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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.
Champions Chicago 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.

While the Boston Braves (the current Washington Commanders) joined the NFL in this season, the loss of the Providence Steam Roller, Cleveland Indians and Frankford Yellow Jackets dropped league membership to eight teams, the lowest in NFL history; the league also had eight teams in 1943 due to World War II.

While the Green Bay Packers had finished the season with 10 wins, the league title was determined at the time by winning percentage with ties excluded, meaning the Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Bears finished the season tied for first place (6-1, 0.857), ahead of Green Bay (10-3, 0.769).

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.

The Spartans moved to Detroit, and became the Lions, in 1934.

Teams

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

Championship race

Following the 1932 season, the NFL would be split into two divisions (later two conferences), with the champions of each meeting in a championship game.

This was the result of the conclusion of the 1932 season, where there was a tie for first place in the standings at the end of the regular season: as tied games did not count until 1972, the 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).

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

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.


Playoffs

 
Playoff Game
 
  
 
December 18, 1932 – Chicago Stadium
 
 
Chicago Bears9
 
 
Portsmouth Spartans0
 

League leaders

Statistic Name Team Yards
Passing Arnie Herber Green Bay 639
Rushing Cliff Battles Boston 576
Receiving Ray Flaherty New York 350

References

  • 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)