The 1941 NFL season was the 22nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The league's ten teams each played a regular season schedule of 11 games, for a total of 55 regular season contests. The total attendance for these games was 1,118,616 — an average of 20,338 fans per event. This represented an increase of 9% over the previous season's attendance.[1]
The Bears, who averaged 36 points per game over the course of the 1941 season, became the first team since the institution of the East–West play-off in 1933 to repeat as champion.[1]
Preseason
Before the season, Elmer Layden was named the first Commissioner of the NFL, while Carl Storck resigned as league president. Layden also took on the duties of president and signed a five-year contract at $20,000 annually.[2]
The league bylaws were changed to provide for playoffs in cases where division races are tied after the regular season, and rules for sudden-death overtimes in case a playoff game was tied after four quarters.
The penalty for illegal shift is 5 yards.
The penalty for illegal kick or bat is 15 yards.
Whenever a player is ejected from the game, his team is penalized 15 yards.
A personal foul committed by the opponent of the scoring team is enforced on the ensuing kickoff.[3]
Pittsburgh Steelers: Walt Kiesling was replaced by Bert Bell, who had sold his ownership stake in the Eagles and then bought a share of the Steelers. Bell resigned as head coach after losing the first two games. Aldo Donelli did not fare any better, losing the next five before being fired. Kiesling then returned for the final four games.
In the Eastern Division, the Redskins held a half-game after nine weeks of play: at 5–1–0, their only loss had been 17–10 to the 5–2-0 Giants, who had lost two games in a row. Washington, however, lost its next three games, while the Giants rebounded to win their next two games. On November 23, the 5–3 Redskins met the 7–2 Giants at the Polo Grounds, and the Giants' 20–13 win clinched the Division championship.
The Western Division race was one between the Bears and Packers. By November 2, when the teams met at Wrigley Field, the Bears were 5–0 and the Packers 6–1, in part because of the Bears' earlier 25–17 win at Green Bay. Green Bay's 16–14 win put them in the lead, and they finished the regular season at 10–1 on November 30 with a 22–17 comeback win at Washington. On the afternoon of December 7, 1941, on the day Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor, the Bears were losing to the Cardinals, 0–14, and trailed 24–20 in the fourth quarter before rallying for a 34–24 win. With both the Bears & Packers finishing at 10–1, a playoff was set to determine who would go to, and host, the Championship Game. They met at Wrigley Field on December 14, with Chicago winning 33–14.
The following statistics cover the 11 regular season games only, exclusive of playoff games.[5] The Chicago Bears, unleashing a juggernaut around their novel T-formation with motion offense, smashed numerous league records for the year, including total yards gained (4,265), passing yards (2,002), single-game total yards (613) and passing yards (376), first downs (181), touchdowns (56), rushing touchdowns (37) — as well as continuing to be the most flagged team in football, setting a new record in penalty yards (officially 676.5).[6]
Source: Strickler (ed.), 1942 NFL Record & Roster Manual, pp. 94-95. "Takeaways" = (Interceptions + Fumble recoveries)
Individual leaders
Rushing
Brooklyn fullback Pug Manders topped NFL ground-gainers in 1941.
Although it was the brother of a Chicago Bear — Pug Manders of the Brooklyn Dodgers — that led the league in rushing, three of the top ten ball-carriers in 1941 hailed from George S. Halas' team. No runner in the league cracked the 500 yard mark for the year.
Source: Strickler (ed.), 1942 NFL Record & Roster Manual, pp. 102-103.
Receiving
Future Hall-of-Famer Don Hutson led the league in receiving for the fourth time in 1941.
Packer end Don Hutson returned to his place of preeminence among NFL receivers, recording more than twice the yardage of the second most successful receiver in the league. He set a new NFL record for touchdowns (10) and tied the league mark for total receptions, with 58.[8]
Source: Strickler (ed.), 1942 NFL Record & Roster Manual, pp. 106-107.
Passing
Green Bay tailback Cecil Isbell set new NFL marks for passing yards (1,479) and passing touchdowns (15) in 1941.
In this era still dominated by the single-wing formation, it was many times the left halfback ("tailback") that handled the bulk of passing duties, with the quarterback ("blocking back") primarily serving as an obstruction or a receiver. "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was a single-wing halfback during the 1941 season and it was Green Bay halfback Cecil Isbell who lead the league in passing. Isbell, in fact, set new NFL single-seasonn records for both passing yards (1,479) and touchdown passes (15).[9]
Six members of the Chicago Bears and five members of the Green Bay Packers were named to the All-National League Team for 1941. There were dozens of other players included as "honorable mentions".[10]
^Strickler (ed.), 1942 Record and Roster Manual, p. 94.
^"Records Broken in 1941," in Strickler (ed.), Record and Roster Manual, 1942, p. 97.
^Official NFL stats included yardage agained "by rushing" and "on laterals", which are combined here.
^Strickler (ed.), 1942 NFL Record & Roster Manual, p. 106.
^Strickler (ed.), 1942 NFL Record & Roster Manual, p. 104.
^Strickler (ed.), 1942 NFL Record & Roster Manual, p. 114.
Further reading
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.
