1948 NFL season


The 1948 NFL season was the 29th regular season of the National Football League. During the season, Halfback Fred Gehrke painted horns on the Los Angeles Rams' helmets, making the first modern helmet emblem in pro football. The last regular season game played on Wednesday until the 2012 season happened on September 22, 1948, between Detroit and Los Angeles.
The season ended when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL Championship Game.
The 1948 season featured the highest per-game, per-team scoring in NFL history, with the average team scoring 23.2 points per game. This record stood for 65 years until.

Draft

The 1948 NFL Draft was held on December 19, 1947 at Pittsburgh's Fort Pitt Hotel. With the first pick, the Washington Redskins selected halfback Harry Gilmer from the University of Alabama.

Major rule changes

In the Eastern race, the Eagles beat Washington 45–0 in Week Five to take a 1/2 game lead. When the 6–1–1 Eagles met the 6–2 Skins again in Week Ten, Washington lost a must-win game, 42–21.
The other race was all Chicago, as the Cardinals and Bears both had records of 10–1 going into the final week. A record crowd of 51,283 packed Wrigley Field on December 12 to watch. The Bears took a 21–10 lead, on George Gulyanics's touchdown as the fourth quarter began. Charley Trippi's touchdown cut the margin to 21–17, but the Bears had the ball and time on their side. The turning point came when the Cards' Vince Banonis picked off a pass from Johnny Lujack, and ran the ball back to the Bears' 19, and Elmer Angsman scored the winning touchdown three plays later for the Western Division title and the trip to the championship.

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

NFL Championship Game

Philadelphia Eagles 7, Chicago Cardinals 0 in a blizzard at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1948

League leaders

Awards