Undefeated No More: The 1942 NFL Championship Upset

Ever hear of a team going undefeated in the NFL regular season?

It's a rare feat.

Jeff Burkus, welcome back to the Pigpen.

It's really interesting.

This, to me, is the year that changes the NFL forever.

This is when I think things change in the NFL forever for the better.

But what's even rarer is that team crashing and burning in the championship game.

But this isn't just about an upset.

This is about a revenge, a stifling defense in a championship fought with the backdrop of a world at war.

You won't believe how this unfolded.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of.

American football events throughout history.

Your host, Darren Haiges is podcasting from.

America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.

Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.

And boy, are we having a wonderful time with our pre super bowl championship series of the National Football League.

And we are into that World War II era and just having a great time as we've just got done talking about a couple dominating seasons of the Chicago Bears in 40 and 41.

Mike, welcome back to the Pig Pen.

Thanks, Darren.

Great to be back with you discussing the 42 championship game.

Yeah, it seems a lot shorter than what, six years ago that we talked to you, but that's just how we're going in our seasons, though.

And maybe tell us a little bit about the season.

Season.

Sure.

The NFL as you know, was still in its infancy and it was really the Redskins and the Bears that owned the league at that time.

And that is shown by, you know, these championship games that we're talking about.

37.

I'm sorry, nine championship games, 32 to 46.

And they went six and three in their championship games during that period.

So I mean those two teams, they were the league powerhouses and they collided themselves four different times in league championship games.

So, so it was basically the Redskins and the Bears at that time.

Yeah, these have been some amazing matchups, especially when you have these two premier quarterbacks on either side.

And that's sort of the, the straw that's stirring both drinks here that's propelling these offenses to some staggering numbers and just some prolific offenses, especially for that era.

Right.

Well, at a time when the league was, was still run oriented for the most part.

I mean Sammy Barr and Sid Luckman, they were the two top passers in the NFL at that time.

So yeah, they, they were the top QBs at the time and you know, their passing statistics pale in terms of, you know, compared to what we see today.

I mean today it's, you know, it's such a much more wide open game, of course, but, but back then they, they were the best at their craft.

And they both were pretty fair runners too.

So maybe the, the RPO was existing many years before we think it is because those guys were, you know, they'd hoof the ball on the ground, gain some yardage too, besides slinging it.

So they both had mobility.

But you know, Bars is known, he was a three way threat.

I mean Luckman, of course, he, you Know, was a single platoon football.

He played defense as well, but ball was, he was a three way threat.

I mean he was a very, very good defensive back.

Intercepted more than 30 passes in his NFL career.

I believe was 31.

And his punting average, as I mentioned in the 37 show, I mean his 51 yard, 51.4 yard punting average, single season punting average, that is a league record that still holds.

I mean he was a phenomenal punter.

And back in those days they often punted on third down to fool the defense.

Was called the quick kick.

And he was a master of doing that.

Yeah, I guess with all those interceptions, I guess out the window goes that old saying, you know, they, they throw it because they can't catch it.

But it looks like.

Sounds like he could do it at all.

Oh, he was, he was very good.

I mean you talk about playing on both sides of the ball and even, even special teams.

I mean he was the master at the time.

Yeah, well, definitely.

So why don't you tell us a little bit about the season.

Well, basically start with the Bears.

I mean they were the real monsters of the midway at that time.

And then of course the Dolphins went on to finish 17 and oh, beating the Redskins in Super Bowl 7 that year.

When you count the first two playoff games, they both lost in their championship games.

42 Bears lost to the Redskins 14 6.

And the Patriots lost to the, to the New York Giants in that.

What was it?

2117, I believe for.

Right.

Am I close in the final score for Super Bowl 42 17?

Somewhere around there.

So.

So both of those teams lost.

So nobody to this day.

Of course, the Bears preceded the dolphins by 30 years and the Patriots were long after.

