NFL 1940s Trivia

1. The 1940 NFL title game is famous for the Chicago Bears 73-0 victory over the Washington Redskins, which avenged a regular season loss by the Bears to the Redskins. What was the score of the regular season meeting?

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: 7-3

The Bears had lost in Washington to the Redskins 7-3 on November 17, 1940. After the game, in which the Bears had claimed their receiver, Bill Osmanski, had been interfered with on the last play at the goal line, Redskins' owner George Preston Marshall called the Bears "crybabies" and "quitters". The Bears swore revenge on the Redskins and, less than a month later on December 8th, the Bears had their revenge.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: Redskins, 7-3

Three weeks before the championship, the teams met in a regular season game. With the Redskins leading 7-3, the Bears drove to the Washington one yard line late in the game. On the final play, a Sid Luckman pass into the end zone fell incomplete. The Bears protested that there had been pass interference, but to no avail. Odd score, considering what was to come.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Green Bay Packers

On December 14, 1941, one week after Pearl Harbor, and at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Bears spotted the Pack a 7-0 lead. Then, led by Norm Standlee's two touchdowns (three and two yards), easily defeated the Packers 33-14.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: Midgets of the Midway

After the Redskins had beaten the Bears three weeks earlier in a game that the Bears loudly protested they'd lost because of officiating, flamboyant Redskins owner George Preston Marshall poured it on: "The Bears are front-runners", "Quitters", "Just a bunch of cry-babies". "Chicago is a first-half ball club. As long as you stay close in the first half, you are OK. They won't hurt you in the second half". Before the game, Bears coach George Halas reviewed Marshall's quotes with the players, then said, "Gentlemen, this is what the Redskins think of you! I think you're a great football team the greatest ever assembled. Go out onto that field and prove it!" They did.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Norm Standlee

Standlee's two touchdowns, on runs of seven and two yards, came with the game tied at 9-9. The two Standlee touchdowns put the Bears ahead 23-9, and the Bears also scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to put the game away.

From Quiz NFL in the 1940s

Answer: Division ties would be settled with a one-game playoff; game ties would be settled with an overtime period

It was a timely rule: the 1941 Packers and Bears both finished at 10-1 in the NFL's western division, putting the new rule to the test in its first season, as the Bears beat the Packers 33-14 in the first-ever divisional playoff game. The overtime rule was not used in a championship game until 1958.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: T formation

Clark Shaughnessy, a coach with University of Chicago and later Stanford, developed the T formation, seven players on the line and three backs lined up behind the quarterback, parallel to the line and shared it with his friend George Halas, coach of the Bears. The idea of the formation was to give defenses little idea of what the offense would be doing. As the ball was snapped, the quarterback could easily hand off to any of the backs behind him, or throw a pass to either his receivers or the running backs. With another wrinkle added by Halas - running a player in motion parallel to the line before the play started - defenses were further confused. The Bears' T devestated the Redskins. Three weeks later, Shaughnessy's Stanford team used the T to win the Rose Bowl, 21-13, over Nebraska. By 1945, nearly every US football team - pro, college, high school - were exclusively or primarily using the formation.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Wilbur Moore

In the second quarter, only three plays after the Bears had returned a fumble 50 yards for a score, Sammy Baugh hit Wilbur Moore for the TD that put the Redskins ahead to stay. Andy Farkas' one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter was the final score of the game.

From Quiz NFL in the 1940s

Answer: The Rams scored a safety without tackling anyone

Early in the game, Redskin quarterback Sammy Baugh dropped back into his own end zone to pass. His throw hit the crossbar (the goal posts were on the goal line in 1945) and bounced back into the end zone, resulting in a safety under rules at the time. The safety gave the Rams a 2-0 lead, and they went on to win the game 15-14. The rules about safeties were changed just three weeks later; under the new rules, Baugh's pass would merely have been incomplete. The Redskins would not play for an NFL title again until 1973.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: Bill Osmanski

Osmanski, aided by a man in motion misdirecting the Redskins defense, and a massive block taking out the final Redskin defender between himself and the goal line, got the rout started in the game's first minute.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: New York Giants

On December 19, 1943, at the Polo Grounds in New York City, the Redskins behind Andy Farkas' three touchdowns and Sammy Baugh's 16 for 21 passing, defeated the Giants 28-0.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: 18

Despite the Redskins being out-gained 381 yards to five on the ground, they managed 18 first downs, one more than the Bears. Of course, when they were letting Chicago score four times from 30 or more yards out, and throwing eight interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns, first downs weren't a critical factor in determining the outcome.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: 15

12 - Harry Clark (two touchdowns) 7 - Joe Maniaci (one touchdown, plus caught a pass for an extra point) 6 - Gary Famigletti, Ken Kavanaugh, Sid Luckman, George McAfee, Ray Nolting, Bill Osmanski, Hampton Pool, Bulldog Turner (one TD each) 2 - Bob Snyder (two extra point kicks) 1 - Jack Manders, Phil Martinovich, Dick Plasman, Joe Stydahar (one extra point kick each) Eight Bears scored touchdowns; five different players kicked extra points.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Ted Fritsch

Fritsch scored twice in the second quarter, on a one-yard TD run and a 28-yard TD pass from Irv Comp. The Giants' only TD came in the fourth quarter.

