1936 NFL season
Encyclopedia
The 1936 NFL season was the 17th regular season of the National Football League
. For the first time since the league was founded, there were no team transactions; neither a club folded nor did a new one join the NFL. 1936 was also the first year in which all league teams played the same number of games. Since this season, the number of regular season games per team has been:
The season ended when the Green Bay Packers
defeated the Boston Redskins in the NFL Championship Game. For the only time in NFL history, the team with the home field advantage declined to play at their own stadium and instead elected to play at a neutral site. Due to poor attendance, the Redskins moved the game from Boston to the Polo Grounds
in New York City
.
Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972
, New York City
, December 13, 1936
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. For the first time since the league was founded, there were no team transactions; neither a club folded nor did a new one join the NFL. 1936 was also the first year in which all league teams played the same number of games. Since this season, the number of regular season games per team has been:
- 11 until 19421942 NFL seasonThe 1942 NFL season was the 23rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, many players left for service in World War II, thus depleting the rosters of all the teams....
and in 19461946 NFL seasonThe 1946 NFL season was the 27th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, Elmer Layden resigned as NFL Commissioner and Bert Bell, co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, replaced him... - 10 from 19431943 NFL seasonThe 1943 NFL season was the 24th regular season of the National Football League. As more players left to serve in World War II, three teams were affected by the depleted rosters. The Cleveland Rams were granted permission to suspend operations for this season. The Philadelphia Eagles and the...
to 19451945 NFL seasonThe 1945 NFL season was the 26th regular season of the National Football League. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals resumed their traditional operations.... - 12 from 19471947 NFL seasonThe 1947 NFL season was the 28th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season by one game from eleven games per team to twelve, a number that remained constant until the 1961 season....
to 19601960 NFL seasonThe 1960 NFL season was the 41st regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, Pete Rozelle was elected NFL commissioner as a compromise choice on the twenty-third ballot. Meanwhile, the league expanded to 13 teams with the addition of the Dallas Cowboys. Also, the Cardinals... - 14 from 19611961 NFL seasonThe 1961 NFL season was the 42nd regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 14 teams with the addition of the Minnesota Vikings, after the team's owners declined to be charter members of the new American Football League. The schedule was also expanded from 12 games per...
to 19771977 NFL seasonThe 1977 NFL season was the 58th regular season of the National Football League. The Seattle Seahawks were placed in the AFC West while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were slotted in the NFC Central.... - 16 since 19781978 NFL seasonThe 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
The season ended when the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
defeated the Boston Redskins in the NFL Championship Game. For the only time in NFL history, the team with the home field advantage declined to play at their own stadium and instead elected to play at a neutral site. Due to poor attendance, the Redskins moved the game from Boston to the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Division Races
In the Western Division, the Bears reached 6–0–0 and the Packers 5–1–0 midway through the 12 game season, the Packers only loss having been 30–3 to Chicago. On November 1, Green Bay beat the Bears 21–10 to give both teams a 6–1–0 record. Both teams continued to win, and both were 9–1–0 as Thanksgiving approached. The Bears lost their last two games, while Green Bay lost neither, putting the Packers into the title game. In the Eastern Division, the Pittsburgh Pirates were at 6–5–0, and the Boston Redskins at 5–5–0, when they met on November 29 in Boston before a crowd of only 7,000. The Pirates lost, 30–0, falling to 6–6–0, and could only hope that 6–5–0 Boston would do the same in their last game; instead, the Redskins won at New York, 14–0 before 18,000. Since the Eastern winner had the right to host the '36 title game, George Preston Marshall spurned Boston to play the championship game at New York as well, where 29,545 turned out. Marshall would move the Redskins to Washington for 1937.Major rule changes
- A draftNFL DraftThe National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
shall be held to assign all new players entering the league for the first time to teams in an arbitrary and equitable manner. - The penalty for an illegal forward pass that is thrown beyond the line of scrimmageLine of scrimmageIn American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun...
is five yards from the spot of the foul.
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points AgainstNote: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972
NFL Championship Game
Green Bay 21, Boston 6, at Polo GroundsPolo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, December 13, 1936
League leaders
| Statistic | Name | Team | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | Arnie Herber | Green Bay | 1239 |
| Rushing | Tuffy Leemans | New York | 830 |
| Receiving | Don Hutson | Green Bay | 536 |