1934 NFL season
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The 1934 NFL season was the 15th
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 ...
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 majo ...
. Before the season, the Portsmouth Spartans moved from
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
to
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
, and were renamed the
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 For ...
. The Cincinnati Reds lost their first eight games, then were suspended for not paying league dues. The
St. Louis Gunners The St. Louis Gunners were an independent professional football team based in St. Louis, Missouri, that played the last three games of the 1934 National Football League season, replacing the Cincinnati Reds on the league schedule after the Reds' ...
, an independent team, played the last three games of the Reds' 1934 schedule in their stead. The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was established as the league's award for the NFL champion, and was awarded through 1967. The host team for the NFL Championship Game would now alternate between the two divisions, with the Eastern Division champion hosting in even-numbered years, and the Western champion hosting in odd-numbered years. The season ended with the NFL Championship Game when the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
defeated the Chicago Bears at the Polo Grounds in what has become known as the "
Sneakers Game The 1934 NFL Championship Game, also known as the Sneakers Game, was the second scheduled National Football League (NFL) championship game. Played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 9, it was the first title game for the newly cr ...
".


Major rule changes

*A hand-to-hand forward pass made behind the line of scrimmage that becomes incomplete (hits the ground before it is caught) is to be ruled as a fumble. *Incomplete passes no longer result in a five-yard penalty


Final standings


NFL Championship Game

N.Y. Giants 30, Chi. Bears 13 at Polo Grounds, New York City, December 9, 1934


League leaders


Coaching changes

* Cincinnati Reds: Algy Clark served as head coach, replacing Al Jolley and Mike Palm (who served three and seven games of the previous season, respectively). *
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
: Forrest Douds was replaced by Luby DiMeolo. *
St. Louis Gunners The St. Louis Gunners were an independent professional football team based in St. Louis, Missouri, that played the last three games of the 1934 National Football League season, replacing the Cincinnati Reds on the league schedule after the Reds' ...
: The team entered the league with Chile Walsh as head coach.


Stadium changes

* The Cincinnati Reds played each of the four home games at different stadiums: Cincinnati's Crosley Field, Dayton's Triangle Park, Portsmouth's Universal Stadium, and Xavier University's
Corcoran Stadium Corcoran Stadium was a stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It hosted the Xavier University Musketeers football team until the school dropped football for financial reasons in 1973. The stadium held 15,000 people when it opened on November 23, 1929. The ...
. * The relocated
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 For ...
moved from Portsmouth's Universal Stadium to University of Detroit Stadium * The Green Bay Packers home games in Milwaukee moved from Borchert Field to Wisconsin State Fair Park * The
St. Louis Gunners The St. Louis Gunners were an independent professional football team based in St. Louis, Missouri, that played the last three games of the 1934 National Football League season, replacing the Cincinnati Reds on the league schedule after the Reds' ...
played their home games at Sportsman's Park


References

* ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' ()
NFL History 1931–1940
(Last accessed December 4, 2005)

* ''Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League'' () {{DEFAULTSORT:1934 Nfl Season National Football League seasons