From Quiz NFL in the 1940s

Answer: They were the first black players in the modern NFL

Although the NFL had some black players in its earliest days (including 2005 Hall of Fame inductee Fritz Pollard), the league was all-white after 1933, partially because of the efforts of Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, who considered his team the "team of the south" and thought nonwhite players would hurt the league's appeal. Kenny Washington was a UCLA teammate of Jackie Robinson's and re-integrated football a year before Robinson broke baseball's color line. Woody Strode went on to become an actor of some renown, appearing in roles in "The Ten Commandments," "Spartacus," and numerous other films until his death in 1994.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: A reminder about purchasing 1941 season tickets

The unfortunate public address announcer picked the wrong time in the wrong game to invite people to spend their hard-earned money on Redskins tickets! Upon hearing the gun ending the game, one sportswriter remarked that it was the sound of the Redskins owner shooting himself.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Pass hit crossbar, bounced through end zone

In the first quarter, from his own five-yard line, Sammy Baugh dropped back into his own end zone to throw a pass. However, the pass hit the crossbar (goal posts were on the goal line at the time) and bounced through the end zone. Under the rules at the time, a safety was ruled.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: The officials were running out of footballs

In 1940, the NFL hadn't adapted the practice of putting up nets to catch kicked footballs. As ball after ball disappeared into the stands on extra point conversions, the officials finally asked the Bears to start running plays from scrimmage for the extra points.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: 50,001 to 60,000

On December 15, 1946, at the Polo Grounds in New York City, 58,346 fans saw Sid Luckman's 19-yard TD run in the fourth quarter provide the winning margin for the Bears. This would be the Bears last NFL title for 17 years.

From Quiz NFL in the 1940s

Answer: Helmet

Although leather helmets were developed in the late 1800s and worn by a majority of players when the league began in 1920, they were not required until 1943. Two of the most prominent football players to shun helmets in the 1930s were future US President Gerald Ford, who played in college without one, and Bill Hewitt, an end for the Chicago Bears. A famous picture exists of an unhelmeted Hewitt lateralling to Bill Karr to score the winning touchdown in the 1933 NFL championship. Dick Plasman, a Chicago Bears end, is widely regarded as the last NFL player to not use a helmet in games.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers

For the Steelers, a franchise who joined the league in 1933, this was their only playoff action of any kind until 1972. Tying the Eagles with an 8-4 regular season record, the Steelers were held in check by the Eagles defense. Eagles quarterback Tommy Thompson threw two touchdowns as Philadelphia won 21-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

From Quiz NFL in the 1940s

Answer: During the World War II player shortage, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles stayed afloat by merging for a season

A large number of able-bodied American men were drafted into World War II, leaving all major sports leagues short of both players and fans. To save money, the Steelers and Eagles merged for the 1943 season, combining their rosters and coaches, and playing half their home games in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The following year, the Chicago Cardinals merged with the Steelers, forming the Chicago-Pittsburgh Carpets, who went 0-10 (yes, the "Carpets" got "beat every week!"). The NFL returned to its normal configuration in 1946.

From Quiz 1940: Bears 73, Redskins 0

Answer: Pearl Harbor attack

The NFL season started a week later in 1941 than in 1940, pushing the championship game back in the process. On December 7, 1941, the Redskins were playing their final game of a disappointing season. Word of the bombing of Pearl Harbor reached the press box shortly after kickoff. Owner George Preston Marshall prohibited making an announcement of the attack (he later said that he "didn't want to divert fans' attention from the game"), but as the Redskins went on to beat the Eagles 20-14, announcement after announcement was made requesting one prominent official after another, admirals, generals, and cabinet secretaries to report to their offices for duty. The Bears did win another title in 1941, and the Redskins did get their revenge on the Bears and win the 1942 championship, but by that time war had displaced football in the minds of most fans.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Elmer Angsman

Angsman scored his touchdowns in the second and fourth quarter. Charley Trippi also contributed two scores in the game, on a 44-yard run and a 75-yard punt return.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: 4th

Van Buren scored on the third play of the final quarter on a five-yard run. The Eagles had gained control of the ball after recovering a fumble on the Cardinals' 17-yard line.

From Quiz NFL Championships of the 1940s

Answer: Pete Pihos

Hall of Famer Pete Pihos scored his touchdown in the second quarter on a 31-yard TD pass from Tommy Thompson. The other Eagles' TD came on Leo Skladany returned a blocked punt two yards.

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