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1936 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration September 13, 1936 - December 13, 1936
East Champions Boston Redskins
West Champions Green Bay Packers
Championship Game
Champions Green Bay Packers
National Football League seasons
 < 1935 1937 > 

The 1936 NFL season was the 17th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time since the league was founded, there were no team transactions; neither a club folded nor did a new one join the NFL. 1936 was also the first year in which all league teams played the same number of games.

The season ended when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Boston Redskins in the NFL Championship Game. For the only time in NFL history, the team with the home field advantage declined to play at their own stadium and instead elected to play at a neutral site. Due to poor attendance, the Redskins moved the game from Boston to the Polo Grounds in New York City.

Division Races[]

In the Western Division, the Bears reached 6-0-0 and the Packers 5-1-0 midway through the 12 game season, the Packers only loss having been 30-3 to Chicago. On November 1, Green Bay beat the Bears 21-10 to give both teams a 6-1-0 record. Both teams continued to win, and both were 9-1-0 as Thanksgiving approached. The Bears lost their last two games, while Green Bay lost neither, putting the Packers into the title game. In the Eastern Division, the Pittsburgh Pirates were at 6-5-0, and the Boston Redskins at 5-5-0, when they met on November 29 in Boston before a crowd of only 7,000. The Pirates lost, 30-0, falling to 6-6-0, and could only hope that 6-5-0 Boston would do the same in their last game; instead, the Redskins won at New York, 14-0 before 18,000. Since the Eastern winner had the right to host the '36 title game, George Preston Marshall spurned Boston to play the championship game at New York as well, where 29,545 turned out. Marshall would move the Redskins to Washington for 1937.

Major rule changes[]

  • A draft shall be held to assign all new players entering the league for the first time to teams in an arbitrary and equitable manner.
  • The penalty for an illegal forward pass that is thrown beyond the line of scrimmage is five yards from the spot of the foul.

Final standings[]

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972

Eastern Division
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Boston Redskins 7 5 0 .583 149 110
Pittsburgh Pirates 6 6 0 .500 98 187
New York Giants 5 6 1 .455 115 163
Brooklyn Dodgers 3 8 1 .273 92 161
Philadelphia Eagles 1 11 0 .083 51 206
Western Division
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Green Bay Packers 10 1 1 .909 248 118
Chicago Bears 9 3 0 .750 222 94
Detroit Lions 8 4 0 .667 235 102
Chicago Cardinals 3 8 1 .273 74 143


NFL Championship Game[]

Green Bay 21, Boston 6, at Polo Grounds, New York City, December 13, 1936

League leaders[]

Statistic Name Team Yards
Passing Arnie Herber Green Bay 1239
Rushing Tuffy Leemans New York 830
Receiving Don Hutson Green Bay 536

See also[]

References[]

1936 NFL seasonv · d · e
East West
Boston Chicago Bears
Brooklyn Chicago Cardinals
New York Detroit
Philadelphia Green Bay
Pittsburgh
1936 NFL DraftNFL Championship
Related: American Football League
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