In case you missed last week’s annotated play-by-play of the 1940 NFL title game — Bears 73, Redskins nil — here’s another shot at it. Since the game was played Dec. 8, I thought I’d zero in on another aspect of it today: a block thrown by Chicago’s George Wilson on the second play from scrimmage.
But what Wilson should be remembered for, above all, is the aforementioned block. It came on a 68-yard touchdown run by fullback Bill Osmanski that got the Bears off to a quick 7-0 lead (and foreshadowed the avalanche of points to come). Osmanski did a nice job of bouncing outside and into the clear, but it was Wilson’s downfield boom-lowering that turned it into walk-in (had his teammate so chosen). George wiped out the last two Redskins pursuers — Ed Justice (13) and Jimmy Johnston (31) — with one well-placed shoulder:
Here’s just the clip of The Block, so it’s easier to watch it over . . . and over . . . and over. No wonder Halas called it the greatest he’d ever seen. And let’s not forget: Without it, Osmanski might not have scored — and the Bears might have won only 66-0.
Finally, this is as close as I can come to a freeze frame:
The Rams made it two shutouts in a row today with an even-easier-than-it-looks 24-0 nullifying of the Redskins. (They eviscerated the Raiders, 52-0, last week.) I wrote about The Vanishing Shutout in the NFL at the start of the season. Here’s that post — and the clubs the Rams just joined.
Robert Quinn, the Rams’ Pro Bowl defensive end, cruisin’ for a bruisin’.
If you’re looking for some black humor on this Pearl Harbor Day, check out this story I unearthed a while back — specifically the lead. It showed up on commentary pages in 1991, the 50th anniversary of Japan’s attack.
I call attention to it because, yes, the NFL did wrap up the 1941 regular season on Dec. 7. There were three games that day — in New York, Washington and Chicago. But the Packers didn’t play in any of them. They had completed their schedule the week before and were waiting to see if there would be a playoff with the Bears to decide the West Division title. (There would, indeed. George Halas’ team beat the crosstown Cardinals on Dec. 7 to finish tied with Green Bay at 10-1.)
Let that be a cautionary tale, all you J-schoolers out there. It’s always a bad idea to reminisce about things that never happened, especially when it’s so easy to verify whether they did. Even if you don’t get caught right away, you might get exposed 23 years down the road by some curmudgeon like me. (Assuming, that is, I’m the first curmudgeon to arrive at the scene.)
OK, where was I? Right, Dec. 7, 1941. For the record, this is what the NFL scoreboard looked like at the end of the day:
To give you a feel for what it was like at one of the games, here’s the Brooklyn Eagle’s coverage of the inter-borough Giants-Dodgers battle:
Sportswriting in that period was just fabulous, wasn’t it? Now that I’ve read this, I can hardly wait to describe a player as “a dark-brown warrior from the Iowa corn belt.”
It was Tuffy Leemans Day, by the way, at the Polo Grounds. The Giants’ Hall of Fame back was given a silver tray inscribed by his teammates and $1,500 in defense bonds. Two years later, the Steelers and Eagles merged into the “Steagles” — just to keep going. The Rams, meanwhile, shut down for the season and dispersed their players — the few, that is, that weren’t in the military — among the other clubs in the league.
Dec. 7, 1941. The Packers, as I recall, were off that day.
The ’50s were a nasty time to be a pro football player, the early part of the decade in particular. Until 1955 a ball carrier could get up after he was knocked down and try to gain more yardage — as long as his forward progress hadn’t been stopped, that is. This, predictably, this led to plenty of late hits, piling on and assorted other crimes and misdemeanors.
If you want a glimpse of what the environment was like, check out this photo from 1952. It shows Hugh McElhenny, the 49ers’ Hall of Fame back, lying (facemaskless) on the ground and Redskins middle guard Jim Ricca giving him a boot — or something — to discourage him from any further frolicking.
The cutline reads: “After San Francisco’s Hugh McElhenny fell, following his catch of Y.A. Tittle’s pass, Washington’s Jim Ricca (55) demonstrated one version of the ‘foot part’ in football. Ricca got a placekick squarely in McElhenny’s shoulder and made sure of stopping the play, good for eight yards. Watching with mixed emotions are 49ers Bill Johnson (53) and Billy Wilson (84).”
(That’s the same Bill Johnson, by the way, who later coached the Bengals — Tiger Johnson.)
I interviewed Johnson once after he’d retired and asked him about the time he was ejected from a game against the Bears. He pleaded guilty to taking a cheap shot at Chicago linebacker George Connor, another guy who’s in Canton.
“He were down on the goal line,” Johnson said, “and I didn’t even wait for the snap. I just fired out and drove him against the goal post [which was situated at the front of the end zone then]. I can still see the post swaying back and forth [from the impact].”
And what exactly provoked this outburst?
“Just didn’t like the way he carried himself.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1950s. Rugged, man, rugged.
Is Ken Whisenhunt the worst coach of the last 30 years to make a Super Bowl? Let’s cross off every Super Bowl winner (yeah, even you, Barry Switzer) and everyone with a career record over .500 (a group that includes Bobby Ross, Lovie Smith and Jim Fassel). That leaves us with the following candidates.
