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Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are a National Football League team based in the Washington, D.C. area. Originally based in Boston, the football team joined the NFL in 1932. The Redskins play at FedEx Field, located in Landover, Maryland in Prince George's County, Maryland, and is headquartered and trains at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community in Loudoun County, Virginia, near Dulles International Airport. The Redskins have won three of their five Super Bowl appearances. :Formerly known as: Boston Braves (1932); Boston Redskins (1933-1936) :Fight song: "Hail to the Redskins" :Home field: FedEx Field :Previous home fields: ::Braves Field (1932) ::Fenway Park (1933-1936) ::Griffith Stadium (1937-1960) ::RFK Stadium (1961-1996)

Franchise History

Establishment in Boston

The city of Boston, Massachusetts was awarded an NFL franchise in 1932, under the ownership of George Preston Marshall. Initially the team took the same name as their landlords, the Boston Braves, one of the two local baseball teams at the time. When the football team moved to Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) the next year, Marshall also changed the name of the football Braves to the "Redskins", to further distinguish the team from their ex-landlords.

The Redskins in Washington, D.C.

The move to Fenway Park was unsuccessful and attendance was poor. The 1936 NFL title game, scheduled for Boston, was relocated to the Polo Grounds in New York City (the Redskins lost the game to the Green Bay Packers). Marshall decided to move the team to Washington, D.C. for 1937, retaining the name "Redskins" although it was now out of context. They shared Griffith Stadium with the Washington Senators baseball team. The team proceeded to win the league championship in their first year in D.C. They also signed an innovative rookie quarterback from Texas Christian University: future Pro Football Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh. In an era where the forward pass was relatively rare, the Redskins used it as their primary method of gaining yards. "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh also played numerous other positions, including cornerback and punter. The Redskins won Eastern Division Championships in 1937, 1940, 1942, 1943 and 1945, and won the NFL Championship in 1937 and 1942, defeating the Chicago Bears each time. They lost the 1940 and 1943 NFL Title Games to the Bears and the 1945 Title Game to the Cleveland Rams.

Integration and front-office disarray

The team's early success endeared them to the fans of Washington, D.C. However, after Baugh's 1952 retirement, the Redskins began a slow decline. Marshall continued to refuse to integrate the team, despite pressure from the Washington Post and the Federal Government (a typical comment by Post writer Shirley Povich was "Cleveland Browns runner Jim Brown integrated the Redskins' end zone"). Under threat of civil rights legal action by the Kennedy administration, which would have prevented a segregated team from playing at the new District of Columbia Stadium, as it was owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior and thus federal government property, the Redskins became the final pro football franchise to integrate, in 1962, in their second season in the stadium. First, the team drafted Ernie Davis, the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy. Then, before signing Davis, they traded his rights to the Browns for wide receiver Bobby Mitchell. This was a lucky break, as it turned out that Davis had leukemia, and died without ever playing a down in professional football, while Mitchell was still in the first half of a career that would land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mitchell would be joined by black stars such as receiver Charley Taylor, running back Larry Brown (who had a hearing aid installed in his helmet due to near-total deafness) and defensive back Brig Owens. They would also pull off two of the best trades of the 1960s, gaining colorful quarterback Sonny Jurgensen from the Philadelphia Eagles and linebacker Sam Huff from the New York Giants. But even with these additions, the Redskins were still not performing up to expectations. While the team became more popular than ever, particularly with the additions of Mitchell, they struggled through the 1960s. One reason for the team's struggles was disarray in the front office. Team owner and President George Preston Marshall began a mental decline in 1962, and the team's other stockholders found it difficult to make decisions without their boss. Marshall died in 1969, and the remaining stockholders sold the team to Edward Bennett Williams, a Washington resident and one of America's most esteemed attorneys. Also in 1969, D.C. Stadium was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, and the Redskins hired future hall-of-famer Vince Lombardi — who gained fame coaching with the Green Bay Packers — to be their new head coach. Lombardi led the team to a 7-5-2 record, their best since 1955, but died of cancer on the eve of the 1970 season.

