 game was referred to as a playoff, the Bears' 9–0 win over Portsmouth counted in the regular season standings: as such, while the Bears finished at 7–1–6 (.875) and won the 1932 title, it was the Packers who finished as runners-up, while the Spartans finished in third at 6–2–4 (.750).

Standings[edit]

NFL standings
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Chicago Bears 1 7 1 6 .875 160 44 W3
Green Bay Packers 10 3 1 .769 152 63 L2
Portsmouth Spartans 1 6 2 4 .750 116 71 L1
Boston Braves 4 4 2 .500 55 79 W2
New York Giants 4 6 2 .400 93 113 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 3 9 0 .250 63 131 L4
Chicago Cardinals 2 6 2 .250 72 114 L5
Staten Island Stapletons 2 7 3 .222 77 173 L1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

1 The Bears and Spartans records include the result of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game; thus, the Spartans are ranked third behind the Packers.


Championship playoff[edit]

There was a tie for first place in the standings at the end of the 1932 regular season: as tied games did not count until 1972, the Portsmouth Spartans record of 6–1–4 and the Bears record of 6–1–6 were taken to be six wins, one loss, giving both teams an .857 win percentage.

Had pure win–loss differential or the current (post-1972) system of counting ties as half a win, half a loss been in place in 1932, the Packers' record of 10–3–1 (.750, +7) would have won them a fourth consecutive championship, ahead of the Spartans' 6–1–4 (.727, +5) and the Bears' 6–1–6 (.692, +5).

Since both games between the Bears and Spartans had ended in ties, the NFL arranged for a playoff game to decide the NFL championship, the first ever game of its kind.

Extremely cold weather forced the game to be moved from Wrigley Field to the indoor Chicago Stadium: as the makeshift football field in the stadium was only 80 yards long with undersized endzones, officials moved the goal posts to the goal line due to a lack of space to put them at the back of the end zone, as was standard in college and professional football. This change was favored by players and fans, and the goal posts were moved to the goal line as one of several rule changes the league made in 1933, with the rule lasting until 1973.

The Bears won the playoff game 9–0, which was scoreless until the fourth quarter. Since the playoff game counted in the final standings, the Spartans finished the season in third place behind runners-up Green Bay.

1932 NFL Playoff, Portsmouth Spartans at Chicago Bears
Period 1 2 34Total
Spartans 0 0 000
Bears 0 0 099

at Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois

  • Date: December 18
  • Game time: 8:15 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: Indoors
  • Game attendance: 11,198
  • Referee: Bobby Cahn
  • Boxscore
Game information
Fourth quarter

Statistical leaders[edit]

The 1932 season marked a major landmark for the National Football League — the first year in which official statistics were tracked and retained.[1] During this first foray into official record-keeping, certain statistics later regarded as staples were not maintained. These included interceptions, punting average, kickoff return yardage and average, and field goal percentage, among others.[1]

Name Team Yards
Passing 1. Arnie "Flash" Heber Green Bay Packers 639
2. Walt Holmer Chicago Bears 449
3. Jack McBride New York Giants 363
Rushing 1. Cliff Battles Boston Braves 606
2. Bronco Nagurski Chicago Bears 573
3. Bob Campiglio Staten Island Stapletons 524
Receiving 1. Ray Flaherty New York Giants 350
2. Luke Johnsos Chicago Bears 321
3. Harry Ebding Portsmouth Spartans 171
Touchdowns 1. Red Grange Chicago Bears 7
2. Dutch Clark Portsmouth Spartans 6
3. Jack Grossman Brooklyn Dodgers 5
3. Ray Flaherty New York Giants 5

Source: Pete Palmer, et al. (eds.), The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia. First Edition. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006; p. 1040.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Pete Palmer, et al. (eds.), The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia. First Edition. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006; p. 1040.

Further reading[edit]

  • NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
  • NFL History 1931–1940 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
  • Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)