But nobody to this day has had a regular season and Postseason like the 72 Dolphins have had.

Yeah.

And just an editor's note, I guess we're talking NFL statistics.

We are just recording this a couple days after the April 1st announcement where the NFL incorporated all of the All American Football Conference stats in there.

So we really, the Cleveland Browns are in that mix too, but we're so used to not talking about them in NFL record books.

But you know, now they're in there with, you know, Otto Graham having seven championships along with Tom Brady and, you know, they're counting it now in the NFL, which is a great thing.

I think they should have done that a long time ago.

But I'm sorry, did one of the.

Sorry.

Did one of those Browns teams actually go undefeated between.

In the aafc?

They went undefeated and won the championship.

Okay.

So I don't, I'm not sure how many games they played in total, but I, I know they did go undefeated.

I think it was like 47 or 48.

They went undefeated and won the championship.

Right, right.

Well, they had some great players in that league, such as Otto Graham and.

Yeah, I mean, and then later on, as you know, three teams from that All American Football Conference went to the NFL.

So I'm glad they incorporated those records.

Yeah, I didn't feel that makes it a lot more interesting to talk about, but I just want.

So the listeners are hearing this so they, they know we haven't forgot about the Browns.

So no phone calls and emails to me.

We got them here in there.

So.

Okay, so let's, let's go back into 42 here.

So.

Yeah, so the Redskins, they were a really good team as well.

Their only loss was to their, their top rival, the New York Giants.

That was, that was a 147 game in D.C.

at Griffith Stadium.

The, the Redskins beat them later in the season in New York.

So they were a pretty good team.

But just to put the Bears season in perspective and their dominance, I mean, they finished 110 in the season.

They had four shutouts that season.

The defense was phenomenal.

They were just, they were, like I said, they were the monsters of the midway.

They just, they are rated, I believe, as one of the top regular season teams in NFL history.

Yeah, we, we had a guest on for do the 40 and 41 championships of the Bears.

We had Jeff Burkus on from Windy City grid and he had pointed out a bunch of things and one of them was how prolific their offense is, which that offense still ranks.

I did an infographic before I even talked to Jeff and that 40 Bears team was like seventh all time.

And that's including the AFL, AAFC and NFL records for the last 100 plus years.

And they're still in there for scoring offenses.

That was per game absolutely phenomenal.

Bears team.

Even though that, that Redskins team was, was really good in itself.

I mean to have Sammy Ball as your, as your quarterback and they had some other really good players all.

Ball was the only hall of Famer remaining though on the team.

They had four hall of Future hall of Fame players on 30 17.

So the Ravens coach.

Yeah.

Okay, little.

Little question because we've, we know this is sort of an era of transition.

You know, the war sort of that line of debarkation of you know, not only single platoon football ending and, but offensive strategy.

And we've learned the last couple years, you know, the, the with George Hallis and Clark Shaughnessy bringing in that tee formation that was, you know, really caught everybody by surprise.

Redskins in the 40 game, definitely that was everything sort of clicked on that game for him.

Now teams are starting to slowly adopt that.

Going away from the single and a double wing going into the T formation.

Are the Redskins adopting that same offensive strategy at this point?

They had not officially adopted it at that point.

Kind of like 45.

And then they really got serious about it heading into 46.

Around that time.

45, 46.

So but the Bears, I mean they, they were still running the team, but this time the Redskins were a little better prepared for that.

Wayne Milner, their Hall of Fame end from the 37 team, he was a scout at this time around the 42 championship game.

He went to scout for theirs.

Okay.

Specifically their wishbone offense.

So they were a little better prepared for it heading into the 42 championship game.

Yeah, I guess when you see something for the first time and it's, you know, just like a well oiled machine at that point, you know, it just like hits you like a bulldozer.

But if you have time to prepare and look and find its weaknesses and the chinks in the armor, you're a little bit more prepared and you can know how to defend it a little bit better.

