The First NFL Playoff Game and Its Lasting Effect on Football
December 18, 1932

The Chicago Bears, coached by the team founder George Halas, and the Portsmouth Spartans of Potsy Clark finished the 1932 regular season of the National Football League tied for first. Here were the final regular season standings.

Team
W
L
T
Pct.
Chicago Bears
6
1
6
.857
Portsmouth Spartans
6
1
4
.857
Green Bay Packers
10
3
1
.769
Boston Braves
4
4
2
.500
New York Giants
4
6
2
.400
Brooklyn Dodgers
3
9
0
.250
Chicago Cardinals
2
6
2
.250
Staten Island Stapletons
2
7
3
.222

For the first time, the NFL needed a playoff to determine the champion. Because the game would count in the standings, the loser would finish third behind Green Bay.

The game was scheduled for Wrigley Field, the Bears’ home. Because of extremely cold weather, the contest was moved indoors to Chicago Stadium. Special rules were adopted because of the limited playing area. (See the picture below.)

  • The dirt-covered field was only 80 yards long (including the end zones) and 45 yards wide.
  • The sidelines butted up against the stands. So, for the first time, all plays would start with the ball on or between the hash marks, which were ten yards from the sidelines.
  • The goal posts were moved from the end lines to the goal lines.
  • The ball was automatically moved back to the 20-yard line every time a team crossed midfield.

Defense dominated during three scoreless quarters. Finally, the Bears scored a disputed touchdown in the fourth quarter. With the ball at the Spartans’ two, QB Dutch Brumbaugh handed the ball to Bronco Nagurski who passed to Red Grange (pictured above) for the touchdown. However, the 1932 NFL rules, which were simply the current college rules, required a forward pass to be thrown from at least five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Despite Portsmouth's protest that Bronco was inside the seven yard line when he passed the ball, the score stood. The Bears later got a safety to make the final score 9-0.

The NFL owners liked several aspects of the game so much that they voted to have their own rules for the 1933 season apart from college rules. The major differences were these.

  • The goal posts were put on each goal line to increase the number of field goals and thereby decrease the number of tie games. (This rule continued until 1974.)
  • A forward pass could be thrown from any point behind the line of scrimmage.
  • The ball would be spotted on the closer hash mark for every offensive play.
  • The league broke into Eastern and Western Divisions to have a championship game every year.

Under the new setup, the Bears won again in 1933, defeating the New York Giants 23-21 in the first official NFL championship game.

Portsmouth competed in the NFL from 1930-1933. The team was purchased and moved to Detroit for the 1934 season to become the Lions.

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