Revival

Two years later Williams signed former Los Angeles Rams head coach George Allen as head coach. Partial to seasoned veterans instead of highly-touted young players, Allen's teams became known as the Over-the-Hill Gang. "The future is now" was his slogan, and his players soon proved him right. Allen helped to foster the team's rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys, which has turned into one of the NFL's most renowned and contentious rivalries. The Redskins reached the NFC Conference Championship in the 1972 season, defeating Dallas 26-3, only to lose to the undefeated Miami Dolphins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII. In his 7 years as head coach, Allen's teams made the playoffs in 5 times. In 1981, new Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke signed the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, Joe Gibbs, as their head coach. He coached the team to four Super Bowls, winning three of them. Quarterback Joe Theismann, running back John Riggins and receiver Art Monk got most of the publicity, but the Redskins were one of the few teams ever to have a famous offensive line. Line coach Joe Bugel, who would later go on to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, nicknamed them "the Hogs," not because they were big and fat, but because they would "root around in the mud" on the field. Among the regular Hogs were center Jeff Bostic, guards Raleigh McKenzie and Russ Grimm, and tackles Joe Jacoby, Mark May and Jim Lachey. Tight ends Don Warren and Clint Didier were known as "Honorary Hogs." The Redskins' first Super Bowl win, their first NFL Championship in 40 years, was in Super Bowl XVII, where the Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-17 on January 30, 1983, in Pasedena, California. Future Hall of Famer John Riggins provided the game's signature play when, on 4th and 1, with the Redskins down 17-13 with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, he broke free for the then-longest run from scrimmage in Super Bowl history (43 yards). One touchdown later, the Redskins won their first NFL title in 40 years by a 27-17 score. The Redskins' second title was in Super Bowl XXII on January 31, 1988, in San Diego, California. In this game, the Redskins routed the Denver Broncos 42-10 after starting the game with a 0-10 deficit, the largest come-from-behind victory in Super Bowl history. This game is more famous for the stellar performance by quarterback Doug Williams who passed for four touchdowns in the second quarter en route to becoming the first black quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. Rookie running back Timmy Smith had a great performance as well, running for a Super-Bowl record 203 yards. The Redskins won their latest Super Bowl on January 26, 1992, in Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Redskins, the most dominant team in the NFL in the 1991 season, defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24. On March 5th, 1993, Joe Gibbs retired after 12 years of coaching with the Redskins. In what would prove to be a temporary retirement, Gibbs pursued an interest in NASCAR by founding Joe Gibbs Racing. The Redskins are one of only two teams in the NFL with an official marching band. The other is the Baltimore Ravens, who revived the band of the city's former NFL team, the Baltimore Colts. The Redskins' band predates the Colts franchise by about 15 years. Also, the Redskins were one of the first teams to have a fight song, "Hail to the Redskins."

The Snyder era

In 1997, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke died, on the eve of the opening of the new stadium in suburban Landover, Maryland that was to be named in his honor, now his memory. His son, John Kent Cooke, was unable to pay the death duties for the business, and the team was later sold to Daniel Snyder in a deal that was the most expensive in sporting history. Snyder, who grew up as a Redskins fan and who made his money in marketing, has made many controversial moves since owning the team, including offering the name of the stadium up to corporate bidders. Federal Express had the highest bid, and the stadium is now named FedEx Field. The most controversial habit Snyder has practiced is the continuous hiring and firing of head coaches, first firing incumbent coach Norv Turner, firing replacement Marty Schottenheimer after only one season, and in 2002, hiring University of Florida head coach Steve Spurrier to replace Schottenheimer. After two mediocre years, Spurrier resigned after the 2003 season with three years left on his contract. For the 2004 season, Snyder successfully lured former coach Joe Gibbs away from NASCAR to return as head coach and team president. His employment came with a promise of decreased intervention in football operations from Snyder. Snyder also expanded FedEx Field to a league-high capacity of 91,665 seats. Gibbs' return to the franchise did not pay instant dividends, however, as the Redskins finished the 2004 season with a record of 6 wins and 10 losses. Despite an impressive defense, the team struggled offensively, and quarterback Mark Brunell - an off-season acquisition from the Jacksonville Jaguars - proved to be a major disappointment. Some of Gibbs' other new signings, such as cornerback Shawn Springs and linebacker Marcus Washington did impress, however, while the jury remains out on talented running back Clinton Portis. In the 2004 NFL draft, the Redskins picked Sean Taylor from University of Miami. Three games into his rookie season, Taylor emerged as the Redskins' starter Since Dan Snyder took over the team, the Redskins have had a reputation for being very active during the off-season and signing free agent players to large contracts; not always ideal in the era of a salary cap. This off-season, however, the Redskins seem to have been more modest, with their most high-profile signing - wide receiver Santana Moss - joining the team via a trade with the New York Jets. Other signings included center Casey Rabach and wide receiver David Patten. The 'Skins (as they are known to their fans) still found a way to turn heads, however: at the 2005 NFL Draft, the team drafted with the ninth pick Cornerback Carlos Rogers of Auburn. The team then traded away multiple picks to move up in the draft and select quarterback Jason Campbell from Auburn University. The move leaves the team's future at the vital quarterback position in some doubt, considering Brunell and Patrick Ramsey also remain on the roster at the present time. Brunell started the 2005 season strong, having apparently recovered from injuries that hampered him in the 2004 season. The team won its first three games, including a Monday Night Football victory over Dallas, but then fell into a slump, including three straight losses in November, which have lessened the chances of the team making the playoffs. It should be noted that during Gibbs' first tenure with the Redskins, he did not have a franchise quarterback, so many have attributed his success to his superior coaching ability. Gibbs is the only coach to have won three Superbowls with three different quarterbacks. As of 2005, Forbes Magazine values the franchise at over $1.3 billion, the highest in the NFL, and exceeded only by soccer's Manchester United F.C. ($1.47 billion), and nearly twice the value of the New York Yankees, the highest valued professional team of any other sport in the United States. The Redskin's season ticket line is the second longest in the NFL to the Green Bay Packers; fans have been known to wait 35 years to get season tickets.