So defenses always catch up the offenses, that's something, something that always happens throughout football history.

That's been the trend since the origin of the NFL.

But just as a little sidebar to, to that whole Bears team from that time.

So Clark Shy Clark Shy was known as the, the brilliance behind the, the wishbone offense because Hallis had consulted him.

I believe Shaughnessy was the head coach of Stanford University around 39, 40, sometime around then.

And, and Halas consulted him.

He wanted to know more about the wishbone.

And so he, he picked his brain and, but that's how the Bears really came to, to develop and implement the, the wishbone.

And George, George Allen, who I wrote a biography about the legendary NFL coach, he replaced Shaughnessy as the Bears defensive coordinator late in the 62 season.

So just that sidebar.

But, but Shaughnessy was the originator.

Yeah.

Wow.

It's quite the innovator, you know.

Really, really changed the game to make it what we know today as, you know, modern football.

So big, big part of that.

So amazing.

Amazing guy.

I forget what they.

For the Redskins it was, I mean, their, their biggest rival was the Giants.

I mean, they faced them twice.

So same old, same old.

It seems like those two are battling it out there for the last decade or so.

Right, right.

And for the, for the Bears in the Western Conference.

That escapes me at this time, but I can look that up, but I.

Think, I think the, the, the packers were still.

Even though they were on down.

Yeah.

The packers were on Detroit a little bit, you know, the Chicago Cardinals a little bit.

But mainly they romped over, you know.

Through everybody basically that season.

Yeah.

There was not one game that was, was close.

Yeah, they're really, like you said, there was really no competition until this championship game in December, so.

That's right.

You go, you know, three or four months without much competition.

It's.

That's pretty dominating.

Right?

Right.

Yeah.

They, nobody really challenged them throughout the regular season.

The, the closest game they had.

That escapes me at the moment, but like I said, the average difference was 26 points in their games.

I mean, they, they had four shutter four shutouts that season.

Yeah.

I'm just scanning through their season.

The closest game I can find out of the 10 before the championship game is 21 to 7 in Week 2 against the Cleveland Rams.

Yeah.

And nothing else.

You know, there's a 16 nothing victory over the Lions November 1st.

That's, you know, that's still dominant when you win by over two touchdowns.

That's.

That's a big win.

Right?

Right.

Wow.

Amazing.

Amazing.

Yeah.

See.

Yeah, I, I would not have liked to have faced the Bears.

They actually remind me in a way of the, of the 63 bears and also the 85 bears particularly.

I mean, while the 63 bears.

And I'm biased for that team because that was George Allen's team, but also the 85 bears.

Nobody could really challenge them that year, if I know you call that.

Except that Monday night Miami game.

That was.

Right.

That was.

There was their only bugaboo, I think, all year.

Right.

They finished 151 in the regular season, I believe.

But I think there's a strong similarity between those, those two teams.

The only reason I remember that game, I was a senior in high school and we have.

Our hunting season in Pennsylvania is always the Monday after Thanksgiving.

And that Monday night game and I had.

I got.

My parents let me take an extra day off because we were deer hunting.

So I got the Tuesday off too.

So I got to stay up and watch the Monday night football game, which I, you know, even in high school when my mom said I'd have to be in bed by 10, I tried to sneak in there, but I got to watch that full game.

That's how I kn.

The Dolphins win with Marina Marino.

I remember Reno had a great.

Yeah, great game that evening.

Yeah, that's for sure.

For sure.

Well, okay, so we have these teams, you know, the, the Washington survives, you know, any threat that the Giants and anybody else has in the East.

Chicago dominates the West.

They meet in this championship game.

Where's the game at this year?

We know that it alternates each year, right.

They played at Griffith Stadium, okay.

In Washington, D.C.

36, 000 people showed up at the Griffith Stadium, including the top man in charge of the U.S.

army, I believe, George C.

Marshall.

He was there.

So on break from his wartime duties, he was there and.

