By Darin Hayes The 1933 NFL season stands as a pivotal moment in the history of American football. It was the year the NFL formally broke from college football rules, introduced major innovations, and—most importantly—staged its very first official championship game. This bold move, championed by Commissioner Joe Carr and catalyzed by the sport’s earlier, unconventional playoff attempts, laid the foundation for the modern professional game.
From Wacky Playoffs to Division Winners
Before 1933, the NFL title was awarded to the team with the best regular-season record. This led to complicated tie scenarios, most famously in 1932 when the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans finished with identical 6-1 records (ignoring ties, which were prolific). To settle the 1932 championship, the two teams played an experimental indoor playoff game at the Chicago Stadium.
This 1932 contest, a bizarre affair played on a field smelling of unconstipated elephants from a recent circus, was a mess but provided key insights:
- Passing: Bears quarterback Bronko Nagurski completed a controversial jump pass to Red Grange for the game-winning touchdown. This sparked a rule change.
- Hash Marks: To keep play away from the wooden hockey boards, the ball was moved five yards in from the sidelines, creating the first-ever hash marks.
Recognizing the success and excitement of the playoff format, Joe Carr instituted a radical change for 1933: The league’s ten teams were formally divided into an Eastern Division and a Western Division, with the winners set to meet in an annual Championship Game. This mirrored baseball’s popular World Series format and was designed to generate more scoring and higher attendance, especially between the League’s two largest markets.
The Matchup: Chicago Bears vs. New York Giants
The inaugural championship pitted the Western Division winner Chicago Bears (10-2-1) against the Eastern Division winner New York Giants (11-3).
The Bears, led by owner/coach George Halas, boasted a roster full of early Hall of Famers, including Red Grange, Bronco Nagurski, and George Musso. The Giants, coached by the tobacco-spitting Steve Owen, countered with stars like Ken Strong and Harry Newman, known for their colorful team nicknames (“Red,” “Tiny,” “Potsy,” “Kink,” and “Rib”).
Crucially, the 1933 season debuted a new rule book, officially separating the NFL from college football. New additions included:
- The legal use of a forward pass anywhere behind the line of scrimmage.
- Moving the goalposts to the goal line to encourage more field goals and reduce ties.
The Landmark Game
The first official NFL Championship Game was played on December 17, 1933, at Wrigley Field in Chicago and was immediately hailed by the press as “the greatest game ever played in professional football.”
The contest was a thrilling back-and-forth affair defined by big plays and clutch scoring:
- Bears kicker Jack Manders was an early hero, kicking two first-half field goals (16 yards and 40 yards) to give the Bears a 6-0 lead.
- The lead changed hands seven times in the second half.
- The Giants took a late 21-16 lead in the fourth quarter on a Ken Strong touchdown pass from Newman.
- The Bears responded with a legendary, game-winning play: Bill Hewitt caught a pass from Nagurski and then lateraled the ball to Bill Carr, who ran the final 31 yards for the touchdown.
The final score was Bears 23, Giants 21. The players split a modest purse—$210 for each Bear and $140 for each Giant—but the enduring value was the success of the new format. The high-scoring, dramatic game validated the new rules and the division-playoff structure, setting the NFL on a path to eventually compete with, and ultimately eclipse, the college game. This single contest in 1933 was the first step on the long road to the modern Super Bowl.