The 1932 NFL season was the 13th

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. 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 The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in a championship playoff game against the Portsmouth Spartans.

Teams

The league decreased to eight teams in 1932.

Season history

While the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

(today's

Washington Commanders 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

) joined the NFL for the 1932 season, the loss of the Providence Steam Roller,

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Teams did not play an equal number of games during the 1932 season, with the total of games played ranging from 10 (

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

, Boston Braves) to 14 (

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, 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

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

Championship playoff

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 (, +7) would have won them a fourth consecutive championship, ahead of the Spartans' 6–1–4 (, +5) and the Bears' 6–1–6 (, +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 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 ...

, the first ever game of its kind. Extremely cold weather forced the game to be moved from

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

to the indoor

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago from 1929 to 1995. When it was built, it was the largest indoor arena in the world with a maximum seating capacity of 26,000. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and ...

: 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.

Statistical leaders

The 1932 season marked a major landmark for the National Football League — the first year in which official statistics were tracked and retained.Pete Palmer, et al. (eds.), ''The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia.'' First Edition. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006; p. 1040. 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. Source: Pete Palmer, et al. (eds.), ''The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia.'' First Edition. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006; p. 1040.