Yeah, pack crab.

36,000 and just to, you know, boisterous.

They were ecstatic.

And you know, and that was, I mean, a lot of people, they started to become true Redskins fans at the time because the Redskins were instant winners in the nation's capital.

So they had also already developed a very large following, and rightly so.

I mean, everybody likes to Pull for a winner.

Yeah, that had to be an amazing time, you know, especially that era.

What's going on in the world?

I mean the Washington D.C.

is a pretty busy place because of the war going on and now you have this big football game.

Well, NFL is not as big as it is now, but still this is a, is a big game for football fans and 36,000 nothing to sneeze at back in that era.

That's a good sized crowd.

That's a very good sized crowd.

Well, Griffith Stadium was originally built for baseball.

It was a baseball stadium, but the Redskins were still able to to play in that venue and draw really good crowds for a certain period of time.

But then after World War II, those crowds started to dissipate considerably because the Redskins became so bad.

Yeah, that seems to always happen.

Yeah, there's a lot of fair weather friends out there, that's for sure.

In all areas.

Okay, so, so we're at the game.

How does the, what's the gameplay like?

What you mean what happens during the game?

So the Bears actually took the, the initial lead.

A Bears player named Lee Arto returned a, recovered a fumble, ran it back 52 yards for a touchdown.

6 Nothing bears, they, they missed the, the point after.

So Bears had a six nothing lead.

That was early in the second period.

Later in the second period the Redskins took a seven to six lead.

Wilbur Moore, very good two way player on the Redskins.

He intercepted a pass, brought back to the Bears 42.

From there Ball immediately threw a 42 yard touchdown pass to the same player, Wilbur Moore.

It was a just a gorgeous catch.

I mean Moore was his back, his helmet and his back were kind of like which you would think is as like in the direction of Boss.

So when he caught that ball his arms, the ball came over his helmet and it landed in his arms and he had a Bears player draped over his back when he caught it around the same time and he fell into the end zone.

So that, that was a 42 yard touchdown reception.

The Redskins kicked the extra point, took a 7 to 6 lead.

Now here's another sidebar I want to tell you about Wilbur Moore, okay?

He was a very good player and I featured him in my book the Redskin Encyclopedia in the player bios.

He, she apparently called him over and he was working in the garage at her house.

And then she shot and killed him.

Right.

So that's the only story I know, I know of its kind in, in Redskins history.

But, but yeah, but this is the same Wilbur Moore who was, he starred in the 42 championship game.

So yeah, it's almost sort of reminiscent of the modern day.

Who was the player for the, the Panthers, the Carolina Panthers that had similar instance.

He went to his ex wife's and ended up getting, getting shot, you know.

Right, right.

So yeah, I forget the gentleman's name, but I recently.

So.

So the Redskins held that, that seven to six lead into the third period.

Late in the period they took possession around, around their own 43 yard line.

Andy Farkas, a really good running back for the Redskins at that time.

He ran the ball nine times on an 11 play drive.

And the final time was a one yard touchdown run.

And as he was going over the goal line he, you could see his body was already over the goal line.

And then he, he fumbled the ball.

But they, they had already ruled it a touchdown.

But in terms of.

Let me read this, this passage to you from Kareem Griffith, the wife of George Preston Marshall, the Redskins owner.

She describes that, that touchdown and they, they used really colorful language back then and it was very creative in how they described things.

She, she wrote, quote, the ball was snapped.

The Redskins charged with every ounce of strength they could muster.

The Bears held with every ounce of strength they could muster with neither side giving an inch.

The result from Andy's point of view was a very messy looking pile of humanity.

Andy couldn't see any way to cut through that sort of thing, so he just climbed up to the peak and slid down the other side head first to a touchdown, giving the Redskins a decided lead.

Sounds like it's a precipice of humanities climbing over and sliding down.

I love that.

So love it.

And actually while it was an eight point lead, they made the conversion.

So it was an eight point lead.

