1943 Chicago Bears season

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1943 Chicago Bears season
Owner
NFL Western
PlayoffsWon NFL Championship
(vs. Redskins) 41–21

The

dynasty
of the early 1940s.

Offseason

Attempted merger with the Cardinals

When the United States entered

free substitution throughout games.[3]

Halas returned to Chicago for the annual owners' meeting on June 19, where the

Washington Redskins, opposed the two mergers, which they felt gave the merging teams "an easy out" compared to assembling their rosters on their own like the other teams. The four lobbied for a rule in which one merging team must disperse its players to the other teams in the league, which would have rendered the mergers pointless, though it was passed 5–2 (Philadelphia's Harry Thayer and Pittsburgh's Art Rooney voted against, while Halas and Bidwill abstained). Thayer and Rooney pleaded for the Chicago owners to withdraw their merger proposal, hoping it would increase the chances of the Pennsylvania teams' request succeeding. Halas and Bidwill agreed, while the Eagles/Steelers merger was approved and became the Steagles.[6]

Now on their own, the Bears rebuilt their roster by acquiring players from the shuttered Rams, including running back Dante Magnani and end Jim Benton. After his signing, Magnani commented, "I now get to play with the Bears instead of against them. I don't get beat up anymore."[7]

War Manpower Commission investigation

In September, the Bears wrote a press statement about five players – Magnani, ends Hampton Pool and Al Hoptowit, center Bulldog Turner, and running back Harry Clark – who left their offseason jobs at war plants to join the team for the upcoming season. The release drew the suspicion of the War Manpower Commission (WMC), which launched an investigation into the Bears, who, the commission felt, were a secondary employer to the military. WMC regional director William H. Spencer ordered the players to provide certificates of availability; should they fail to give such documents, they would either have to return to the factories or be automatically placed into the Selective Service System (military draft; 1–A).[8][9]

Brizzolara defended the team, while NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden cooperated with the WMC and proclaimed the war comes first".[10] While some teams like the Steagles required all players to maintain wartime jobs in addition to playing, a ruling against the Bears would have affected professional sports as a whole. New York Herald Tribune writer Arthur E. Patterson warned a similar situation in Major League Baseball would have ended the league for the 1944 season if players were "frozen to their war jobs".[10]

On September 23, three days before the season opener, Brizzolara met with Spencer, who also visited Layden a day later. Spencer eventually agreed the five players would be allowed to play for the Bears, who also announced four other players – running backs Bill Geyer and Bill Osmanski, tackle Bill Steinkemper, and defensive end John Siegal – would be enlisting in the Navy.[11]

Return of Bronko Nagurski

After losing to the Redskins in the 1942 NFL Championship Game, Halas sought revenge against Marshall for the game. While stationed on a ship in Milne Bay near New Guinea,[12] Halas considering bringing fullback Bronko Nagurski, who retired after the 1937 season to enter professional wrestling after Halas refused to increase his pay, out of retirement.[3] Three months before the start of the 1943, he submitted a telegram to Anderson: "SIGN NAGURSKI AND PAY FIVE GRAND. STOP.", which was retrieved by Naval decoders who assumed Nagurski was a Japanese spy before forwarding it to Anderson.[12]

Nagurski was contacted by Anderson and was offered the money suggested by Halas. He was initially reluctant due to injuries sustained over his career, but the

offensive tackle (a position he played at Minnesota in college);[13] additionally, the new free substitution rules implemented for the 1943 season would allow Nagurski to play until he could stop.[7]

During Training Camp, Nagurski injured many of his teammates with his physical style of play. In one incident, friend and offensive lineman George Musso refused to block Nagurski, prompting Anderson to do so in his place; although he was 45 years old, Anderson hoped to prove he was still tough to his players. Instead, Nagurski collided with Anderson's breastbone and knocked him out, forcing trainer Andy Lotshaw to assist the coach with smelling salts. Upon recovering, Anderson yelled, "Tell that son of a bitch that I can still whip his ass. But not today."[14]

Sid Luckman

Bears quarterback Sid Luckman had one of the greatest seasons for a quarterback in NFL history, and certainly the greatest passing season in the history of the early NFL. "Luckman was essentially the player who first fulfilled the position of quarterback as we know it today: the player expected to handle every snap and attempt almost every pass," says Cold Hard Football Facts. "He was also the first to put up modern-looking numbers. When you consider Luckman's numbers in 1943, consider that the league-wide passer rating that year was a meager 48.5. Hell, his 28 TDs, 12 INTs and 107.5 passer rating would be downright impressive in today's game, let alone back in the virtual Stone Age of the NFL. His 10.9 yards-per-attempt, meanwhile, is simply mind blowing in any era. The Bears scored 30.3 points-per-game in 1943. Again, great in any era."[15]

