1933 NFL season

The 1933 NFL season was the 14th regular season of the National Football League.

Because of the success of the Playoff Game the year before, the league divided its teams into two Divisions for the first time, with the winners of each Division playing in a Championship Game to determine the NFL Champion.

Three new teams joined the league: the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Cincinnati Reds, while the Boston Braves changed their name to the Boston Redskins and the Staten Island Stapletons, while still scheduling games against league teams, left the league.

The season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants in the first ever NFL Championship Game.

Major rule changes[]

Due to the success of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game, the league stopped using the exact rules of college football and started to develop its own revisions:

1. The forward pass is legal anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Previously, the passer had to be at least five yards back from the scrimmage line. This change is referred to as the "Bronko Nagurski Rule" after his controversial touchdown in the 1932 NFL Playoff Game.
2. Hashmarks or inbounds lines are added to the field 10 yards in from each sideline. All plays would start with the ball on or between the hashmarks.
3. To increase the number of field goals and decrease the number of tie games, the goal posts are moved from the end lines at the back of the end zones to the goal lines (reversing the change made before the 1927 season); the goal posts were moved back to the end line in 1974, where it has remained.
4. It is a touchback when a punt hits the opponent's goal posts before being touched by a player of either team.
5. It is a safety if a ball that is kicked behind the goal line hits the goal posts, and rolls back out of the end zone or is recovered by the kicking team.

Final standings[]

NFL Championship Game[]

League leaders[]

Coaching changes[]

• Boston Redskins: Lud Wray was replaced by William Dietz.
• Brooklyn Dodgers: Benny Friedman was replaced by Cap McEwen.
• Chicago Bears: To save money, franchise owner George Halas laid off Ralph Jones and took over the head coaching duties.
• Cincinnati Reds: For the Reds' first season in the league, Al Jolley served three games and Mike Palm served seven.
• Chicago Cardinals: Jack Chevigny was replaced by Paul J. Schissler.
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Forrest Douds became the first head coach of the new team.
• Philadelphia Eagles: Lud Wray became the first head coach of the new team.

Stadium changes[]

• The renamed Boston Redskins moved from Braves Field to Fenway Park.
• The Cincinnati Reds began play at Crosley Field.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates began play at Forbes Field
• The Philadelphia Eagles began play at the Baker Bowl.

This was also the first season of selected Green Bay Packers home games in Milwaukee, with the Packers hosting one game in 1933 at Borchert Field. The team would then regularly play two or three home games each year in Milwaukee from 1934 to 1994.

References[]

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1931–1940 Archived May 10, 2020, at the Wayback Machine (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)