The 1942 NFL Championship Game was the tenth title game of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), played 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. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on December 13, with a sellout capacity attendance of 36,006. It matched the undefeated Western Division champion

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

(11–0) and the Eastern Division champion

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

(10–1). The Bears were co-coached by

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 No ...

and Luke Johnsos (after

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

had entered the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

) and led on the field by quarterback

Sid Luckman Sidney Luckman (November 21, 1916 – July 5, 1998) was an American professional football quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1939 through 1950. During his 12 seasons with the Bears, he led t ...

. The Redskins were led by head coach

Ray Flaherty Raymond Paul Flaherty (September 1, 1903 – July 19, 1994) was an American professional football player and coach who spent 18 total seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as both a player and a coach. He played college football for the ...

and quarterback

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football quarterback who played 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the TCU Horne ...

. Chicago had won easily in the summer exhibition game with Washington, but the teams had not met during the

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

regular season. The Bears were aiming for their third consecutive league title and were favored by three touchdowns, but were upset 14–6 by the home underdog Redskins. Tickets were sold out three weeks in advance, and some were being resold for up to fifty dollars. This was the second and final NFL title game played at Griffith Stadium and in the city of Washington. The two teams met on the same site two years earlier with a very different result, as the visiting Bears won in a 73–0 rout.

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 13, 1942''
Kickoff: 2 p.m. EWT (EDT) * First quarter ** ''no scoring'' * Second quarter ** CHI –

Lee Artoe Lee Robert Reno Artoe (March 2, 1917April 1, 2005) was an American professional football player for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and All-America Football Conference (AAFC). A tackle, Artoe played for the NFL's Chicago Be ...

, 52-yard fumble return (kick failed), 6–0 CHI ** WAS – Wilbur Moore, 39-yard pass from Baugh (

Bob Masterson Robert Patrick Masterson (July 23, 1915 – June 29, 1994) was an American football end in the National Football League (NFL). He played six seasons for the Washington Redskins (1938–1943). He played college football at the University of Mia ...

kick), 7–6 WAS * Third quarter ** WAS –

Andy Farkas Andrew Geza Farkas (May 2, 1916 – April 10, 2001) was an American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions. Early life Farkas was born in Clay Center, Ohio of Hungar ...

, 1-yard run (Masterson kick), 14–6 WAS * Fourth quarter ** ''no scoring'' Source:

Officials

*Referee: Ronald Gibbs *Umpire: Carl Brubaker *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 fat ...

*Field judge: Chuck Sweeney The NFL had only four game officials in ; the back judge was added in , the line judge in , and the side judge in .

Players' shares

The gate receipts from the sellout were over $113,000, a record, and each Redskin player received about $976 while each Bear saw about $639.

Next year

At the time, an owners' winter meeting and the annual draft of college players was held around the title game. A year into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and with much of the talent in or entering the military, the meeting focused on whether or not to operate the league in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

; the decision was to continue, with the 1943 NFL draft postponed until April.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1942 NFL Championship Game

Championship Game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

1942 NFL Championship Game The 1942 NFL Championship Game was the tenth title game of the National Football League (NFL), played at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., on December 13, with a sellout capacity attendance of 36,006. It matched the undefeated Western Divi ...

Chicago Bears postseason Washington Redskins postseason

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 ...

December 1942 sports events in the United States American football competitions in Washington, D.C.