The First NFL Championship Game

1932 NFL Championship (On Top)
Super Bowl 37 (On Bottom)

The 1932 NFL Championship Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 season's final standings in the National Football League. It matched the host Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans, the first NFL playoff game. With the snowfall and anticipated extremely cold temperatures that weekend in Chicago, Illinois, the game was moved indoors.

The NFL/AFL/AAFC Timeline In 1 Minute



    The NFL/AFL/AAFC Timeline In 1 Minute

What Was The All-American Football Conference?

The All-American Football Conference or the AAFC was a football league that sprouted from the return of football players from WW2. Founded in 1944 but didn't start its first season until 1946. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition with the NFL. Three of its teams were admitted to the NFL: the San Francisco 49ers, the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts (not the same team that later played, the second Colts team would play in Baltimore in the NFL from 1953 through 1983, now the Indianapolis Colts). The AAFC had its teams play in a double round robin format in the regular season. Each team had a home game and an away game with each of its AAFC opponents. 

The League had 8 teams in its first three years and 7 teams in its last season in 1949. The teams that folded in 1949 that didn't go to the NFL were Buffalo Bison/Bills, the Brooklyn Dodgers that merged with the New York Yankees (were two different teams for 46-48') for just the 1949 season only, the Miami Seahawks, the Los Angeles Dons, and the Chicago Rockets/Hornets. The Cleveland Browns dominated the league winning all 4 championships. The Browns, 49ers, and Colts (Not the current Colts) joined the league in 1950. These 3 teams were looked down upon for other NFL teams. The Browns continued their success going to the next 6 NFL Championships and 7 of the next 8 championship games. Otto Graham Hall of Fame Quarterback of the Browns and Head Coach Paul Brown lead those first 10 Browns' teams. They won 7 of 10 title games, going 3 for 3 in the NFL, no one has ever approached that level of greatness ever since or before. The league has made a huge impact on the sports because we still have the Cleveland Browns who later became the Ravens and then reemerged in 1999 and also the San Francisco 49ers. These teams have won many titles and will continue to compete for more titles.

The Impact Of WW2 On The NFL

World War 2 impacted the world  in so many ways. It also had a huge impact on the NFL. Due to the war, many players left America and football to fight in the war. This caused many player shortages for teams. For example the Cleveland Rams (Now the Los Angeles Rams) suspended operations in 1943. Also interesting is the Eagles and Steelers merged teams because of player shortages. They were dubbed the Steagles and after 1943 those respective teams returned operations to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The Steagles in the record books were officially called  Phil-Pitt Combine. Surprisingly this is the first winning season for the Philadelphia Eagles if you want to count it because it technically wasn't just the Eagles players and staff. The next year in 1944 Pittsburgh still had a shortage of players so they decided to merge with the Chicago Cardinals, otherwise known as Card-Pitt. This merger didn't end up as well as the 5-4-1 Steagles, Card-Pitt went 0-10. By 1945 the war ended and all NFL teams resumed normal operations.

These teams will always be remembered in football lure, during a time of pain and suffering. In 2003, the Steagles were recognized by the Steelers for the 60th Anniversary of the team. Also interesting is in Week 2 of 1943, the Steagles fumbled the ball 10 times and defeated the Giants and NFL Record which has been matched three times. In all, it was an interesting time in the NFL that might never happen again.