Season-by-season

|- | colspan="6" align="center" | Boston Braves |- |1932 || 4 || 4 || 2 || 4th NFL || -- |- | colspan="6" align="center" | Boston Redskins |- |1933 || 5 || 5 || 2 || 3rd NFL East || -- |- |1934 || 6 || 6 || 0 || 2nd NFL East || -- |- |1935 || 2 || 8 || 1 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1936 || 7 || 5 || 0 || 1st NFL East || Lost NFL Championship (Packers) |- | colspan="6" align="center" | Washington Redskins |- |1937 || 8 || 3 || 0 || 1st NFL East || Won NFL Championship |- |1938 || 6 || 3 || 2 || 2nd NFL East || -- |- |1939 || 8 || 2 || 1 || 2nd NFL East || -- |- |1940 || 9 || 2 || 0 || 1st NFL East || Lost NFL Championship (Bears) |- |1941 || 6 || 5 || 0 || 3rd NFL East || -- |- |1942 || 10 || 1 || 0 || 1st NFL East || Won NFL Championship |- |1943 || 6 || 3 || 1 || 1st NFL East || Lost NFL Championship (Bears) |- |1944 || 6 || 3 || 1 || 3rd NFL East || -- |- |1945 || 8 || 2 || 0 || 1st NFL East || Lost NFL Championship (Rams) |- |1946 || 5 || 5 || 1 || T-3rd NFL East || -- |- |1947 || 4 || 8 || 0 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1948 || 7 || 5 || 0 || 2nd NFL East || -- |- |1949 || 4 || 7 || 1 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1950 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 6th NFL AFC || -- |- |1951 || 5 || 7 || 0 || 3rd NFL AFC || -- |- |1952 || 4 || 8 || 0 || T-5th NFL AFC || -- |- |1953 || 6 || 5 || 1 || 3rd NFL East || -- |- |1954 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 5th NFL East || -- |- |1955 || 8 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFL East || -- |- |1956 || 6 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFL East || -- |- |1957 || 5 || 6 || 1 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1958 || 4 || 7 || 1 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1959 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 5th NFL East || -- |- |1960 || 1 || 9 || 2 || 6th NFL East || -- |- |1961 || 1 || 12 || 1 || 7th NFL East || -- |- |1962 || 5 || 7 || 2 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1963 || 3 || 11 || 0 || 6th NFL East || -- |- |1964 || 6 || 8 || 0 || T-3rd NFL East || -- |- |1965 || 6 || 8 || 0 || 4th NFL East || -- |- |1966 || 7 || 7 || 0 || 5th NFL East || -- |- |1967 || 5 || 6 || 3 || 3rd NFL Capitol || -- |- |1968 || 5 || 9 || 0 || 3rd NFL Capitol || -- |- |1969 || 7 || 5 || 2 || 2nd NFL Capitol || -- |- |1970 || 6 || 8 || 0 || 4th NFC East || -- |- |1971 || 9 || 4 || 1 || 2nd NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (49ers) |- |1972 || 11 || 3 || 0 || 1st NFC East || Lost Super Bowl VII (Dolphins) |- |1973 || 10 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (Vikings) |- |1974 || 10 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (Rams) |- |1975 || 8 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1976 || 10 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (Vikings) |- |1977 || 9 || 5 || 0 || 2nd NFC East || -- |- |1978 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1979 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1980 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1981 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 4th NFC East || -- |- |1982 || 8 || 1 || 0 || 1st NFC Conf. || Won Super Bowl XVII |- |1983 || 14 || 2 || 0 || 1st NFC East || Lost Super Bowl XVIII (Raiders) |- |1984 || 11 || 5 || 0 || 1st NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (Bears) |- |1985 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1986 || 12 || 4 || 0 || 2nd NFC East || Lost Conference Championship (Giants) |- |1987 || 11 || 4 || 0 || 1st NFC East || Won Super Bowl XXII |- |1988 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1989 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1990 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (49ers) |- |1991 || 14 || 2 || 0 || 1st NFC East || Won Super Bowl XXVI |- |1992 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (49ers) |- |1993 || 4 || 12 || 0 || 5th NFC East || -- |- |1994 || 3 || 13 || 0 || 5th NFC East || -- |- |1995 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1996 || 9 || 7 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |1997 || 8 || 7 || 1 || 2nd NFC East || -- |- |1998 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 4th NFC East || -- |- |1999 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 1st NFC East || Lost Divisional Playoffs (Buccaneers) |- |2000 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |2001 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 2nd NFC East || -- |- |2002 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |2003 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || -- |- |2004 || 6 || 10 || 0 || 4th NFC East || -- |- |
- 2005 || 7 || 6 || 0 || 3rd NFC East || --
- =Current Standing

