1943 NFL season

The 1943 NFL draft was held on April 8, 1943, at Chicago's Palmer House Hotel. With the first pick, the Detroit Lions selected runningback Frank Sinkwich from the University of Georgia.

Despite the eventual hiatus of the Cleveland Rams franchise for 1943 and merger of operations of the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, all ten teams participated in the 1943 draft, selecting a total of 300 players.

• The free substitution rule was adopted.^[1] The rule was enacted in response to the depleted team rosters of the World War II period and followed a similar change made to the NCAA's college football rule book in 1941.^[2] Previously, under the one-platoon system, players competed both on offense and defense until a substitution was made, at which time the player removed could not return for the duration of the quarter.^[3] "Free substitution" allowed players to shuttle in and out of the game without such restriction and would eventually give rise to offensive and defensive specialization — the so-called two-platoon system.
• The wearing of "head protectors" became mandatory for all players.^[1]

The impact of World War II on team rosters was massive during the 1943 season, with hundreds of players from the league's ten teams removed from the possibility of game play by military service. These were proudly listed as part of an official "Service Roster" by the NFL.^[4] With the United States beginning to draft fathers into the military, league officials were concerned about the potential impact of expanded conscription upon their rosters and the player limit was increased from 25 to 28 in an effort to avoid crippling disruption.^[5]

The Cleveland Rams were granted permission to suspend operations for the 1943 season. Operations of the NFL's two teams from Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers, were also merged for 1943 — reducing the number of participating teams to just eight.

The NFL played a shortened schedule of ten games. Despite the war, the league's popularity continued to grow. The league drew a cumulative 1,072,462 fans, which was fewer than 7,000 short of the record set the previous year despite the fact that 15 fewer games were played. The increased attendance was attributed to the higher competitiveness of the weaker squads.^[6][7]

In the Eastern Division, the Phil-Pitt team won its first two games and led at Week Four, with 1–0–0 Washington close behind, while in the Western Division, the Bears and Packers tied 21–21 in their first game and were 2–0–1 after four weeks.

In Week Five, the division leaders played each other on October 17, with the Bears beating the Steagles 48–21 and the Redskins defeating the Packers 33–7, leaving the two winners in first place.

On November 7, the Lions and Giants played what is as of 2023 the last scoreless tie in NFL history. Although this was the 73rd scoreless tie in NFL history, scoreless ties had gradually become less and less common in the 1930s and early 1940s, and there has not been a scoreless tie in the NFL for 80 years and counting.^[8]

The Redskins (5–0–1) and Bears (7–0–1) were still unbeaten going into Week Eleven, and met in Washington on November 21, with the Redskins winning 21–7. The Redskins had their first loss in Week Twelve when they lost to Phil-Pitt, 14–27, on November 28. The Bears clinched the Western Division the same day with a 35–24 win over the Cardinals for an 8–1–1 finish.

In Week Thirteen, Phil-Pitt lost its last game, falling to Green Bay 38–28, and was out of contention at 5–4–1.

Chicago finished its regular season on November 28 and won the Western Division with an 8–1–1 record, but the Bears had to wait for three weeks while the Eastern Division champion was determined.

Washington and the New York Giants ended the regular season by playing against each other on two consecutive Sundays, December 5 and 12 (the second game, originally scheduled on October 3 had been postponed due to heavy rain). The Giants won both games to force a first-place tie at 6–3–1 each. For the third straight weekend, New York and Washington faced each other, with the Redskins winning the final game 28–0 and earning the right to play the Bears for the league championship.

See: 1943 NFL playoffs

Home team in capitals

Eastern Division Playoff Game (December 19, 1943)

• Washington 28, N.Y. GIANTS 0

NFL Championship Game (December 26, 1943)

• Chicago Bears 41, Washington 21

• Brooklyn Dodgers: Mike Getto was replaced by Pete Cawthon.
• Chicago Cardinals: Jimmy Conzelman was replaced by Phil Handler.
• Detroit Lions: Gus Dorais was hired as new head coach. Bill Edwards was released after three games in 1942, and John Karcis then served for the final eight games.
• Steagles: Philadelphia Eagles head coach Greasy Neale and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Walt Kiesling served as co-head coaches of the Steagles.
• Washington Redskins: Ray Flaherty was replaced by Dutch Bergman.

The merged Steagles split their games between Philadelphia's Shibe Park and Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1941–1950 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)