The 1947 NFL season was the 28th

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 ...

. The league expanded the regular season by one game from eleven games per team to twelve, a number that remained constant for fourteen seasons, through

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. The season ended when the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

defeated 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 ...

in the

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

on December 28.

Draft

The

1947 NFL Draft The 1947 National Football League Draft was held on December 16, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The National Football League in this draft made the first overall pick, a bonus pick determined by lottery. The Chicago B ...

was held on December 16, 1946 at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's Commodore Hotel. With the first pick, 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 ...

selected halfback Bob Fenimore from

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (officially Oklahoma State University; informally Oklahoma State, OK State, OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originall ...

Major rule changes

*A fifth official, the

Back Judge In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. During professional and most college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Since 2015, Division I ...

, is added to the officiating crew. *When a team has fewer than 11 players on the field prior to a snap or kick, the officials are not to notify them. *An illegal use of hands penalty will be called whenever a defensive player uses them to block the vision of a receiver during any pass behind the offensive team's line. *During an unsuccessful extra point attempt, the play becomes dead as soon as failure is evident. *Roughing the kicker will not be called if he kicks after recovering a loose ball or fumble on the play. *All teams are required to use prescribed standard yardage chains, down boxes, and flexible shaft markers. *Games are no longer played on Tuesdays.

Division races

Starting in 1947, the NFL teams played a 12-game schedule rather than the previous 11 games. The twelfth game proved to be crucial for the Steelers, Eagles, Cardinals and Bears. In the Eastern Division, Pittsburgh took a half-game lead over Philadelphia after a 35–24 win in ''Week Five''. In ''Week Eleven'', the Eagles won the rematch, 21–0, to take a 7–3–0 to 7–4–0 lead, while the Cardinals lost to the Giants, 35–31, and the Bears beat Detroit 34–14, leaving the 7–3–0 Cards a game behind the 8–2–0 Bears in the Western Division. In ''Week Twelve'', the Cardinals beat the Eagles, 45–21, and Pittsburgh beat Boston 17–7, but the Bears lost to the Rams, 17–14. The Steelers finished at 8–4, leaving the 7–4 Eagles needing to win their last game, while the Bears and Cardinals were both at 8–3, making the Bears-Cardinals game the following week a ''de facto'' playoff for the Western title: a tie would force a second playoff game between them. In ''Week Thirteen'', Philadelphia beat Green Bay 28–14 to force a playoff with Pittsburgh for the Eastern title, while before a sold-out crowd of 48,632 at Wrigley Field, the Cardinals beat the Bears 30–21 to win the Western title and the right to host the Championship Game.

Final standings

Playoffs

:''Home team in capitals'' Eastern Division Playoff Game *Philadelphia 21, PITTSBURGH 0 NFL Championship Game *CHI. CARDINALS 28, Philadelphia 21

League leaders

Coaching changes

Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the Ameri ...

Herb Kopf Herbert M. Kopf (June 25, 1901 – March 22, 1996) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Manhattan College from 1938 to 1942 and as the head coach for the Boston Yanks of the National Football League ...

was replaced by Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith. *

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

: Adam Walsh was replaced by Bob Snyder.