By Darin The 1945 American football season was historic, playing out against the backdrop of the end of World War II. The lifting of wartime restrictions, the return of military personnel, and unique player placement rules reshaped the competitive landscape across both the collegiate and professional grids.
1. College Football: The Dominance of Army
The 1945 college football season is widely remembered for producing one of the most dominant teams in the history of the sport: the Army Cadets (West Point).
- The Consensus Champion: Army finished with a perfect 9-0 record and was named the unanimous No. 1 in the final AP Poll. Backed by loose wartime transfer rules that concentrated top talent at service academies, Army outscored its opponents by a staggering 412 to 46.
- The “Inside-Outside” Duo: The Cadets were led by fullback Doc Blanchard (“Mr. Inside”) and halfback Glenn Davis (“Mr. Outside”). Blanchard won the Heisman Trophy that year, with Davis finishing right behind him as the runner-up.
- Retroactive Twist: While Army was the contemporary consensus champion, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) retroactively awarded a second national championship title to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) for their own undefeated 9-0 season and Sugar Bowl victory.
2. Professional Football: The 1945 NFL Season
The National Football League operated with 10 teams split across two divisions, culminating in an icy, bizarre championship game.
- The Champions: The Cleveland Rams won the NFL Championship, defeating the Washington Redskins 15-14 on December 16, 1945. Led by star rookie quarterback and MVP Bob Waterfield, this season was bittersweet for Cleveland; immediately following their championship win, the franchise relocated to Los Angeles for the 1946 season.
- The Famous “Safety” Rule Change: The 1-point margin of victory in the championship game was decided by a freak play. Washington quarterback Sammy Baugh threw a pass from his own end zone that hit the goalpost (which sat on the goal line at the time) and bounced back into the end zone for an automatic safety. The rule was deemed so unfair that it was changed the following year, dictating that such an occurrence would result in an incomplete pass instead.
- Stat Leaders: Chicago Bears icon Sid Luckman led the league with 1,727 passing yards, while Philadelphia Eagles powerhouse Steve Van Buren dominated the ground game with 832 rushing yards.
A Deep Dive into 1945 Football History and Highlights
- January 1, 1945 – The 31st Rose Bowl Game saw the unbeaten University of Southern Cal Trojans blank the undefeated Tennessee Vols 25-0.
- April 8, 1945, at the 1945 NFL Draft, Charley Trippi from the University of Georgia was the first pick by the Chicago Cardinals.
- April 9, 1945, the NFL required players to wear long stockings. According to ESPN, Commissioner Elmer Layden mandated that NFL players wear their socks up to their lower legs, apparently for aesthetic and uniformity reasons. This rule, still enforced, explains why NFL players wear high socks while many NCAA teams play bare-legged. Displaying bare calves in the NFL can result in a fine from league headquarters.
- On April 10, 1945, the NFL’s Boston Yanks & Brooklyn Tigers merged.
- April 20, 1945 – The Cleveland Browns organization was formed by Arthur “Mickey” McBride. Mickey acquired the franchise in the new All-America Football Conference that would begin play in the 1946 season.
- October 14, 1945 – The longest losing streak in NFL history was snapped when the Cardinals surprised the Bears 16-7.
- November 10, 1945 – Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York – Top-ranked Army shuts out No. 2 Notre Dame 48-0 in an extremely lopsided contest.
- November 22, 1945 – Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan – The fans of the Cleveland Rams had plenty to be thankful for on this day. Jim Benton, the dependable Cleveland Rams end, gained an NFL record 303 yards against the Detroit Lions during this Thanksgiving Day game. The mark of 303 yards remained the NFL record for 40 years and was tested only once in 1950 by Cloyce Box of the Lions, who gained 302 yards in one game. It wasn’t until the 1985 season that the record was shattered by Stephone Paige of the Kansas City Chiefs, 1985, with 309, and in 1989, when Flipper Anderson of the LA version of the Rams chalked up a remarkable 336 yards! It was a critical game per the fs64sports website, as the Rams entered the contest with a 7-1 mark, while the host Lions were no slouches, sporting a 6-2 record of their own. Benton and his team did just enough to escape the Motor City with an exciting 28-21 win.
- December 4, 1945 – The Downtown Athletic Club awarded Army Fullback Felix “Doc” Blanchard the prestigious Heisman Trophy. Blanchard became the first junior and the first player from West Point to win the Heisman after leading Army to a second straight national title. The Black Knights finished Blanchard’s three seasons with an amazing 27-0-1 record and three national championships.
- December 16, 1945 – Cleveland Municipal Stadium – With temperatures at near zero and the field covered with snow, the Cleveland Rams played their last game before moving out to Los Angeles. It happened to be the 1945 NFL Championship game against the Washington Redskins. In preparation for the weather before the game, Cleveland brass had nearly 9,000 bales of straw covering the field to protect it, per an LA Times archived article. With an army of volunteers, the Cleveland faithful removed the straw covered in ice and snow from the frozen turf. Washington had an interesting predicament before the game started: the NFL’s leading passer on the season, Sammy Baugh, had a nagging rib injury from a prior game, but as a backup QB, they had Frank Filchock, who was the passing leader the year before. Baugh fumbled the first offensive play for the Redskins and threw an errant pass from his own endzone in desperation, which was ruled a safety for committing the foul from behind his own goal line. The Rams gave their fans a great memory as they edged out the Washington Redskins, 15-14. What a way for a franchise to leave a city! It almost makes one think: Is it better to leave Cleveland as they did, or to move the Browns away to Baltimore as Art Modell did when they won a Super Bowl within five seasons of leaving Cleveland? (source)