Raymond Berry (’85 Pats): Benched a red-hot Steve Grogan for a coming-off-injury Tony Eason right before Super Bowl XX, which was the first time I learned to use the word “inexplicable” correctly. Two years later, he started a now-petrified Eason, a washed-up Grogan and someone named Tom Ramsey over hometown hero Doug Flutie. By the ’89 season, my dad and I had a running joke that Berry had passed away and the Patriots were propping up his corpse during games. When they finally fired him, the Pats replaced him with Rod Rust — who actually WAS dead. You can look it up. The 1990 Patriots were coached by a dead body. But Berry finished with a career record of 48-39, so unfortunately we have to cross him off. I’ll be honest — I just felt like bitching about Raymond Berry.
The truth of the matter: First of all, Berry’s benching of Grogan wasn’t “inexplicable.” It was, indeed, very explicable. Why? Because, as The Boston Globe reported, Grogan “fractured his tibia as well as spraining ligaments in his left knee” in a 16-13 loss to the Jets in Week 12. This put Eason, who’d begun the season as the starter before suffering an injury himself, back in the lineup.
More from the Nov. 27, 1985, Globe:
Grogan underwent the two-hour surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital yesterday afternoon and will remain hospitalized for several days.
Upon his release, Grogan will be fitted with a hinged cast for a month.
Although [team physician Bert] Zarins said he would make no further estimates of Grogan’s possible return until after the cast is removed, it is unlikely Grogan could return this season regardless of how far the Patriots might go in the playoffs.
Grogan didn’t suit up again until the Patriots’ second playoff game six weeks later. So the quarterback change didn’t take place “right before Super Bowl XX,” as Simmons claimed. It took place well before Super Bowl XX (long enough before to allow Grogan to recover from a fractured tibia and sprained knee).
But back to Grogan. Against the Jets, he completed 11 of 32 passes and had a rating of 50.4. Against the Dolphins, he threw three interceptions and had a rating of 36.2. That’s “red-hot”? (Note, too: The Pats ended up facing those same clubs again in the postseason.)
For the year, Grogan’s numbers looked like this: 54.5 percent completions, 7 TD passes, 5 interceptions, 84.1 rating.
Eason’s numbers, after he reclaimed the starting job, looked like this: 63.2 percent completions, 7 TDs, 6 INTs, 87.1 rating. Then, in the playoffs, he strung together ratings of 132, 102.4 and 130.9 (while tossing 5 TD passes and zero picks) as the Patriots won three straight on the road over the Jets, Raiders and Dolphins.
Yes, the 46-10 bludgeoning by the Bears in the Super Bowl was painful to watch. Simmons, clearly, still hasn’t gotten over it. But that’s no reason to distort history and dump all over Raymond Berry — just because you “felt like bitching about” him.
Unfortunately in this day and age, The Rant often becomes The Reality. And so there will be Simmons fans walking around thinking Berry inexplicabled his way to the Super Bowl. The only thing that’s “inexplicable,” though, is The Sports Guy’s ridiculous misrepresentation of what really happened. I’d call it an affront to journalism, but it doesn’t even fall in that category. It’s more like the Friday mailbag version of A Million Little Pieces.
Sources: The Boston Globe, pro-football-reference.com.
“Hello, Bill? This is Raymond Berry calling from 1985. Is there anything I can help you with?
You stumble across some strange things in the cobwebbed corners of pro football history. They don’t get much stranger, though, than this particular episode.
It involves the 1934 Chicago Bears, one of the greatest teams ever assembled. The Bears were 13-0 that season and had five future Hall of Famers — Bronko Nagurski, Red Grange, Bill Hewitt, Link Lyman and George Musso — not to mention the NFL’s first 1,000-yard rusher, Beattie Feathers. Heading into the title game against the Giants, they’d won 18 in a row (and the last two championships), the longest winning streak in league history up to then.
But after beating the Giants in New York on Nov. 18 to run their record to 10-0, they came home to the following story in the Chicago Tribune:How’s that for an off-field distraction? Both players were rookies. Masterson was just a backup, but Feathers was one of the club’s best-known players and averaged an incredible 8.4 yards a carry in ’34.
An accompanying story provided more detail. The woman, “known as Nell Walker,” was 26 years old and “a former showgirl.”
Miss Walker, before her eight-story leap, dramatically attracted the attention of passersby by screaming as she stood in the window. Her falling body narrowly missed two persons.
Police hurried to question the occupants of the eighth-floor apartment. . . . They included Miss Walker’s sister, Mrs. Thelma Walker Smith, 22 years old; Lucille Moyse of 820 Grace Street, Mrs. Alice Bennett, former Detroit nightclub hostess, and Mary Frances Smith, 6-year-old niece of the dead woman.
The women told of having been celebrating the 10 to 9 victory of the Bears over the Giants in New York. They said Miss Walker was especially happy because “she had a sweetheart on the Bears team.”
After the radio reports of the game had ended, Miss Walker dispatched a telegram of congratulation to Bernie Masterson, former University of Nebraska star.