The game was not decided at that point.

The Bears had two more really good opportunities.

They drove from their own 23 yard line to the Washington 11.

But that ubiquitous Sammy Ball intercepted a pass in the end zone that stifled that drive.

And then the Bears got possession one more time.

Late in the fourth quarter, they drove from their own 20 to the Washington one yard line.

And the Washington defense put forth a goal line stand.

Wow, that's got to be one of the most dramatic goal line stands in history.

This is for the Title game.

Wow.

In a close ball game.

I think they were helped a bit because I think the Bears were called for a penalty, like a five yard penalty or something.

Pushed.

Pushed it back a little bit.

Hey, that's.

That still counts as a goal line stand, you know, that they didn't have to commit that penalty.

They did that on their own.

Yeah, yeah.

So amazing.

But that.

And the Redskins just ran out the clock from there.

That, that accounted for the win.

Yeah.

You can't write a story, you know, a fictional story of a game any better than that to have a, that, you know, you have a team undefeated, they come in, take an early lead, and the Redskins hold on.

You know, sounds like a turnover battle.

I mean, defense is on both sides.

Really played a big part in that, in the scoring.

Yeah.

So they, they wanted to, to absolutely gain revenge on the Bears.

Yeah, it's hard to, it's hard to get a 73 point victory by accident, that's for sure.

Yeah, you have to have some intent there to do something.

Wow.

You know, there's a story from a 73 nothing and they, they ran it up so much that they ran out of footballs that day because the footballs were being kicked into the stands.

I can believe it.

That is a lot of scoring.

That's.

I believe my.

Our guests told us that was the largest and still the largest victory, one sided victory in NFL history.

And it happened to be a championship game.

That's, that's incredible.

You know, I think beyond a championship.

Game, I think in any, any, yeah.

Any, any NFL game in 105 years or whatever we've had.

Yeah, crazy, crazy, crazy.

Interestingly, the Redskins are also involved in the highest overall point total for a game in NFL history, 113 points.

Jorgensen days.

So the Redskins have one infamous distinction in terms of point totals and then one.

One very notable distinction in terms of point totals.

The 222 to nothing game.

Usually back to the college games.

Right.

Oh, what happened is Masterson, one of the receivers, or Charlie Malone was one of those guys, dropped a touchdown pass in the game.

So ball with a Southern draw or Texas draw, he said, oh, I reckon the final score would have been 73 to 6.

Very matter of factly, Captain Obvious.

That's a great answer.

Well, Mike, that's, that is like a tremendous thing.

I mean it's, it's amazing how many of these early championship games you have are just so dramatic and they're, I mean these teams are playing their hearts out and very memorable games, you know, 14 to 6, scoring this one back and forth.

It goes down to the very end goal line stand.

Man, that's, that's Hollywood stuff, you know, and just some of these other championship games that just amazing.

And yet you told us so well and we really appreciate that and we know you are an excellent storyteller because you have these books and you mentioned a couple of them here.

Maybe you could tell folks a little bit more about the Redskins Encyclopedia and George Allen book that you mentioned earlier in our podcast here.

Sure, Darren, thanks.

So that was 75 years of Redskins history.

So not only did I summarize all of those 75 seasons, but I wrote bios on the greatest players in Redskins history, all of the hall of Famers at the time, and all of.

But then I added quite a few more names to that list on my own.

So I had more than 100 players in that one chapter alone that I featured.

Are you sure this, this is one book or is this like a volume of encyclopedias?

This is.

Sounds pretty deep.

It was a gargantuan project.

So yeah, so that was my first book.

The Redskins like Peter.

So in addition to all that, it, you know, had this huge statistical part of the book in the back.

So, you know, had all time roster and all time record holders and Redskins in the ring of fame and at the stadium and Redskins of the hall of Fame.

So.

So that was that first.

My first book.

Yeah.

Let me pause in just a second here.

Just a note to the.

