1942 NFL season

1942 NFL season
	1942 edition of the NFL's press manual
Regular season
Duration	September 13 to ; December 13, 1942
East Champions	Washington Redskins
West Champions	Chicago Bears
Championship Game
Champions	Washington Redskins
	← 1941 ; NFL seasons ; 1943 →;

Last updated December 31, 2024

Giants

Eagles

Dodgers

Steelers

Redskins

Bears

Cardinals

Packers

Rams

Lions

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NFL teams: West, East

The 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.

Continuing their Chicago Bears finished the regular season at 11–0, and faced the 10–1 Washington Redskins in the championship game. Washington, which had been embarrassed by a massive 73–0 shutout loss in the 1940 Championship Play-off, got a measure of revenge by spoiling the Bears' hope for a perfect season, winning the rematch 14–6.

Draft

The 1942 NFL draft was held on December 22, 1941, at Chicago's Palmer House Hotel. With the first pick, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected runningback Bill Dudley from the University of Virginia.

Major changes for 1942

Rules changes

The use of flags on flexible shafts to mark the intersections of goal lines and side lines (the predecessor to the pylon) becomes mandatory.
A clarification to the offsides rule is added: The center or snapper is not offsides unless a portion of his body is ahead of the defensive team's line.
A half cannot end on a double foul. Instead, the period will be extended by one untimed down.
Detachable kicking toes are prohibited.
When an encroachment or false start causes the other team to be offsides, only the initial foul is penalized.
A forward pass that first touches an ineligible receiver may be intercepted.
If the offensive team commits pass interference in their opponent's end zone, it is an automatic touchback.

Coaching changes

Brooklyn Dodgers: Jock Sutherland was replaced by Mike Getto.
Chicago Bears: George Halas stepped down after five games in 1942 to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In his place, Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos served as co-coaches of the Bears.
Detroit Lions: Bill Edwards was released after three games in 1942. John Karcis served for the final eight games.

Stadium changes

The Cleveland Rams moved from Cleveland Municipal Stadium to League Park
The Philadelphia Eagles moved back from Philadelphia Municipal Stadium to Shibe Park, where they played in 1940

Final standings

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	10	1	0	.909	7–1	227	102	W9
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	4	0	.636	5–3	167	119	L1
New York Giants	5	5	1	.500	4–4	155	139	W2
Brooklyn Dodgers	3	8	0	.273	2–6	100	168	L6
Philadelphia Eagles	2	9	0	.182	2–6	134	239	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears	11	0	0	1.000	8–0	376	84	W11
Green Bay Packers	8	2	1	.800	6–2	300	215	W2
Cleveland Rams	5	6	0	.455	3–5	150	207	L1
Chicago Cardinals	3	8	0	.273	3–5	98	209	L6
Detroit Lions	0	11	0	.000	0–8	38	263	L11

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Championship Game

The NFL Champions of 1942 -- the Washington Redskins. 1942-Redskins-teamphoto.jpg — The NFL Champions of 1942 — the Washington Redskins.

Washington 14, Chi. Bears 6, at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., December 13, 1942

Team statistics

These statistics include the 11 regularly scheduled games played by each team and exclude the Championship game. A new league record for passing was set by the Green Bay Packers, with 2,407 yards gained through the air.^[1] The Packers also set new records for most passes completed in a season (172) and most touchdowns passing (28).^[1] The Washington Redskins, featuring the passing of Sammy Baugh, set a new NFL record for passing accuracy, completing 53.4% of their 257 pass attempts as a team.^[1] Also worthy of note is the point differential of the undefeated Chicago Bears, who amassed 376 points (34.1 points per game) while giving up just 84 (7.6 points per game) — both league bests.

Rank	Team	Total yards	(Rushing)^[2]	(Passing)	Penalized	Yards allowed	Takeaways	Turnovers
1	Chicago Bears	3,900	1,926	1,974	905	1,703	43	43
2	Green Bay Packers	3,790	1,383	2,407	312	3,076	48	26
3	Washington Redskins	3,121	1,521	1,600	610	1,950	26	30
4	Pittsburgh Steelers	2,606	1,920	686	383	2,383	31	18
5	Philadelphia Eagles	2,535	1,119	1,416	392	3,016	28	28
6	Chicago Cardinals	2,453	1,021	1,432	400	2,972	33	40
7	Cleveland Rams	2,413	876	1,537	315	3,544	33	35
8	Brooklyn Dodgers	2,219	1,505	714	288	2,794	26	34
9	Detroit Lions	2,206	1,321	885	364	3,083	28	56
10	New York Giants	2,160	1,203	957	437	2,877	34	21
Source: Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, pp. 74-75. Takeaways = (Interceptions + Fumble recoveries)

Individual leaders

Rushing

The longest run of 1942 in the NFL was by Lloyd Cardwell of Detroit, 80 yards.^[3]

Rank	Name	Team	Yards rushing	Attempts	Per carry	Long gain	Rushing TDs
1	"Bullet Bill" Dudley	Pittsburgh Steelers	696	162	4.3	66	5
2	Merl Condit	Brooklyn Dodgers	647	129	5.0	63	3
3	Gary Famiglietti	Chicago Bears	503	118	4.2	21	8
4	Andy Farkas	Washington Redskins	468	125	3.7	22	4
5	Dick Riffle	Pittsburgh Steelers	467	115	4.0	44	4
6	Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg	Chicago Cardinals	369	116	3.1	29	2
7	Merle Hapes	New York Giants	363	95	3.8	52	3
8	Dante Magnani	Cleveland Rams	344	59	5.8	71	2
9	Frank "Monk" Maznicki	Chicago Bears	343	54	6.3	42	1
10	Gaylon Smith	Cleveland Rams	332	83	4.0	50	2
Source: Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, pp. 82–83.

