The 1932 NFL season stands as a pivotal moment in the annals of American football, marking the transition from an era of financial instability to one of burgeoning potential and structural evolution within the league. As the Great Depression cast a shadow over the nation, the NFL grappled with significant challenges, including the dissolution of several franchises and a precipitous decline in attendance. However, amidst this adversity, the season garnered intrigue as three teams contended fiercely for the championship title: the Green Bay Packers, the Portsmouth Spartans, and the Chicago Bears. The culmination of this season was not merely a contest of athletic prowess but the inaugural playoff game in NFL history, a transformative event that would lead to the establishment of a postseason framework. This episode delves into the intricacies of the 1932 championship, exploring the economic context, the teams involved, and the remarkable circumstances surrounding the decisive match that would alter the course of the league's future.

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It's the end of one era, the.

Beginning of another, and some really opening some good doors and financial stability for the NFL going forward after a really horrendous year through the Great Depression.

It's all coming up next to talk.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history on a day to day basis.

Your host Darren Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.

So as we come out of the tunnel of the Sports History Network, let's take the field and go no huddle through the portal of positive gridiron history with pigskindispatch.com.

This podcast is part of the Sports History Network, your headquarters for the yesteryear of your favorite sport.

Was a rough year for the world and for the NFL as the Great Depression rolled on.

There was hope though, as Franklin Delano.

Roosevelt was newly elected as the President.

Of the United States.

Yet the NFL was suffering.

Financial woes have meant the demise of.

Major and recently competitive teams such as the Providence Steamroller, the Frankfort Yellowjackets, the Cleveland Indians.

And softening some of this retraction was the addition of the Boston Braves, owned by George Preston Marshall.

But 32 was a very pivotal year and very historic and we're going to get into that tonight.

Hello everybody, this is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome to the Pig Pen, your portal to Potters of Football History.

In this era of years, the NFL's.

Champion was determined by the team with the best record.

The economic trickle effect caused financial pain for the NFL.

The great loss of income in conjunction with the financial situations of the franchises and its patrons.

The league dropped to its lowest level.

Of participating teams ever when only eight franchises took the field under the National Football League banner For that year, the.

Lowest amount of teams occurred only one other time in the league's history in.

1943, amid World War II.

But there was some great things too, because despite all the setbacks early on.

The season was highly successful for three.

Teams viewed for the NFL title that season.

The Green Bay packers, the Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Bears.

Now, Green Bay finished the season with a 103 record, a great campaign by all accounts.

This could have been their fourth in a row.

Historic that they won three in a row.

But when the Spartans and Bears had.

A higher winning percentage and virtually tied for the best record in the NFL.

Had met head to head twice in the regular season, and both contests ended in a tie.

So they were split.

This happened one other time in NFL history almost eight years earlier, when the Buffalo, All Americans and the Chicago Bears tied.

But this was a little bit different.

It was time for change.

The title was supposed to be given.

To the team with the best record.

As it had been for over a decade in the young NFL.

This season, though, ended with the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans a virtual tie for top record in the league.

And remember, ties didn't count because if ties counted, perhaps Green Bay would be the championship because their winning percentage would be higher.

But alas, they didn't.

That 103 record is all it stood.

The ties were out and 261 teams.

Would meet in Chicago on that cold December day.

Now it's believed that George Halas challenged the Spartans to play the game to settle the tie.

They wanted no part of any co champion Bologna.

Thus far, we had the first NFL postseason game, a playoff, and the first playoff game in NFL history.

It had some massive twists and turns to make it quite a remarkable story.

Even besides the fact that the game was going to be played to determine the NFL champion.

The first odd occurrence was that the Spartans star Earl Dutch Clark couldn't play in a game because he had to work.

While that may sound crazy to us today, professional football players of that era didn't make enough money to make a living all year.

Most had to take the seasonal jobs.

To make the ends meet.

Even superstars like Dutch Clark, who worked.

As the head basketball coach at Colorado College.

His hoops team had a game that day on December 18th and Dutch couldn't.

Get off work to make it to the football game in Chicago.

Second crazy thing that happened was due to a freak late fall blizzard in Chicago, the game had to be moved inside Chicago Stadium.

Because Wrigley Field was covered with a.

Deep snow and frozen with dangerous sub zero temperatures, the playing field had to.

Be modified to play inside.

So the game was played on a field only 80 yards long and some 30 yards narrower than the regulars width.

Of the fields the teams played on all season.

The last item surrounding the game happened.

On the contest only touchdown.

It was Bronco Nagursky threw a scoring jump pass to Red Grange but the Spartans were in awe of it and debated that it was a touchdown because they said it was an illegal play.

Bronco Nagursky and any quarterback or any passer in the NFL at that time had to be more than five yards behind the line of scrimmage before he released the pass.

Apparently he was closer to the line of scrimmage than that because he did the jump pass to do it just over the line.

But the play stood after the officials negotiated with Portsmouth and the Bears won the NFL title by the score of nine to nothing.

Now that put the Bears at seven one in 875 win loss percentage.

That moved the Spartans to third place.

29.

I'm sorry, 29, 30 and 31.

So it was a new era as the Chicago Bears had won their next championship.

A title game being scheduled each year going forward and announced the birth of the NFL postseason.

Joe Ziemba can tell them.

And we're really excited that he's kicking.

Off this new series and taking us.

Into this championship era.

But that's just the start, you know.

Josie Emba, great historian, but we got more historians.

We're going to have some from each team that won the championship.

Randy Snow is going to bring us.

Swick and the Green Bay Packers.

Bob was with the Gridiron Greats magazine.

Randy Snow is a host of the.

World of Football podcast.

And then we get into some podcasters from the Windy City.

They're going to take us.

They host a show together up there.

Jeff Burks and Jack Silverstein are going to cover some of the Chicago Bears of the late 30s and early 40s.

Joe Squires, who also was on Gridiron Greats magazine, and the podcast of Gridiron Greats is going to cover the Cleveland rams of the 45 season.

And Joe Ziembo joins us back again with the Chicago Cardinals for 47, and we have plenty more after that.

And talking about the great teams of this era of NFL championships before the super bowl, and I think you're really going to enjoy it.

It all kicks off March 3rd and every Monday for the rest of the year, so I hope you enjoy that.

Enjoy our other programs.

We have Tuesdays with Timothy P.

Brown and many solo episodes with yours truly leading the way, taking you through football history.

So until next time, everybody have a great gridiron day.

Peeking up at the clock, the time's running down.

We're going to go into victory formation, take a knee and let this baby run out.

Thanks for joining us.

We'll see you back tomorrow.

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