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NFL teams: West, East

The1933 NFL season was the 14thregular season of theNational Football League.

Because of the success of thePlayoff 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: thePittsburgh Pirates, thePhiladelphia Eagles, and theCincinnati Reds. The Boston Braves changed their name to theBoston Redskins and theStaten Island Stapletons left the league, though they continued scheduling games against league teams.

The season ended when theChicago Bears defeated theNew York Giants in the first everNFL Championship Game.

The league increased from 8 teams to 10 in 1933.

Due to the success of the1932 NFL Playoff Game, the league stopped using the exact rules ofcollege football and started to develop its own revisions:

1. The forward pass is legal anywhere behind theline 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 the1927 season); the goal posts were moved back to the end line in1974, 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.

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

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

The 1933 season marked the second year in which official statistics were tracked and retained by the NFL.^[2] Certain statistics later regarded as staples were not maintained, including interceptions, punting average, kickoff return yardage and average, and field goal percentage, among others.^[3] New NFL records are denoted with the ‡ symbol below.

Source: Pete Palmer, et al. (eds.),The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia. First Edition. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006; p. 1041.

• Boston Redskins:Lud Wray was replaced byWilliam Dietz.
• Brooklyn Dodgers:Benny Friedman was replaced byCap McEwen.
• Chicago Bears: To save money, franchise ownerGeorge Halas laid offRalph Jones and took over the head coaching duties.
• Cincinnati Reds: For the Reds' first season in the league,Al Jolley served three games andMike Palm served seven.
• Chicago Cardinals:Jack Chevigny was replaced byPaul 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.

• The renamedBoston Redskins moved fromBraves Field toFenway Park.

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

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

• NFL seasons
• 1933 in American football
• 1933 NFL season

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