The listeners.

If you're driving a car, you don't have a pen and pencil.

You know, don't worry about.

We have link to Mike's books in the show.

Notes of either the podcast or the YouTube video that you're watching.

We'll get you connected to him.

So you can get one of these great books or both of them.

And Mike's going to tell us about his other book.

Sure.

So three years later, my second book, the Washington Redskins Football Vault, was published.

Now, that book is a heavy memorabilia book.

It has game program covers, press passes, ticket stubs, you name it.

The replicas of all those items, or many of those items are in the book.

I wrote the complete text for the book.

So it was very similar in nature to the Redskins encyclopedia in that sense.

But.

But there was.

There were a few years to add to it.

Add more information to the original chapters that I wrote in the encyclopedia as well.

Is there any cool items, like, from this 42 season that you can remember that I'm putting you on the spot.

But there may have been a letter or ticket stub from that 42 game.

Definitely the game program.

Okay.

Game program cover.

Yeah.

All right.

So, folks, you just heard about that game.

Now you get to see a copy of the.

Possibly the ticket stub, definitely the program, in Mike's books.

Again, make sure you get a copy of this one.

Right.

I can say with honesty that there's something in some type of replica from the 42 season in the book.

So that was my second book.

My third book was Joe Gibson Enduring Legacy, and that was published through his foundation, Youth for Tomorrow.

And I wrote a book in his honor.

And at four chapters, chapter on his Redskins career, his NASCAR career, which is still underway at this time, chapter on Youth, Youth for Tomorrow, what all the great things he had done with that organization, and a chapter on his spiritual life.

So I wrote the complete chapters on his.

His Redskins career and nascar, and I edited the entire book.

That's a very heavy photo book.

So.

But I.

I did all the.

The editorial work.

The man's got a lot of depth to him, that's for sure.

Yes.

And he's a winner.

I mean, winner wherever he's gone in life.

So winning NASCAR championships one after another.

And who doesn't like to read about a winner.

So definitely a great pickup here to put in your library.

Right.

And then my my most recent project completed last year.

George Allen, a Football life biography on the legendary coach coach.

The when he became a head coach.

But there's many other details on his life that I focused on.

Like I said before, he was an assistant coach with the Bears that was part of that 63 Bears championship team.

And actually Allen is noted and I of course mentioned this in the book.

He was carried off the field after the game because that was such a great Bears defense.

I mean without that Bears defense, the 63 Bears team would not have won the championship.

And he was given a game ball in the locker room after the game.

So of which Hollis was Alice was very jealous of all that stuff.

But so then and then after his NFL coaching career, he coached in the United States Football League in the early 80s and he also he was later the at the time he was still he was any continued on after his USFL coaching career as the chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports appointed by Ronald Reagan.

Yeah folks.

So get, get on, get the link and especially this book, the George Allen book might sound familiar to you.

We had a podcast with Mike Richmond, our guest today, probably a little over a year ago, that we talked exclusively about this book and get you really pumped up.

So you can listen to that podcast back in our archives.

After you order the book and as you wait for it to come in, listen to that podcast and you'll be all ready when that awesome book on George Allen comes to your doorstop and take a look at that.

So check it out.

And like I said, we have the links in there to get you hooked up with Mike's work.

Mike, we really appreciate you coming on once again and sharing this great history of the team that you love and you write about quite a bit.

We know we have the right guy when you have four books on the subject and we really appreciate you coming on and sharing today.

Sure.

Let me back, let me know if you want me back for well 72.

They lost Super Bowl 7, but then they had the great run during the glory era.

Are you doing early pre Super Bowl?

Yeah, we're just doing up to 65 right now.

That might be another project for another year, but this year we're just, you know, in the pre super bowl ones.

But yeah, we get into that, we'll definitely give you a call.

All right.

Well, thank you very much, Darren for having me on again.

I really enjoyed it.

That's all the football history we have today, folks.

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