NFL draft

Main article: 1943 NFL draft
1943 Chicago Bears draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1
 9 Bob Steuber  Halfback DePauw
3 24 Fred Evans  Halfback Notre Dame
5 39 Ed Stamm  Tackle Stanford
6 49 Derrell Palmer  Defensive tackle TCU
7 59 Milt Vucinich  Center Stanford
8 69 Alyn Beals  End Santa Clara
9 79 Jim Jurkovich  Back California
10 89 Walt Lamb  End Oklahoma
11 99 Ray (Duke) Hammett  Back Stanford
12 109 Al Zikmund  Back Nebraska
13 119 Clark Wood  Tackle Kentucky
14 129 Loyd Arms  Guard Oklahoma A&M
15 139 Lyle Sturdy  Back Wichita
16 149 Buddy Tomlinson  Tackle Hardin–Simmons
17 159 Pat Preston  Guard Duke
18 169 Hank Norberg  End Stanford
19 179 Pat Lyons  End Wisconsin
20 189 Marion Butler  Back Clemson
21 199 Al Santucci  Center Santa Clara
22 209 Bill Johnson  Guard SMU
23 219 Wally Boudreau  Back Boston College
24 229 Bob Baumann  Tackle Wisconsin
25 239 Elwood Holtscher  Center
Shurtleff
26 249 Ben Keller  Guard Duquesne
27 259 Charley Block  End Shurtleff
28 269 Ted Brannon  Tackle Rice
29 279 Lou Wayne  End Texas
30 289 Dick Creevy  Back Notre Dame
31 294 Bill Buffington  Back Purdue
32 299 Woody Peterson  Back Utah
      Made roster  

[16]

Schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources
1 September 26 at Green Bay Packers T 21–21 0–0–1 City Stadium 23,675 Recap
2 October 3 at Detroit Lions W 27–21 1–0–1 Briggs Stadium 48,118 Recap
3 October 10 Chicago Cardinals W 20–0 2–0–1 Wrigley Field 24,658 Recap
4 October 17 Steagles W 48–21 3–0–1 Wrigley Field 21,744 Recap
5 October 24 Brooklyn Dodgers W 33–21 4–0–1 Wrigley Field 9,600 Recap
6 October 31 Detroit Lions W 35–14 5–0–1 Wrigley Field 25,187 Recap
7 November 7 Green Bay Packers W 21–7 6–0–1 Wrigley Field 43,425 Recap
8 November 14 at New York Giants W 56–7 7–0–1 Polo Grounds 56,681 Recap
9 November 21 at Washington Redskins L 7–21 7–1–1 Griffith Stadium 35,672 Recap
10 November 28 at Chicago Cardinals W 35–24 8–1–1 Comiskey Park 17,219 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Division
 W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Chicago Bears 8 1 1 .889 5–0–1 303 157 W1
Green Bay Packers 7 2 1 .778 4–1–1 264 172 W3
Detroit Lions 3 6 1 .333 2–4 178 218 L2
Chicago Cardinals 0 10 0 .000 0–6 95 238 L10
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Eastern Division
 W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Washington Redskins 6 3 1 .667 2–3–1 229 137 L3
New York Giants 6 3 1 .667 5–1 197 170 W4
Phil-Pitt 5 4 1 .556 3–2–1 225 230 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 2 8 0 .200 1–5 65 234 L2
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs

Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources
Championship December 26 Washington Redskins W 41–21 1–0 Wrigley Field 34,320 Recap

Roster

Official team photo of the 1943 Chicago Bears.
Top Row: Goldie, Barbartsky, Nagurski, Musso, Snyder, Poole, Famiglietti, Benton, Berry, Ippolito, Halas.
Middle Row: Driscoll, Anderson, Magnani, Luckman, McEnulty, Hoptowit, Turner, Fortmann, Matuza, Clark, Johnsos, Brizzolara.
Front Row: Sigillo, Vodicka, McLean, Wilson, Nolting, Steinkemper, Mundee, Logan, Masterson.

References

  1. ^ "WW II HONOR ROLL". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  2. Comcast SportsNet Chicago
    . Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "1943: Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears". Golden Football Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "ITB: Halas' right-hand man". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  5. ^ Algeo 2013, p. 47.
  6. ^ Algeo 2013, p. 48–49.
  7. ^ a b Dent 2004, p. 248.
  8. Newspapers.com
    .
  9. Newspapers.com
    .
  10. ^ a b Algeo 2013, p. 129.
  11. ^ Algeo 2013, p. 130.
  12. ^ a b Dent 2004, p. 4.
  13. ^ Dent 2004, p. 6.
  14. ^ Dent 2004, p. 247.
  15. ^ "Cold Hard Football Facts: The Dandy Dozen: 12 best passing seasons in history". Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  16. ^ "1941 Chicago Bears Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

Further reading

Further information:
NFL Championship Game, 1943
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