Football History Rewind Part 69

The 1931 Professional football season saw just one League, the NFL standing as the Great Depression was in full swing. The season has plenty of reason to be remembered as it may be one of the most disputed in all of NFL history.

The NFL in its twelfth season was in a bit of freefall. Financial woes of the country, due to the Great Depression, had a few teams drop from the League, including the Newark Tornadoes and the Minneapolis Marines. After just seven games another franchise, the Frankford Yellow Jackets folded, limiting the NFL to a mere 9 franchises by season's end. There were some bright spots too. The  Cleveland Indians earned a franchise and joined as an expansion team just before the season started.

The Portsmouth Spartans won their first seven games of the 1931 campaign, allowing their opponents a total of only 16 points that was until the New York Giants knocked them from the ranks of the unbeaten. Green Bay also had a fast start. The season culminated with the first place Green Bay Packers losing to the Chicago Bears a week after the Portsmouth eleven escaped the Windy City with a win. The 12-2 Packers were scheduled to play the 10-3 Spartans in Portsmouth but the Packers brass refused to play a game where with a Portsmouth win there would be a tie for the League Championship. The Spartans protested that the game was listed on the official NFL schedule but NFL Commissioner Joe Carr sided with Green Bay thus the Packers were crowned champs and the Spartans were forced to accept a salty second place finish.

The picture in the banner above is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of A photo of Spartan Stadium in Portsmouth, Ohio

Special thanks to the PFRA, Pro-Football-Reference.com, and the World of Football Podcast.