1938 NFL season
Regular season | |
---|---|
Duration | September 9 – December 11, 1938 |
East Champions | New York Giants |
West Champions | Green Bay Packers |
Championship Game | |
Champions | New York Giants |
The1938 NFL seasonwas the 19thregular seasonof theNational Football League.The season ended when theNew York Giantsdefeated theGreen Bay Packersin the NFL Championship Game.
Draft
[edit]The1938 NFL draftwas held on December 12, 1937, atChicago's Hotel Sherman. With the first pick, theCleveland Ramsselected fullbackCorbett DavisfromIndiana University Bloomington.
Major rule changes
[edit]- A new 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer is enacted.
- If a kickoff goes out of bounds, the receiving team may opt to take possession of the ball at their own 45-yard line.
- The penalty for a second forward pass during a play is changed from 5 yards and a loss of down to just 5 yards.[1]
Division races
[edit]InWeek Seven,the Bears lost at home to the Rams, 23–21, while the Packers beat the Pirates (the future Steelers) 20–0, giving Green Bay the lead for the first time. The Packers won their next three games to clinch the Western Division.
In the Eastern Division, the Redskins led untilWeek Ten,when they fell to the Bears, 31–7; the Giants' 28–0 win over the Rams gave New York the division lead on November 13. The division title still came down to the last day of the regular season, December 4, when 57,461 turned out at the Polo Grounds in New York to watch the 7–2–1 Giants host the 6–2–2 Redskins. A Washington win would have made them 7–2–2 and New York 7–3–1, with the Skins as division champs. New York needed only to win or tie, and did the former, five touchdowns en route to a 36–0 victory.
Four neutral-site games were held: two atCivic StadiuminBuffalo, New York,one inErie, Pennsylvania,and one inCharleston, West Virginia.The Buffalo games marked the league's first return to Buffalo since the folding of theBisonsin 1929.
Final standings
[edit]NFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
New York Giants | 8 | 2 | 1 | .800 | 5–2–1 | 194 | 79 | W1 | |
Washington Redskins | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 4–2–2 | 148 | 154 | L1 | |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 4 | 4 | 3 | .500 | 3–2–3 | 131 | 161 | T1 | |
Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 6 | 0 | .455 | 3–5 | 154 | 164 | W2 | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | 9 | 0 | .182 | 2–6 | 79 | 169 | L6 |
Note:Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Division | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
Green Bay Packers | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 6–2 | 223 | 118 | L1 | |
Detroit Lions | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 6–2 | 119 | 108 | L1 | |
Chicago Bears | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 3–5 | 194 | 148 | L1 | |
Cleveland Rams | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 3–5 | 131 | 215 | W1 | |
Chicago Cardinals | 2 | 9 | 0 | .182 | 2–6 | 111 | 168 | W1 |
NFL Championship Game
[edit]The New York Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers, 23–17, at thePolo Groundsin New York City on December 11, 1938, to win the Championship.
All-Star game
[edit]After being crowned champion the Giants faced a team of "Pro All-Stars", an all-star team consisting mostly of NFL players but also including three players from theLos Angeles Bulldogs,in an exhibition game atWrigley FieldinLos Angeleson January 15, 1939. The game, which the Giants won 13–10, was the first of five annual NFL all-star games held under the format (but the only one to include non-NFL players) prior to the creation of thePro Bowlin 1951.[2]
League leaders
[edit]Statistic | Name | Team | Yards |
---|---|---|---|
Passing | Ace Parker | Brooklyn | 865 |
Rushing | Whizzer White | Pittsburgh | 567 |
Receiving | Don Hutson | Green Bay | 548 |
Awards
[edit]Joe F. Carr Trophy (Most Valuable Player) | Mel Hein,Center,N.Y. Giants |
Coaching changes
[edit]- Cleveland Rams:Hugo Bezdekwas released after three games in 1938.Art Lewisserved as interim for the last eight.
Stadium changes
[edit]- TheCleveland Ramsmoved toShaw Stadium.They spent the previous 1937 season splitting their home games betweenCleveland Municipal StadiumandLeague Park.
- TheDetroit Lionsstarted to split their home games betweenUniversity of Detroit StadiumandBriggs Stadium.
References
[edit]- ^"NFL Championship Games – 1938: Green Bay Packers @ New York Giants".goldenrankings.RetrievedAugust 7,2013.
- ^Crawford, Fred R. (1990)."The First Pro Bowl Game"(PDF).The Coffin Corner.12(4). Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 18, 2010.RetrievedJanuary 31,2012.
Sources
[edit]- NFL Record and Fact Book(ISBN1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1931–1940ArchivedMay 10, 2020, at theWayback Machine(Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League(ISBN0-06-270174-6)