Then, the other women told police, Miss Walker insisted on having a celebration, opened a bottle of liquor and became intoxicated.
Just before she took the fatal leap through the window she because hysterical and Miss Moyse, who is a trained nurse, gave her a shower bath. Then Miss Walker donned a pair of black pajamas, apparently more composed.
Walker was reportedly estranged from her husband and “had been brooding over it,” Bennett, her roommate, told police. Bennett also said Walker was, in the words of the Tribune, “inordinately interested in Miss Nolan’s tragic plunge” and “once before had tried to climb through the window.”
There were two games left in the Bears’ regular season — both against the Lions, their chief competition in the West Division. After disposing of Detroit, they began preparing for the championship game against the Giants. On Thursday of that week — 80 years ago today — this short item ran in the Tribune:
Temporary insanity due to excessive drinking. You don’t see that every day.
The Bears’ trip to New York didn’t end so well, either. The Giants, who switched to sneakers in the second half because of the icy field, outscored them 27-0 in the fourth quarter to pull a 30-13 upset. Feathers didn’t play because of an injury; Masterson, meanwhile, saw only brief action off the bench. The loss kept Chicago from winning its third straight title, which would have tied the league mark (one that still stands).
Nobody’s suggesting the “showgirl death” had anything to do with the defeat. It’s just my way of saying: Pro football has always been a circus — even in the 1930s, when hardly anyone was watching.
Giants tailback Ed Danowski (22) gets ready to buck the line in The Sneakers Game.
If Woody Strode is remembered today, it’s probably as an actor, not as one of the two players to reintegrate the NFL in 1946 with the Los Angeles Rams. His most famous role was as the title character in Sergeant Rutledge (directed by the legendary John Ford). He also played the Grand Mogul in the classic Batman TV series. But his most famous scene was in Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, when he fought Kirk Douglas in one of the great cinema battles of all time. Take a look:
Awesome, no? (Yes, that’s Laurence Olivier taking the knife to Woody at the end.) Steven Spielberg certainly has a high opinion of it:
Anyway, how did we get from that exercise in thespian manhood to this? By this, I mean Strode’s wrestling match — date unknown — with Gorgeous George, one of the daintiest grapplers ever to climb in the ring? If you’ve never seen George’s shtick before, you’re in for a treat. The guy took Muhammad Ali’s “I’m so pretty” to a whole new level.
Besides his football and film careers, Strode also did some rolling around on the mat. He even wrestled Primo Carnera, the former heavyweight boxing champ — Sept. 27, 1956, according to wrestlingdata.com. (Alas, I couldn’t find any more information about it.) The character of Mountain Rivera in Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight (played in this trailer by Anthony Quinn). is loosely based on Carnera.
Speaking of boxing, Strode refereed some bouts, too — including one in Ogden, Utah, in 1956 involving light-heavyweight champ Archie Moore. Moore’s victim was a wrestler-turned-boxer, Roy Shire, who — get this — had faced Woody a few months earlier.
OK, that’s enough backstory. Here it is, tonight’s main event: Woody Strode, who was built like a Greek god, vs. Gorgeous George, who would have been the first on his block to use Grecian Formula (if it had been around then).
Too bad Woody didn’t work that “long pitchfork,” as Spielberg called it, from Spartacus into his act.
Whatever the equivalent of IR is for commissioners, the NFL’s Roger Goodell is surely on it. He’s taken a serious beating this year, most recently when a mediator decided he had overstepped his bounds in the Ray Rice case by penalizing the Ravens running back twice for KO-ing his wife. Rice’s indefinite suspension has been lifted, and he’s free to play for any team that’ll have him.
Pete Rozelle: Did he inhale?
Part of Goodell’s image problem is that he’s always being compared to The Ghost of Pete Rozelle. But even Rozelle, I’ll just point out, was known to overstep his bounds in the dispensing of discipline. One time was in 1974, his 15th year on the job. A federal appeals panel ruled he couldn’t just impose a $200 fine on players — 106 in all — who had left the bench during a fight. It was something that had to be collectively bargained. The players association had brought the suit, which was initially rejected by the National Labor Relations Board.
“Judge Gerald W. Heaney, writing for the judges, said if Rozelle was the agent for both the owners and the players ‘and promulgated the rule as their agent,’ United Press International reported, ‘one must assume a serious breach of ethics by the commissioner if he talked to only one of his principals. And no one suggests that the commissioner is an unethical man.’”
Ergo, Teflon Pete did it unilaterally, at the behest of the owners.
Red Smith of The New York Times also weighed in on the subject:
So while Goodell got shot down by Barbara S. Jones, the former federal judge who arbitrated the dispute, it was hardly unprecedented in NFL history. Why, it even happened to the sainted Pete Rozelle.
On Dec. 8, 1940, the Chicago Bears barreled into Washington’s Griffith Stadium and beat the Redskins 73-0 in the NFL championship game — the biggest smackdown in league history. What follows is an attempt to recreate that game, with the help of newspaper accounts, play by plays, video highlights and my own interviews with some of the players. The figures might be a yard off here and there, but they’re mostly accurate. (You’d be amazed at how inexact record keeping was in the prewar years.)
