1943 NFL Championship Game
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The 1943 NFL Championship Game was the 11th annual title game of the National Football League (NFL), held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on December 26 with an attendance of 34,320.[2][3][4] In a rematch of the previous year's game, the Western Division champion Chicago Bears (8–1–1) met the Eastern Division champion Washington Redskins (6–3–1). The previous week, the Redskins had defeated the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in a playoff game by a score of 28–0 to determine the champs of the east, after the teams ended the regular season with identical records.[5] The Redskins had dropped their final three regular season games, including two to the Giants. Even though the Giants had swept the season series with Washington, the rules of the time called for a tiebreaker game (division tiebreaker games were eliminated in 1967 with the development of divisional tiebreaking rules).
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| Date | December 26, 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Wrigley Field Chicago, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Chicago by 7 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ronald Gibbs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 34,320 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Mutual | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Harry Wismer | ||||||||||||||||||
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The divisional playoff game pushed the championship game back to its latest ever date, and the late-December Chicago weather caused the game to be dubbed the "Ice Bowl."[6] The Bears were favored by a touchdown,[1] and won by twenty points, 41–21.[3][4] The crowd was smaller than the previous year's and well off the championship game record of 48,120 set in 1938,[6] but the gross gate receipts of $120,500 set a record.[7] In addition to the gate, radio broadcast rights to the game were sold for $5,000.[7]
The Bears were led by quarterback Sid Luckman while Sammy Baugh was the quarterback for the Redskins. The Redskins were coached by Dutch Bergman. The Chicago win marked the franchise's third championship in four seasons, their fourth since the institution of the NFL Championship Game in 1933, and their sixth championship overall.[8]
Rosters
Starters
| Bears | Position | Redskins |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Benton | Left end | Bob Masterson |
| Dom Sigillo | Left tackle | Lou Rymkus |
| Dan Fortmann | Left guard | Clyde Shugart |
| Bulldog Turner | Center | George Smith |
| George Musso | Right guard | Steve Slivinski |
| Al Hoptowit | Right tackle | Joe Pasqua |
| George Wilson | Right end | Joe Aguirre |
| Sid Luckman | Quarterback | Ray Hare |
| Harry Clarke | Left halfback | George Cafego |
| Dante Magnani | Right halfback | Frank Seno |
| Bob Masters | Fullback | Andy Farkas |
Substitutions
Bears substitutions: Pool, Berry, Steinkemper, Babartsky, Mundee, Ippolito, Logan, Matuza, McLean, Luckman, Famighetti, Nagurski, McEnulty, Nolting and Vodicka.
Redskins substitutions: Piasecky, Lapka, Wilkin, Zeno, Fiorentino, Leon, Hayden, Baugh, Seymour, Moore, Gibson, Akins and Stasica.
Officials
- Referee: Ronald Gibbs
- Umpire: John Kelly
- Head linesman: Charlie Berry
- Field judge: Eddie Tryon [2][3]
The NFL had only four game officials in 1943; the back judge was added in 1947, the line judge in 1965, and the side judge in 1978.
Scoring summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redskins | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Bears | 0 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 41 |
at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
- Date: December 26, 1943
- Game time: 2 p.m. CWT (CDT)
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
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Game statistics
Players' shares
Each player on the Bears took home $1,135 while each member of the Redskins got $754.[7]