Joe Stydahar 1943 Chicago Bears jersey on display at NFL Experience (3818214195)

The 1943 NFL Championship Game was the 11th annual title game of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL), held at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

on December 26 with an attendance of 34,320. In a rematch of the previous year's game, the Western Division champion

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

(8–1–1) met the Eastern Division champion

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

(6–3–1). The previous week, the Redskins had defeated the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

in a playoff game by a score of 28–0 to determine the champs of the east, after the teams ended the regular season with identical records. The Redskins had dropped their final three regular season games, including two to the Giants. Even though the Giants had swept the season series with Washington, the rules of the time called for a tiebreaker game (division tiebreaker games were eliminated in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

with the development of divisional tiebreaking rules). The divisional playoff game pushed the championship game back to its latest ever date, and the late-December Chicago weather caused the game to be dubbed the "Ice Bowl." The Bears were favored by a touchdown, and won by twenty points, 41–21. The crowd was smaller than the previous year's and well off the championship game record of 48,120 set in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

, but the gross gate receipts of $120,500 set a record. In addition to the gate, radio broadcast rights to the game were sold for $5,000. The Bears were led by quarterback Sid Luckman while

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

was the quarterback for the Redskins. The Redskins were coached by

Dutch Bergman Arthur J. "Dutch" Bergman (February 23, 1895 – August 18, 1972) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now New Mexico State University, from 19 ...

. The Chicago win marked the franchise's third championship in four seasons, their fourth since the institution of the NFL Championship Game in , and their sixth championship overall.

Rosters

Starters

Substitutions

''Bears substitutions'': Pool,

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, rasp ...

, Steinkemper, Babartsky, Mundee, Ippolito,

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gov ...

, Matuza, McLean, Luckman, Famighetti, Nagurski, McEnulty, Nolting and Vodicka. ''Redskins substitutions'': Piasecky, Lapka, Wilkin,

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

, Fiorentino,

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

Hayden Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States *Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado * Hayden, Idaho *Hayd ...

, Baugh,

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia * Seymour, Victoria, a township * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Seymour, Tasmania, a localit ...

Moore Moore may refer to: People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army * Moore Powell (died c. 1 ...

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Akins Akins ( or ) is a Scottish surname and northern Irish family name. Origins Scotland The name has several possible origins, although it is generally considered to be a variant of '' Aikens'', which is considered to be a patronymic form of the n ...

and Stasica.

Officials

*Referee: Ronald Gibbs *Umpire: John Kelly *Head Linesman:

Charlie Berry Charles Francis Berry (October 18, 1902 – September 6, 1972) was an American athlete and sports official who enjoyed careers as a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as an end and official in the National Football League. His ...

*Field Judge: Eddie Tryon The NFL had only four game

officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

in ; the back judge was added in , the line judge in , and the side judge in .

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 26, 1943''
Kickoff: 2 p.m. CWT (CDT) *First quarter **''no scoring'' *Second quarter **WAS –

Andy Farkas Andrew Geza Farkas (May 2, 1916 – April 10, 2001) was an American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions. Early life Farkas was born in Clay Center, Ohio of Hungarian origins ...

1 yard run (

Bob Masterson Robert Patrick Masterson (July 23, 1915 – June 29, 1994) was an American football End in the National Football League (NFL). He played six seasons for the Washington Redskins (1938–1943). He played college football at the University of Mi ...

kick), 7–0 WAS **CHI –

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau an ...

31 yard pass from Sid Luckman ( Bob Snyder kick), 7–7 tie **CHI – Bronko Nagurski 3 yard run (Snyder kick), 14–7 CHI *Third quarter **CHI – Dante Magnani 36 yard pass from Luckman (Snyder kick), 21–7 CHI **CHI – Magnani 66 yard pass from Luckman (kick failed), 27–7 CHI **WAS – Farkas 17 yard pass from

(Masterson kick), 27–14 CHI *Fourth quarter **CHI –

Jim Benton Jim K. Benton (born October 31, 1960) is an American illustrator and writer. Licensed properties he has created include Dear Dumb Diary, Dog of Glee, Franny K. Stein, Just Jimmy, Just Plain Mean, Sweetypuss, The Misters, Meany Doodles, Vampy D ...

26 yard pass from Luckman (Snyder kick), 34–14 CHI **CHI – Clarke 10 yard pass from Luckman (Snyder kick), 41–14 CHI **WAS – Joe Aguirre 25 yard pass from Baugh (Aguirre kick), 41–21 CHI

Game statistics

Players' shares

Each player on the Bears took home $1,135 while each member of the Redskins got $754.

References

{{NFL pre-sb Champ 1943 NFL Championship Game Chicago Bears postseason Washington Redskins postseason

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

December 1943 sports events Wrigley Field 1940s in Chicago Sports competitions in Chicago American football in Chicago