Receiving

Top receiver in the NFL in 1942 — for the fifth time in eight seasons — was Don Hutson of the Packers.^[4] In this second of two back-to-back MVP years, Hutson set new NFL records for total receiving yards (1,211), receptions (74), and touchdowns receiving (17).^[4] He also led the league in scoring, setting a new league record with 138 points scored in just an 11 game season.^[5] He also expanded his career records for touchdowns (72) and yards receiving (5,515).^[4]

The league as a whole set a record for touchdown passes with 108, topping the matching 100 TD seasons of 1940 and 1941.^[4]

Rank	Name	Team	Receiving yards	Receptions	Per catch	Long gain	Touchdowns
1	Don Hutson	Green Bay Packers	1,211	74	16.4	73	17
2	Ray "Scooter" McLean	Chicago Bears	571	19	30.1	68	8
3	Andy Uram	Green Bay Packers	420	21	20.0	64	4
4	"Big Jim" Benton	Cleveland Rams	345	23	15.0	45	1
5	Dick Todd	Washington Redskins	328	23	14.3	53	4
6	Fred Meyer	Philadelphia Eagles	323	16	20.2	60	1
7	Hamp Pool	Chicago Bears	321	10	32.1	64	5
8	Ben Hightower	Cleveland Rams	317	19	16.7	59	3
9	Johnny Martin	Chicago Cardinals	312	22	14.2	69	0
10	Bob Masterson	Washington Redskins	308	22	14.0	33	2
Source: Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, pp. 86-87.

Passing

Green Bay's Cecil Isbell became the NFL's first back-to-back passing champion in 1942.^[6] He set new season records for passing yards (2,021), completions (146), and touchdown passes (24) — also tying a league record by throwing six touchdown passes in one game.^[6] Also delivering an MVP-caliber performance was Sammy Baugh of the Redskins, who also topped the old NFL records for passing yards, completions, and touchdown passes, while helping Washington set a new team record for completion percentage (53.3%).^[6]

Rank	Name	Team	Passing Yards	Complete - Attempt	Percentage	TD : INT	Longest
1	Cecil Isbell	Green Bay Packers	2,021	146-for-268	54.5%	24 : 14	73
2	Sammy Baugh	Washington Redskins	1,524	132-for-225	58.7%	16 : 11	53
3	Tommy Thompson	Philadelphia Eagles	1,410	95-for-203	46.8%	8 : 16	65
4	Bud Schwenk	Chicago Cardinals	1,350	126-for-295	42.7%	6 : 27	69
5	Sid Luckman	Chicago Bears	1,023	57-for-105	54.2%	10 : 13	52
6	Charley O'Rourke	Chicago Bears	951	37-for-88	42.0%	11 : 16	68
7	Parker Hall	Cleveland Rams	815	62-for-140	44.3%	7 : 19	59
8	"Indian Jack" Jacobs	Cleveland Rams	640	43-for-93	46.2%	6 : 6	67
9	Tuffy Leemans	New York Giants	555	35-for-69	50.7%	7 : 4	50
10	Dean McAdams	Brooklyn Dodgers	441	35-for-89	39.3%	2 : 15	56
Sources: Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, pp. 84-85.

Awards

Joe F. Carr Trophy

The Joe F. Carr Trophy was presented annually by the National League as its Most Valuable Player award. For the second year in a row, the award was won by Packer end Don Hutson.

Don Hutson, End, Green Bay Packers

All-National League Team

Given the dominant performance of the 1942 Chicago Bears team, it is unsurprising that five of the players named to the First Team eleven were members of George Halas' club, with a sixth Bear player tabbed for the second team. In addition, four Washington Redskins were accorded All-League honors, with the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Rams adding three players each. There were also 34 players included as part of an "Honorable Mention" list.^[7]

Name	Team	Position	Name	Team
First Team		—	Second Team
Don Hutson	Green Bay Packers	LE	Perry Schwartz	Brooklyn Dodgers
Willie Wilkin	Washington Redskins	LT	Chet Adams	Cleveland Rams
Dan Fortmann	Chicago Bears	LG	Riley Matheson	Cleveland Rams
"Bulldog" Turner	Chicago Bears	C	Chuck Cherundolo	Pittsburgh Steelers
"Monk" Edwards	New York Giants	RG	Charles Goldenberg	Green Bay Packers
Lee Artoe	Chicago Bears	RT	"Bruiser" Kinard	Brooklyn Dodgers
Bob Masterson	Washington Redskins	RE	George Wilson	Chicago Bears
Sid Luckman	Chicago Bears	QB	Sammy Baugh	Washington Redskins
Cecil Isbell	Green Bay Packers	LHB	Merl Condit	Brooklyn Dodgers
Bill Dudley	Pittsburgh Steelers	RHB	Dante Magnani	Cleveland Rams
Gary Famiglietti	Chicago Bears	FB	Andy Farkas	Washington Redskins

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References

1 2 3 Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, p. 74.
↑ Official NFL stats included yardage gained "by rushing" and "on laterals", which are combined here.
↑ Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, pp. 82–83.
1 2 3 4 Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Record & Roster Manual, p. 86.
↑ Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Record & Roster Manual, p. 79.
1 2 3 Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Record & Roster Manual, p. 84.
↑ Strickler (ed.), 1943 NFL Roster and Record Manual, p. 98.