I’ve inserted comments and notes throughout to (hopefully) add to your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
Bears end Ken Kavanaugh: “I bought 26 tickets for friends of mine from Arkansas, Louisiana and around Chicago, and I think three of ’em were picked up. So when we get to Washington, I’ve got 23 tickets at $4 a head in my pocket. Our bus arrives at the stadium, and I go out in front and start selling the tickets. It takes me about a half-hour or so, but I finally get rid of them.
“Later I’m in the locker room getting dressed, and [coach George] Halas says, ‘Where the hell have you been, eating another sandwich?’ He used to get on me because I’d eat a sandwich before games. We didn’t have any pregame meal or anything, you see. We just went out and played. Anyway, I said, ‘George, I had 23 tickets to sell at $4 apiece, and I don’t know if we’re going to make that much playing this game, so I was out front selling ’em. Are we ready to go out [for warmups]?’ And he says, ‘In about 10 minutes.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s all I need.'”
Note: Kavanaugh needn’t have worried. The winning Bears each received $873.99, which would have more than covered the cost of the 23 tickets he got stuck with.
Weather: Sunny, 40 degrees.
Attendance: 36,034.
FIRST QUARTER
Bears win toss, elect to receive.
Note: Among the officials were referee Red Friesell (he of the famous Fifth Down in the Cornell-Dartmouth game earlier that year) and linesman Irv Kupcinet (the Chicago Times sportswriter and erstwhile Philadelphia Eagle).
(Sound of whistle blowing.)
Redskins kick 55 yards from WAS 40 to CHI 5. Ray Nolting to CHI 25 for 20 yards.
1-10-C25
George McAfee up the middle to CHI 32 for 7 yards.
2-3-C32
Bill Osmanski left end for 68 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Jack Manders extra point is GOOD.
CHICAGO 7, WASHINGTON 0, 2 plays, 68 yards.
Note: Osmanski’s way was paved by one of the greatest blocks of all time. Bears end George Wilson wiped out not one but two Redskins along the sideline.
Bears kick 56 yards from CHI 40 to WAS 4. Max Krause to CHI 40 for 56 yards.
1-10-C40
Jimmy Johnston right tackle to CHI 34 for 6 yards.
2-4-C34
Johnston right tackle to CHI 28 for 6 yards.
1-10-C28
Ed Justice left tackle to CHI 26 for 2 yards.
2-8-C26
Johnston right end to CHI 26 for no gain.
3-8-C26
Sammy Baugh pass to Charlie Malone dropped at CHI 5.
4-8-C26
Bob Masterson 32 yard field goal is NO GOOD.
Comment: Dropping a Baugh pass took some doing. Sammy laid it out there on a pillow. Malone somehow managed, though.
1-10-C20
McAfee left end to CHI 24 for 4 yards.
2-6-C24
Nolting right tackle to CHI 27 for 3 yards.
3-3-C27
Osmanski right tackle to CHI 49 for 22 yards.
1-10-C49
Nolting up the middle to WAS 48 for 3 yards.
2-7-W48
Nolting up the middle to WAS 45 for 3 yards.
3-4-W45
McAfee left end to WAS 39 for 6 yards.
1-10-W39
Nolting right tackle to WAS 37 for 2 yards.
2-8-W37
McAfee left tackle to WAS 31 for 6 yards.
3-2-W31
McAfee left guard to WAS 28 for 3 yards.
Timeout #1 by CHI
1-10-W28
Nolting right tackle to WAS 27 for 1 yard.
2-9-W27
Osmanski right tackle to WAS 21 for 6 yards.
3-3-W21
McAfee to WAS 19 for 2 yards.
4-1-W19
Nolting through tackle to WAS 14 for 5 yards.
1-10-W14
Sid Luckman flat pass to Nolting to WAS 2 for 12 yards.
1-2-W2
Osmanski right tackle to WAS 2 for no gain.
2-2-W2
Osmanski right tackle to WAS 2 for no gain. FUMBLES (Erny Pinckert hit), RECOVERED by CHI-Joe Stydahar at W3. Stydahar to W1 for 2 yards.
3-1-W1
Luckman up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
Bob Snyder extra point is GOOD.
CHICAGO 14, WASHINGTON 0, 17 plays, 80 yards.
Comment: A 17-play drive. Ouch. The Redskins went with a five-man line on defense pretty much the whole way. That’s what had worked for them earlier in the season, when they shut down the Bears’ revolutionary T formation in a 7-3 victory. As teams would soon learn, though, the T — in the early stages, at least — was most vulnerable to a seven-man front, which made it easier to pressure the passer and turn sweeps inside.
Bears kick 60 yards from CHI 40 to end zone, Touchback.
1-10-W20
Baugh flat pass to Johnston to W14 for -6 yards.
2-16-W14
Baugh pass incomplete over middle. (Bulldog Turner nearly intercepts.)
3-16-W14
Baugh pass through hands of Bob McChesney at W42.
4-16-W14
Baugh punts 28 yards to W42 (partially blocked).
Comment: Are you getting the impression this isn’t the Redskins’ day? They’ve already had two drops, a missed field goal, a near INT and a deflected punt. And it’s still the first quarter.
