The 1942 NFL season was the 23rd

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Before the season, many players left for service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, thus depleting the rosters of all the teams. The

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

finished the regular season at 11–0, and faced the 10–1

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the championship game. Washington, which had been beaten 73–0 in the 1940 title game, got a measure of revenge in spoiling the Bears' hope for a

perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the ...

, winning 14–6.

Draft

The 1942 NFL Draft was held on December 22, 1941 at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Palmer House Hotel The Palmer House – A Hilton Hotel is a historic hotel in Chicago's Loop area. It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Palmer House was the city's first hotel with elevators, ...

. With the first pick, the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

selected runningback

Bill Dudley William McGarvey "Bullet Bill" Dudley (December 24, 1921 – February 4, 2010) was an American professional football player in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, and Washington Redskins. He was inducte ...

from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Major rule changes

*The use of flags on flexible shafts to mark the intersections of goal lines and side lines (the predecessor to the pylon) becomes mandatory. *A clarification to the offsides rule is added: The center or snapper is not offsides unless a portion of his body is ahead of the defensive team's line. *A half cannot end on a double foul. Instead, the period will be extended by one untimed down. *Detachable kicking toes are prohibited. *When an encroachment or false start causes the other team to be offsides, only the initial foul is penalized. *A forward pass that first touches an ineligible receiver may be intercepted. *If the offensive team commits pass interference in their opponent's end zone, it is an automatic

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

Final standings

NFL Championship Game

Washington 14, Chi. Bears 6, at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, December 13, 1942

League leaders

Awards

Coaching changes

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

Jock Sutherland John Bain Sutherland (March 21, 1889 – April 11, 1948) was an American football player and coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College (1919–1923) and the University of Pittsburgh (1924–1938) and professional football for the ...

was replaced by

Mike Getto Michael J. Getto (September 18, 1905 – August 27, 1960) was a professional football coach in the National Football League for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942. That season, he coached Brooklyn to a 3–8 record. Prior to his coaching career ...

. *

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

stepped down after five games in 1942 to serve in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

. In his place,

Hunk Anderson Heartley William "Hunk" Anderson (September 22, 1898 – April 24, 1978) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the Saint Louis University (1928–1929), University of Notre Dame (1931–1933), and Nort ...

and

Luke Johnsos Luke Andrew Johnsos Sr. (December 9, 1905 – December 10, 1984) was an American football player, assistant coach, and head coach for the National Football League's Chicago Bears franchise. He started with the Bears in 1929 at the age of 23 as a ...

served as co-coaches of the Bears. *

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

: Bill Edwards was released after three games in 1942.

John Karcis John "Bull" Karcis (December 3, 1908 – September 4, 1973) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and New York Gian ...

served for the final eight games.

Stadium changes

* The

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...

moved from

Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball an ...

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough, Cleveland, Hough neighborhood. It was built ...

* The

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

moved back from

Philadelphia Municipal Stadium John F. Kennedy Stadium, formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Sesquicentennial Stadium. was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia that stood from 1926 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was on the east side of the far southern end of ...

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

, where they played in 1940

References

*''NFL Record and Fact Book'' ()
NFL History 1941–1950
(Last accessed December 4, 2005) *''Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League'' () {{DEFAULTSORT:1942 Nfl Season National Football League seasons