By Darin The 1941 American football season took place during a pivotal moment in U.S. history as the nation entered World War II. In college football, the undefeated Minnesota Golden Gophers were recognized as national champions after finishing 8–0. Running back Bruce Smith of the Minnesota Golden Gophers won the Heisman Trophy for his outstanding all-around performance. The season also featured powerhouse programs such as the Duke Blue Devils and the Texas Longhorns competing at the highest level.
In the NFL, the Chicago Bears captured the 1941 NFL Championship by defeating the New York Giants 37–9 in the title game. The season highlighted the dominance of quarterback Sid Luckman, whose passing ability helped modernize professional football offenses. The 1941 season was also the last full football season before World War II significantly impacted player availability and team operations across the sport.
A Deep Dive into 1941 Football History and Highlights
- January 1, 1941 – The Rose Bowl game featured the Stanford Indians of Head coach Clark Shaughnessy defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 21-13,
- February 3, 1941: The NFL Names Its First Commissioner. On this day, the NFL officially moved into a new era of professional governance by naming Elmer Layden as its first-ever commissioner.
- March 11, 1941 – Chicago Bears’ legend Bronko Nagurski defeated Ray Steele in Minnesota to become the National Wrestling Champion.
- November 22, 1941 – The Pitt Panthers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 14-6 in their, at the time, annual rivalry game.
- November 29, 1941 – Varsity Stadium, Toronto – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers edged out the Ottawa Rough Riders, 18-16, for their 3rd Championship in the 29th edition of the Grey Cup.
- December 6, 1941 – The game, played on December 6, 1941, saw the USC Trojans defeat the UCLA Bruins by a score of 21-7. This victory secured the Rose Bowl berth for USC, and the contest holds unique historical significance as it was the last major sporting event held in Los Angeles before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- December 7, 1941 – Chicago’s Comiskey Park – The Sportsthenandnow.com website tells us that the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals played in the regular-season finale, as this was the day that FDR claimed “a day that will live in infamy.” The Cards entered the game with a dismal 3-6-1 record while George Halas’s Bears were flying high at 9-1. The Cardinals raced to an early two-touchdown lead before the Bears closed the gap to 17-14 at the half. The lead went back and forth early in the second half until Sid Luckman and the boys put the game away with some late unanswered scores to secure a Bears 34-24 victory.
- December 7, 1941 – Polo Grounds – Meanwhile, in the Big Apple, the Brooklyn Dodgers football team dismantled the New York Giants 21-7. The PA announcer at the game, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, announced that all military personnel must leave and report to their units in the midst of the fans enjoying the last game of the season to celebrate “Tuffy Leemans Day” in honor of their beloved Giants running back.
- December 7, 1941 – Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. – The stadium management decided not to announce the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the crowd of nearly 27,000 at the Washington Redskins versus Philadelphia game, per the Boundary Stones website. The next morning, The Evening Star tried to make some sense of the Redskins’ decision to keep the news from their fans. Beneath the headline “It Could Only Happen in.”
- December 9, 1941 – The 7th Heisman Trophy Award was given to halfback Bruce Smith of the University of Minnesota.
- December 14, 1941 – The Bears and Packers met in their only postseason game, which also marked the first NFL divisional playoff game. At the time, the two division leaders would face off in the NFL Championship Game. That season, the Bears and Packers had identical 10-1 records, each winning on the other’s field earlier in the season. The Bears won at City Stadium on September 28 (25-17), and the Packers triumphed at Wrigley Field on November 2 (16-14), as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online. In this decisive third meeting, the Bears earned the right to play for the title with a 33-14 victory.
- December 21, 1941 – Wrigley Field, Chicago – The 1941 NFL Championship Game took place. The New York Football Giants were challenging the defending Champs, the Bears of Chicago. The game was pretty much one-sided as the Monsters of the Midway dominated their visitors from the Big Apple, as reported by the Golden Rankings website. In an interesting side note, Bears kicker Ray McLean made the last NFL drop kick for an extra point per ESPN Classic. The story goes that the Bears were dominating the New York Giants in this late-season game, up 30-9 late. New York coughed up the ball, and the Bears’ Ken Kavanaugh picked it up and raced 42 yards for another Chicago score. Whether it was to humiliate the Giants further or just for entertainment value, McLean attempted the archaic method of kicking for points that had not been used in quite a while. The kick was up and good, and the Bears celebrated the 37-9 Title victory to become the first repeat Champs in NFL History and garner their fifth championship for the storied franchise.