1-10-W42
Joe Maniaci left end for 42 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Phil Martinovich extra point is GOOD.
CHICAGO 21, WASHINGTON 0, 1 play, 42 yards.
Note: This was essentially the same play Osmanski scored on. Again, a five-man line wasn’t as effective against the wide stuff the T threw at you (thanks, among other things, to the quick-strike capability of the man-in-motion).
Bears kick out of bounds. Redskins ball at WAS 45.
1-10-W45
Frank Filchock flat pass to McChesney. FUMBLES, RECOVERED by WAS-Bo Russell at WAS 39 for -6 yards.
2-16-W39
Filchock pass incomplete to Bob Hoffman.
3-16-W39
Filchock long pass incomplete to Wilbur Moore.
4-16-W39
Filchock punts 36 yards to CHI 25, McAfee to CHI 42 for 17 yards.
Comment: Baugh shared the quarterback duties with Filchock, so it was never unusual to see Frankie come into the game. Despite the change, though, the Redskins continued to kill themselves on first down. They’d begun two straight series with a 6-yard loss — and would begin their next with an interception.
1-10-C42
Luckman overthrows lateral pass to Nolting, ball goes out of bounds at CHI 28 for -14 yards.
2-24-C28
Luckman quick-kicks 58 yards to WAS 14. Moore to WAS 20 for 6 yards. Quarter ends.
Comment: A rare goof by the Bears. So what did they do? They played it safe with a three-touchdown lead and punted on second down. Welcome to 1940s strategy.
SECOND QUARTER
1-10-W20
Filchock long pass for Moore INTERCEPTED by Scooter McLean at 50. No return.
Note: McLean dropkicked an extra point in the ’41 title game — the last successful dropkick in the NFL until Doug Flutie booted one for the Patriots in 2005.
1-10-50
Harry Clark right tackle to WAS 49 for 1 yard.
2-9-W49
Off fake reverse, Maniaci right tackle to WAS 43 for 6 yards.
3-3-W43
Maniaci right guard to WAS 39 for 4 yards.
1-10-W39
Luckman pass to Maniaci to WAS 11 for 28 yards.
1-10-W11
McLean FUMBLES handoff from Luckman, RECOVERED by WAS-McChesney at W19 for -8 yards.
Comment: Another reminder the Bears didn’t play a perfect game.
1-10-W19
Filchock up the middle to WAS 22 for 3 yards.
2-7-W22
Filchock pass incomplete down middle to Dick Todd.
3-7-W22
Filchock flat pass to Hoffman to WAS 29 for 7 yards.
1-10-W29
Filchock long pass to Wayne Millner to CHI 29 for 42 yards.
Note: McChesney reportedly played with his right hand in a splint. That might explain his problems on the second down play.
1-10-C18
Manders right end to CHI 18 for no gain.
2-10-C18
Luckman pass to Bobby Swisher to WAS 46 for 36 yards.
1-10-W46
McLean left end to WAS 26 for 20 yards.
1-10-W26
Osmanski runs to WAS 26 for no gain.
2-10-W26
McLean runs to WAS 24 for 2 yards.
3-8-W24
Luckman pass to Plasman at WAS 12 knocked down by Todd
4-8-W24
Martinovich 32-yard field goal is NO GOOD.
Note: Plasman, a 6-foot-3, 218-pound end, was the last NFLer to play without a helmet. He went bareheaded through the ’41 season. As he explained it, whenever he looked up for a pass, “the flap [of his headgear] always fell down over my eyes so that I couldn’t follow the flight of the ball. . . . One day, after a pass bounced off my chest, Halas said I wouldn’t have to wear a helmet anymore.”
1-10-W20
Filchock scrambles to WAS 37 for 17 yards.
1-10-W37
Filchock pass nearly intercepted by Plasman.
2-10-W37
Filchock long pass to Millner INTERCEPTED by Nolting at CHI 34. Nolting for 10 yards to CHI 44.
Note: The Redskins’ eight interceptions are still the all-time record for the postseason. But get this: In the previous year’s title game, the Packers threw six INTs and won, 28-0. It was, indeed, a different time. Offenses were much looser with the ball.
1-10-C44
Nolting right tackle to WAS 47 for 9 yards.
2-1-W47
Nolting up the middle to WAS 42 for 5 yards.
1-10-W42
Osmanski runs to WAS 42 for no gain.
2-10-W42
Luckman laterals to Osmanski, who runs to WAS 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-W31
Nolting right tackle to WAS 28 for 3 yards.
2-7-W27
Osmanski runs to WAS 29 for -2 yards.
3-9-W29
Luckman pass to Ken Kavanaugh in end zone for 29 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Snyder extra point is GOOD.
CHICAGO 28, WASHINGTON 0, 7 plays, 56 yards.
Comment: Kavanaugh was surrounded by so many top players during his years with the Bears that he’s never been properly appreciated. Look at it this way: 52 of his 168 receptions in the NFL, regular season and postseason, went for touchdowns — 31 percent. You won’t find a higher TD rate in league history (among receivers with that many catches, anyway). Jerry Rice’s rate was less than half that.
