The 1945 NFL Championship Game was the 13th

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 ...

(NFL)

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

. Held on December 16, 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 ...

defeated the

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 ...

15–14 at

Cleveland 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 ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. This was the last game before the Rams moved west to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. One play which provided the Rams' margin of victory led to a significant rule change in professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. If the title game had ended in a tie, the teams would have shared the championship. It was the coldest NFL championship game up to that time, with a temperature of , which significantly curtailed the expected attendance and revenue.

The game

In the first quarter, the Redskins had the ball at their own 5-yard line. Dropping back into the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

threw the ball, but it hit the

goal post In sport, a goal may refer to either an instance of scoring, or to the physical structure or area where an attacking team must send the ball or puck in order to score points. The structure of a goal varies from sport to sport, and one is plac ...

(which were on the goal line from through ) and bounced back to the ground in the end zone. Under the rules at the time, this was a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

, which gave the Rams a 2–0 lead. In the second quarter, Baugh suffered bruised ribs and was replaced by

Frank Filchock Frank Joseph Filchock (October 8, 1916 – June 20, 1994) was an American gridiron football player and coach. As a consequence of a famous scandal regarding the 1946 NFL Championship Game, he was suspended by the National Football League (NF ...

, who threw a 38-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

pass to

Steve Bagarus Stephen Michael Bagarus (September 19, 1919 – October 17, 1981) was an American football halfback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football College f ...

to give the Redskins a 7–2 lead. The Rams scored just before halftime when rookie quarterback

Bob Waterfield Robert Stanton Waterfield (July 26, 1920 – March 25, 1983) was an American professional football player and coach. He played quarterback for the UCLA Bruins and Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame ...

completed a 37-yard touchdown pass to

Jim Benton Jim K. Benton (born October 31, 1960) is an American illustrator and writer. Licensed properties he has created include Dear Dumb Diary, Dog of Glee, Franny K. Stein, Just Jimmy, Just Plain Mean, Sweetypuss, The Misters, Meany Doodles, Vampy Do ...

. Waterfield's ensuing

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

was partially blocked, with the ball teetering on the crossbar, but it dropped over to give Cleveland a 9–7 lead.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPcZncU_p3A> In the third quarter, the Rams increased their lead to 15–7 when

Jim Gillette James "Jim" Gillette (born November 10, 1967) is an American singer, notable for being the frontman of glam metal band Nitro. Originally a member of the band Tuff, Gillette released a solo album in 1987 and then formed Nitro with guitarist Mi ...

scored on a 44-yard touchdown reception, but this time the extra point was missed. The Redskins then came back to cut their deficit to 15–14 with

Bob Seymour Robert Arnold Seymour (June 13, 1916 – May 28, 1977) was an American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He was drafted in the tenth round of the 1940 NFL Draft. Seymour also played in the All ...

's 8-yard touchdown catch from Filchock; in the fourth quarter, Washington kicker Joe Aguirre missed two field goals attempts, of 46 and 31 yards, that could have won the game. But it was the first quarter safety that proved to be the margin of victory. After the game, Redskins owner

George Preston Marshall George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman best known for founding the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He founded the team as ...

was so incensed at the outcome that he became a driving force in passing a major rule change after the season - a forward pass that strikes the goal posts is automatically ruled incomplete. This rule eventually became known as the "Baugh/Marshall Rule" and remained in effect until , when the goal posts returned to the end line and were impossible to hit with a legal forward pass, which made the rule

dead letter Dead letter mail or undeliverable mail is mail that cannot be delivered to the addressee or returned to the sender. This is usually due to lack of compliance with postal regulations, an incomplete address and return address, or the inability to ...

Officials

*Referee:

Ronald Gibbs Ronald James Gibbs (June 29, 1900 – March 12, 1985) was an American football player, coach, and referee. Coaching career Gibbs was a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He served as the school's head football coa ...

*Umpire:

Harry Robb Harry Duplein Robb (May 11, 1897 – December 15, 1971) was an American football player and coach during the 1920s. Biography College and military Robb was born in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania and attended Peabody High School in Pittsburgh. Upon his ...

*Head Linesman:

Charlie Berry Charles Francis Berry (October 18, 1902 – September 6, 1972) was an American athlete and sports official who enjoyed careers as a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as an end and official in the National Football League. His fathe ...

*Field Judge: Bill Downes The NFL had only four game

officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

in ; the back judge was added in , the line judge in , and the side judge in .

Player shares

Total revenue generated by the championship game totaled $164,542, which included $15,081 for radio broadcast rights, a new record."NFL Championship Games: 1945: Washington Redskins @ Cleveland Rams,"
Golden Football Magazine, http://goldenrankings.com/ Of this total, $95,261 was allotted to the players, resulting in shares of about $1,409 per player for the victorious Rams and $902 per player for the losing Redskins.

Rams relocation to Los Angeles

Despite winning the World Championship, Rams owner

Dan Reeves Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third most for an ...

lost $64,000 with his franchise during the

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

season. These financial losses, combined with the Rams' poor home attendances and the awarding of a Cleveland franchise ( Browns) in the soon to be formed

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC), ensured the relocation of the Rams to

in January

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

Game statistics

Scoring summary

First downs: Rams 14, Redskins 8 Yards rushing: Rams 44 carries for 180 yards, Redskins 34 carries for 35 yards Passing: Rams 11-for-27 for 192 yards (2 TDs), Redskins 9-for-20 for 179 yards (2 TDs) Return yardage: Rams 131, Redskins 155 Fumbles-Lost: Rams 1-1, Redskins 1-0 Penalties: Rams 6 for 60 yards, Redskins 4 for 29 yards