1940 NFL season

6th NFL guide published by Spalding
Regular season
Duration	September 8 to December 8, 1940
East Champions	Washington Redskins
West Champions	Chicago Bears
Championship Game
Champions	Chicago Bears
←1939 NFL seasons 1941 →

The1940 NFL season was the 21stregular season of theNational Football League. The ten teams of the league each played an 11 game schedule, for a total of 55 regular season games.

The season ended on December 8, when theChicago Bears defeated theWashington Redskins in the NFL Championship Play-off Game by a score of 73–0 in front of 36,034 fans. This result still stands as the most one-sided victory (and highest score) in NFL history as of the 2024 season.

Giants

Eagles

Dodgers

Steelers

Redskins

Bears

Cardinals

Packers

Rams

Lions

class=notpageimage|

NFL teams: West, East

The1940 NFL draft was held on December 9, 1939, atMilwaukee'sSchroeder Hotel. With the first pick, theChicago Cardinals selected halfbackGeorge Cafego from theUniversity of Tennessee.^[1] The meeting of owners was held in conjunction with the 1939 Championship Play-off, held in Milwaukee between theGreen Bay Packers and theNew York Giants the following day.^[2]

The draft encompassed 22 rounds and saw the selection of 200 players but only produced two future members of theProfessional Football Hall of Fame — quarterback and defensive backGeorge McAfee, taken by thePhiladelphia Eagles with the second overall pick, and center and linebackerClyde "Bulldog" Turner, picked by theChicago Bears seventh overall.^[3]

The rule requiring players removed for substitutes be ineligible for return until a subsequent quarter, with the exception of two permitted returning players in the fourth quarter,^[4] remained unchanged.^[5]

Other important changes were enacted by the NFL for its 1940 season, however. These included:

• The penalty forclipping was reduced from 25 yards^[6] to 15 yards.^[7]

• A penalty committed in the field of play could no longer carry the ball more than half the distance to the offender's goal line.^[7]

• For offensive pass interference committed in the end zone, the defense now had the option of placing the ball 15 yards from the previous spot with a loss of down, or taking the ball on the 20 yard line viatouchback.^[7]

• Penalties for fouls that occur prior to a pass or kick from behind the line of scrimmage were to be enforced from the previous spot. However, penalties for fouls during a free ball or when the offensive team fouls behind their line were to be enforced from the spot of the foul.^[7]

• Brooklyn Dodgers:Potsy Clark was replaced byJock Sutherland.
• Chicago Cardinals:Ernie Nevers was replaced byJimmy Conzelman.
• Detroit Lions:Gus Henderson was replaced byGeorge Clark.

• The Pittsburgh Pirates were rebranded as theSteelers before the 1940 season.

• TheDetroit Lions played full time atUniversity of Detroit Stadium, no longer splitting home games withBriggs Stadium
• ThePhiladelphia Eagles moved fromPhiladelphia Municipal Stadium toShibe Park

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 NFL's champion was determined with a single "Championship Play-off Game" on December 8 between the Western champion Chicago Bears and the Eastern champion Washington Redskins atGriffith Stadium in Washington, DC. A total of 36,034 fans were in attendance, generating gross gate receipts of $112,508 ($3.12 per patron).^[8] The game still stands as the greatest whitewash in the history of the NFL, withBill Osmanski of the Bears breaking free on a 68 yard touchdown run on the third play of the game and Chicago never looking back en route to a 73–0 victory.^[8]

The Joe F. Carr Trophy was presented annually by the National League as itsMost Valuable Player award.

• Clarence "Ace" Parker, quarterback, Brooklyn Dodgers

The "1940 All-Professional Team" was selected by National Professional Football Writers' Association.^[9] The New York Giants and Washington Redskins were each represented by four members of the 22-man squad. There were also 22 players added to an "Honorable Mention" list.^[9]

• Tom Bennett, et al. (eds.),The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History of Professional Football. Revised and expanded edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.
• Bob Carroll, et al. (eds.),Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
• NFL Communications Department and Santo Labombarda (eds.),Official National Football League 2024 Record and Fact Book. New York: National Football League, 2024.
• Joseph S. Page,Pro Football Championships Before the Super Bowl: A Year-by-Year History, 1926–1965. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2011.

• NFL seasons
• 1940 NFL season

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013