Bears kick 60 yards to goal line. Filchock to WAS 25 for 25 yards.
1-10-W25
Filchock pass incomplete to Millner.
2-10-W25
Baugh pass complete over middle to Andy Farkas to WAS 44 for 19 yards.
1-10-W44
Baugh pass to Johnston to CHI 49 for 7 yards.
2-3-C49
Baugh pass to Hoffman to CHI 48 for 1 yard.
3-2-C48
Baugh long pass incomplete to Johnston.
4-2-C48
Baugh pass complete over middle to Johnston to CHI 41 for 7 yards.
1-10-C41
PENALTY on WAS, delay of game, 5 yards, enforced at CHI 41.
1-15-C46
Baugh long pass complete to Malone to CHI 5 for 41 yards.
1-5-C5
PENALTY on WAS, delay of game, 5 yards, enforced at CHI 5.
1-10-C10
Baugh pass to Farkas INTERCEPTED by Osmanski at CHI 6. Half ends.
Note: Judging from the newspaper stories, the Redskins were penalized for calling timeouts they didn’t have, not for taking too much time to get off plays. When you were out of timeouts in those days, you either faked an injury or took a five-yard penalty.
THIRD QUARTER
Bears kick 35 yards from CHI 40 to WAS 25. Malone to WAS 34 for 9 yards.
1-10-W34
Johnston right end to WAS 34 for no gain.~~PENALTY on WAS, holding, 15 yards, enforced at WAS 34.
1-25-W19
Baugh flat pass to Johnson INTERCEPTED by Hamp Pool at WAS 19.~~Pool for 19 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Plasman extra point is GOOD.
CHIGAGO 35, WASHINGTON 0.
Note: No fewer than 11 players in the game — enough for a team — went on to be NFL or AFL head coaches. Pool (Rams) was one, along with teammates Scooter McLean (Packers), Bob Snyder (Rams), Joe Stydahar (Rams), Bulldog Turner (New York Titans), George Wilson (Lions, Dolphins) and, on the Redskins side, Sammy Baugh (New York Titans, Houston Oilers), Turk Edwards (Redskins), Frank Filchock (Broncos), Wayne Millner (Eagles) and Dick Todd (Redskins). Stydahar (1951 Rams) and Wilson (’57 Lions) even won championships.
Bears kick from CHI 40. PENALTY on CHI, offside, 5 yards, enforced at CHI 40. Bears kick from CHI 35 to end zone. Ed Justice FUMBLES and recovers, Touchback.
1-10-W20
Baugh pass to Malone to WAS 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-W31
Baugh flat pass to Masterson to WAS 38 for 7 yards.
2-3-W38
Baugh pass to Johnston incomplete. PENALTY on CHI, Pass Interference, Spot of Foul, enforced at WAS 43 — No Play.
1-10-W43
Johnston up the middle to WAS 46 for 3 yards.
2-7-W46
Baugh pass to Justice to 50 for 4 yards.
3-3-W50
Baugh FUMBLES snap. RECOVERED by WAS-Johnston for -16 yards.
4-19-W34
Baugh long pass to Malone incomplete.
Notes: Down 35-0, the Redskins went for it on fourth-and-forever in their own territory. This is how bad becomes worse. . . . Botched snaps by Washington in this quarter resulted in losses of 16 and 17 yards — and soon were followed by Bears touchdowns.,
1-10-W34
On reverse, Nolting right end to WAS 23 for 11 yards.
1-10-W23
Nolting up the middle for 23 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Plasman extra point is NO GOOD.
CHICAGO 41, WASHINGTON 0, 2 plays, 34 yards.
Comment: Two plays, 68 yards. One play, 42 yards. Two plays, 34 yards. (And later: one play, 2 yards.) The Redskins defense sure got the ball back quickly for the offense.
Bears kick 60 yards to end zone, Touchback.
1-10-W20
Seymour left tackle to WAS 20 for no gain.
2-10-W20
Roy Zimmerman pass INTERCEPTED by McAfee at WAS 34. McAfee for 34 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Stydahar extra point is GOOD.
CHICAGO 48, WASHINGTON 0.
Redskins quarterback Roy Zimmerman: “A nightmare [day]. I had two interceptions run back for touchdowns. On that one [by McAfee], I broke [teammate] Charley Malone’s ribs trying to make the tackle. I was coming at [McAfee] from an angle, Charley was coming up from behind, and I hooked [McAfee] with my arm and got swung into Charley and broke his ribs.” (You can see the collision at the end of the clip.)
Comment: Had the game had been played in the 1920s, the officials probably would have shortened the last two periods from 15 minutes to 12 or 10. Back then, the attitude was: No sense belaboring the obvious.
Bears kick 60 yards to end zone. Zimmerman to WAS 33 for 33 yards.
1-10-W33
Bob Seymour left guard to WAS 34 for 1 yard.
2-9-W34
Zimmerman pass to Seymour incomplete.
3-9-W34
Zimmerman pass to Masterson to WAS 49 for 15 yards.
