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 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, the

Portsmouth Spartans The professional American football team now known as the Detroit Lions previously played in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans, from its founding in 1928 to its relocation to Detroit in 1934. Originally drawing players from defunct indepe ...

moved from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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 th ...

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 the ...

, 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 Ford ...

. The

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

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 The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was the trophy awarded to the champions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1934 through 1967. The trophy was named after Ed Thorp, a noted referee, rules expert, sporting goods dealer, and friend to many of the ...

was established as the league's award for the

NFL champion 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 ...

, and was awarded through

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. 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 division. ...

defeated 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 ...

at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

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 c ...

Major rule changes

*A hand-to-hand forward pass made behind the

line of scrimmage In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end o ...

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

, New York City, December 9, 1934

League leaders

Coaching changes

: 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 Albert A. "Luby" DiMeolo (October 27, 1903 – June 17, 1966) was an American football player and coach. He was the second ever head coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates (later renamed the Steelers) of the National Football League. He coached the P ...

. *

: The team entered the league with Chile Walsh as head coach.

Stadium changes

* The

played each of the four home games at different stadiums: Cincinnati's

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

, Dayton's

Triangle Park Triangle Park, also known as the Quezon City Central Business District, is a central business district in Quezon City, Philippines. It is organized around five districts namely: Commons, Downtown Hub, Emporium, Residences at Veterans and Tria ...

, Portsmouth's

Universal Stadium Spartan Municipal Stadium, formerly known as Universal Stadium, is a stadium in Portsmouth, Ohio. It hosted the National Football League's Portsmouth Spartans from 1930 to 1933, as well as local high school teams. The stadium held 8,200 peo ...

, 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

moved from Portsmouth's

University of Detroit Stadium University of Detroit Stadium, also known as U of D Stadium, Titan Stadium, or Dinan Field, was an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located on the campus of the University of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan. The stadium ...

* The Green Bay Packers home games in Milwaukee moved from

Borchert Field Borchert Field was a baseball park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The home field for several professional baseball clubs from 1888 through 1952, it became obsolete after the construction of County Stadium in 1953 and was demolished l ...

Wisconsin State Fair Park The Wisconsin State Fair Park is a fairgrounds and exhibition center in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. It has been the location of the Wisconsin State Fair since 1892. The fairgrounds are open year-round, hosting various expedi ...

* The

played their home games at

Sportsman's Park Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the same piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, on the ...

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