1932 NFL season
The 1932 NFL season was the 13th in league history, and it nearly ended before anyone noticed. With three franchises gone and only eight teams left standing, the National Football League was at its smallest ever. The Providence Steam Roller, the Cleveland Indians, and the Frankford Yellow Jackets had all disappeared. In their place came a single newcomer: the Boston Braves, a team that would eventually become the Washington Commanders. Eight clubs remained, spread across a single undivided league. No one knew it yet, but the race that unfolded that autumn would force the NFL to confront fundamental questions about how to decide a champion, how to keep goal posts, and whether a football field even needed to be outdoors.
Green Bay entered the final stretch of the season looking untouchable. After nine games, the Packers had not lost a single contest, posting an 8-0-1 record. By the Thanksgiving weekend, their mark had grown to 10-1-1, good for a .909 winning percentage that left Portsmouth at .833 and Chicago at .800. Then came December 4th. In Week Twelve, the Portsmouth Spartans handed Green Bay a 19-0 defeat while the Bears quietly beat the New York Giants 6-0. Portsmouth moved into first place at .857, and the Bears and Packers found themselves locked at .833 for second. The following week brought the decisive collision: Chicago hosted Green Bay, and a Packers victory would have handed Portsmouth its first ever title. The Bears won 9-0, pushing their record to 6-1-6, and the Bears and Spartans finished tied for first. The problem was that tied games simply did not count in the NFL standings until 1972. Both Chicago and Portsmouth were credited with six wins and one loss, each holding an .857 winning percentage. No tiebreaker existed. A playoff would have to settle it.
Extreme cold forced the championship playoff out of Wrigley Field and into the Chicago Stadium, an indoor arena never designed for football. The makeshift field inside measured only 80 yards in length, with endzones too shallow to meet standard specifications. Officials moved the goal posts from the back of the endzone to the goal line itself, purely because there was no room to place them anywhere else. The Bears won the game 9-0, with the score remaining at zero until the fourth quarter. Because the playoff counted in the final regular-season standings, the Spartans were pushed to third place behind runners-up Green Bay, despite having held first place just weeks before. What happened to the goal posts that day turned out to matter beyond this single game: players and fans preferred them at the goal line, and the NFL made it an official rule in 1933. That rule held until 1973.
Before the 1932 season, no official statistics had ever been tracked and kept by the NFL. That changed entirely that year, making it a landmark in professional football record-keeping. Some figures that later became routine were still absent: interceptions were not tabulated, nor were punting averages, kickoff return yardage, or field goal percentage. Among the numbers that were captured, Arnie "Flash" Heber of the Green Bay Packers led all passers with 639 yards. Cliff Battles of the Boston Braves topped the rushing chart with 606 yards, with Bronco Nagurski of the Bears second at 573. Red Grange of the Bears led the league in touchdowns with seven, ahead of Dutch Clark of the Portsmouth Spartans at six. Ray Flaherty of the New York Giants led receivers with 350 yards and also tied for third in touchdowns with five. These figures, compiled and cited in The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia, represent the earliest official statistical record the NFL produced.
The 1932 season set in motion changes that would define the NFL for decades. The playoff between Chicago and Portsmouth was the first championship game of its kind in league history. That precedent led directly to the NFL splitting into two divisions the following year, with the winner of each meeting in a title game at the end of the season. The awkward reality of 1932, where the Bears' 9-the 0th of December win first counted in the regular season standings and then doubled as the playoff, revealed the need for a cleaner structure. Historians have noted an alternate-universe dimension to the standings: had ties been counted as half a win and half a loss, as they are today, the Packers' 10-3-1 record would have earned them the 1932 championship outright, rather than a runner-up finish. The Packers' head coach through those near-miss seasons was Curly Lambeau, whose team finished second despite the strongest overall record in the league.
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Common questions
Who won the 1932 NFL championship?
The Chicago Bears won the 1932 NFL championship by defeating the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in a playoff game. The game was the first championship playoff in NFL history and was played indoors at the Chicago Stadium after extreme cold forced the move from Wrigley Field.
Why was the 1932 NFL championship game played indoors?
Extremely cold weather forced the game to be moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium. The indoor field was only 80 yards long with undersized endzones, which required officials to move the goal posts to the goal line.
How many teams were in the NFL in 1932?
The NFL had eight teams in 1932, the fewest in league history. The loss of the Providence Steam Roller, Cleveland Indians, and Frankford Yellow Jackets reduced the league from a larger field, while the Boston Braves joined as the one new franchise that season.
What rule change came out of the 1932 NFL championship game?
The NFL moved the goal posts permanently to the goal line starting in 1933, a direct result of their placement at the goal line during the 1932 championship game at Chicago Stadium. That rule remained in effect until 1973.
When did the NFL first track official statistics?
The 1932 season was the first year in which the NFL officially tracked and retained statistics. Early record-keeping did not yet include interceptions, punting averages, kickoff return yardage, or field goal percentage.
Who led the 1932 NFL season in rushing yards?
Cliff Battles of the Boston Braves led the 1932 NFL season with 606 rushing yards. Bronco Nagurski of the Chicago Bears was second with 573 yards, and Bob Campiglio of the Staten Island Stapletons was third with 524 yards.