1-10-W49
Ray Hare left end to CHI 44 for 7 yards. PENALTY on CHI, offside, 5 yards, enforced at WAS 49 — No Play.
1-5-C46
Seymour right end to CHI 31 for 15 yards.
1-10-C31
Zimmerman sacked at CHI 43 for -12 yards. PENALTY on CHI, roughing the quarterback, 15 yards, enforced at CHI 43.
1-10-C28
Zimmerman pass to Hare in end zone incomplete.
2-10-C28
Zimmerman pass to Masterson to CHI 16 for 12 yards.
1-10-C16
Seymour runs to CHI 16 for no gain.
2-10-C16
Zimmerman back to pass, rushed, throws it away.
3-10-C16
Zimmerman pass to Masterson incomplete.
4-10-C16
Zimmerman overthrows Dick Farman in end zone on guard-eligible play
Comment: A guard-eligible play. Imagine that. (And naturally, Farman was wide open.) Such trickery was possible, though, in the Redskins’ single wing, where the unbalanced line looked like this:
E G C G T T E
To make the guard eligible for passes, all you had to do was have the weak side end (in this case, Bob Masterson) line up as the wingback — and move the right halfback to the line of scrimmage (to give you the required seven linemen). This turned the guard into, technically, the end. Observe:
G C G T T E RHB
E
The Redskins had beaten the Eagles two years before with a guard-eligible play to 6-1, 247-pound Bill Young. Farman was a little more ambulatory at 219.
1-10-C20
McAfee right tackle to CHI 24 for 4 yards.
2-6-C24
Osmanski right end to CHI 26 for 2 yards.
3-4-C26
McAfee halfback option pass to wide-open Plasman, who drops it.
4-4-C26
McAfee punts 38 yards out of bounds to WAS 36.
Comment: Things were starting to get chippy. In this series, Bears back Ray Nolting, who went 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, threw a punch at Redskins tackle Wee Willie Wilkin, a 6-4, 261-pound monster. Nolting was a tough nut. Bob Snyder once told me that in his first scrimmage with the Bears, he was lying on the ground after being tackled, thinking the play was over, only to have Nolting come along and unload on him. When Snyder complained about his new teammate’s lack of, uh, fraternity, Nolting was unmoved. “What did ya expect me to do,” he said, “kiss ya?”
1-10-W36
Zimmerman runs to WAS 38 for 2 yards.
2-8-W38
Bad center snap RECOVERED by WAS-Zimmerman at WAS 21 for -17 yards.
3-25-W21
Zimmerman pass over the middle to Seymour INTERCEPTED by Bulldog Turner at WAS 24. Turner for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Maniaci extra point is BLOCKED by Clyde Shugart.
CHICAGO 54, WASHINGTON 0.
Comment: The Bears were having their jollies at this point, letting everybody but the trainer try a PAT. It wasn’t unusual in the single-platoon era for a club to use multiple kickers in a game, but the Bears used seven.
Bears quarterback Sid Luckman: “When the score got to be 54-0, somebody in the huddle said, ‘Ah, let’s take it easy on ’em. That’s enough.’ And you know, 10 guys jumped down his throat. This is not an exaggeration. This is a true fact.”
Bears kick 39 yards to WAS 21. Pinckert to WAS 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-W31
Zimmerman pass over middle to Hare dropped.
2-10-W31
Zimmerman flat pass to Seymour to 50 for 19 yards. PENALTY on WAS, offside, 5 yards, enforced at WAS 31 — No Play.
2-15-W26
Zimmerman pass to Seymour to WAS 33 for 7 yards.
3-8-W33
Zimmerman pass to Sandy Sanford incomplete.
4-8-W33
Zimmerman punts 61 yards to CHI 6. Clark to CHI 15 for 9 yards.
Comment: Zimmerman, the Redskins’ No. 3 quarterback, threw 12 passes in the game. That’s as many as he threw in any of his three seasons with the team. But Redskins coach Ray Flaherty was so desperate he was willing to try anybody. Zimmerman, by the way, developed into a fine passer-punter-kicker after he was traded to the Eagles in 1943. In fact, the three Washington quarterbacks were as good a group as you’ll find. Baugh is iconic, of course — even though he was dreadful on this day — and Filchock had a passer rating of 111.6 in ’39 (when he completed a stunning 61.8 percent of his throws). Frankie also took the Giants to the title game in ’46.
1-10-C15
Clark right end to CHI 26 for 11 yards. Quarter ends.
FOURTH QUARTER
1-10-C26
Gary Famiglietti left tackle to CHI 29 for 3 yards.
2-7-C29
Famiglietti off tackle to CHI 32 for 3 yards.
3-4-C32
Clark up the middle to CHI 42 for 10 yards.
1-10-C42
On end-around, Bob Nowasky to CHI 48 for 7 yards.
2-3-C49
Solly Sherman left end to CHI 49 for no gain. PENALTY on WAS, slugging, 15 yards, enforced at CHI 49 — No Play.
1-10-W36
Sherman sacked by Millner at WAS 44 for -8 yards.
2-18-W44
Clark runs to WAS 44 for no gain.
3-18-W44
Sherman to Famiglietti to Clark on reverse to end zone for 44 yards
Famiglietti extra point NO GOOD.
CHICAGO 60, WASHINGTON 0, 7 plays, 74 yards.
Comment: The Redskins apparently didn’t like that end-around Chicago ran with a 54-0 lead. On the next snap, one of them slugged a Bear. Chicago responded by scoring yet another touchdown — on a third-and-18 reverse. You don’t see retribution like this anymore.
Bears kick 48 yards to WAS 12. Filchock to WAS 24 for 12 yards.
1-10-W24
Filchock pass to Millner to WAS 36 for 12 yards. PENALTY (unspecified) on WAS, 15 yards, enforced at WAS 27 — No Play.
1-22-W12
Filchock pass to McChesney incomplete. PENALTY on CHI, Pass Interference, Spot of Foul, enforced at WAS 19 — No Play.
1-10-W19
Filchock sacked, FUMBLES, RECOVERED by CHI-Jack Torrance at WAS 2.
Note: Torrance was nothing special as a tackle, but he held the world shot put record longer than any man in modern times — almost 14 years — after throwing it 57 feet, 1 inch, in 1934.
1-10-W2
Famiglietti left guard for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Sherman pass to Maniaci in end zone, extra point is GOOD.
CHICAGO 67, WASHINGTON 0, 1 play, 2 yards.
Note: After Famiglietti’s score, the referee informed the Bears that the Redskins had run out of footballs. So rather than kick the last ball into the stands, they passed on their final two PAT attempts.
Bears kick 55 yards to WAS 5. Farkas to WAS 40 for 35 yards.
1-10-W40
Filchock pass to Millner to WAS 48 for 8 yards.
2-2-W48
Filchock long pass off hands of Bears’ Chet Chesney, INTERCEPTED by Maniaci. Maniaci to WAS 42.
Note: That’s the same Chet Chesney who was elected to Congress from Illinois’ 11th District in 1948.
1-10-W42
Maniaci left tackle to WAS 37 for 5 yards. PENALTY on CHI, offside, 5 yards, enforced at WAS 42 — No Play.
1-15-W47
Snyder sacked by Millner at CHI 43 for -10 yards.
2-25-C43
Snyder pass to Kavanaugh to CHI 45 for 2 yards.
3-23-C45
Snyder pass to Joe Mihal on tackle-eligible play to WAS 41 for 14 yards.
4-9-W41
Snyder pass to Maniaci to WAS 21 for 20 yards.
1-10-W21
Clark left end to WAS 13 for 8 yards.
2-2-W13
Maniaci right guard to WAS 6 for 7 yards.
1-6-W6
Maniaci right tackle to WAS 1 for 5 yards.
2-1-W1
Clark runs for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
Snyder’s pass to Maniaci in end zone knocked down, extra point NO GOOD.
CHICAGO 73, WASHINGTON 0, 8 plays, 58 yards.
Comment: I’ve sometimes wondered whether Millner truly belongs in the Hall of Fame. After all, he caught just 124 passes in seven seasons and never led the league in any receiving category. But as this game shows, he was a terrific two-way end. He led all receivers with six grabs for 94 yards (depending on your source) and also had two sacks. This, after having a huge title game against the Bears in ’37 (nine catches, 160 yards, touchdowns of 55 and 78). The guy was clearly a prime-time player.
Bears kick returned to WAS 40.
1-10-W40
Filchock pass to Millner to CHI 48 for 12 yards.
1-10-C48
Filchock pass to Millner to CHI 39 for 9 yards.
2-1-C39
Filchock long pass to Millner INTERCEPTED by Maniaci, laterals to Clark at CHI 35. PENALTY on CHI, forward lateral, 15 yards, enforced at CHI 35.
Note: Up 73-0, the Bears are LATERALING and trying to score again.
1-10-C20
Snyder flat pass to Famiglietti to CHI 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-C31
Snyder fakes pass and runs up the middle to CHI 33 for 2 yards.
GAME OVER.
Comment: As if the lateral on the interception wren’t enough, the Bears called a pass and a fake pass on the last two plays. They basically taunted the Redskins the entire second half. Afterward, Washington owner George Preston Marshall accused his players of quitting, but then he thought about it some more and decided: “They simply lost their heads.” That sounds about right.
One final thought on the Biggest of Blowouts: The Bears were even better the next season, when Sid Luckman had another year of experience and they added Norm Standlee, a Nagurskiesque fullback. But a game like this, well, you only have one of those.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Official NFL Encyclopedia, The National Forgotten League, pro-football-reference.com.
Since the Grey Cup was in the news this week, I thought I’d post a photo I came across of Bud Grant, during his Winnipeg Blue Bomber days, not wearing a facemask. Before Grant led the Vikings to greatness, he was a heck of a receiver, just missing a 1,000-yard season (in 12 games) with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1952.
The cutline in the Sept. 28, 1953, Winnipeg Free Press reads: “Bud Grant, Blue Bomber[s] end, pushes Saskatchewan Roughrider Harry Lampman out of the way as he goes for one of many gains he made Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field. But his running went for naught when the Blue Bombers dropped a 21-15 decision.”