Racial controversy over name

There is considerable controversy over the team's name and logo. Some Native American groups have called for a new name, and some newspapers in the United States as well as some radio commentators have refused to call the team by their name, instead using such circumlocutions as "The Washington football team." Even long-time fan Gregg Easterbrook, writer of the popular "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" column on Slate, ESPN.com and now NFL.com opted not to use the name for a long period of time, preferring to call them the "Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons". However, many Native Americans do not find the name offensive, and are supporters of the team. There have been similar complaints about the MLB teams Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, and various college level teams.

Players of note

Current players

Pro Football Hall of Famers

- George Allen, Head Coach, 1971-77
- 20 Cliff Battles, RB-CB, 1932-37 (only the first season in Washington)
- 33 Sammy Baugh, QB-S-P, 1937-52
- 35 Bill Dudley, RB-CB, 1950-53
- 17 Turk Edwards, OT-DT, 1932-40
- Ray Flaherty, Head Coach, 1936-42
- Joe Gibbs, Head Coach, 1981-92 and 2004-
- 27 Ken Houston, S, 1973-80
- 70 Sam Huff, LB, 1964-69
- 9 Sonny Jurgensen, QB, 1964-74
- 22 Paul Krause, S, 1964-67
- George Preston Marshall, team Founder-Owner, 1932-69
- 40 Wayne Millner, TE-DE, 1936-41, player-coach 1945
- 49 Bobby Mitchell, RB, 1962-68, later team executive
- 44 John Riggins, RB, 1976-85
- 42 Charley Taylor, WR, 1964-77

Retired numbers

- 33 Sammy Baugh, QB-S-P, 1937-52 Note: Team policy since Baugh's retirement has been to not retire numbers. However, some numbers are unofficially retired. The following numbers of past Redskin greats are usually not assigned to new players:
- 3 Mark Moseley, K, 1980-86
- 7 Joe Theismann, QB, 1974-85
- 9 Sonny Jurgensen, QB, 1964-74
- 28 Darrell Green, S, 1983-2002
- 42 Charley Taylor, WR, 1964-77
- 43 Larry Brown, RB, 1969-76
- 44 John Riggins, RB, 1976-85
- 49 Bobby Mitchell, RB, 1962-68
- 70 Sam Huff, LB, 1964-69
- 81 Art Monk, WR, 1980-93 In the film Everybody's All-American, Gavin Grey (played by Dennis Quaid) plays for the Redskins, and his number 47 is retired. In real life, that number was worn by running back Dick James at the time of the film (the 1960s), and the Redskins keep this number in circulation.

Not to be forgotten

- 89 Verlon Biggs DE 1972-75
- 77 Bill Brundige DE 1970-77
- 21 Earnest Byner RB 1989-93
- 48 Stephen Davis RB 1996-2002
- 45 Leslie "Speedy" Duncan KR DB 1971-74
- 86 Clint Didier TE 1982-89
- 27 Brad Edwards DB
- 31 Charlie Harraway RB DB 1969-73
- 80 Roy Jefferson WR 1971-76
- 79 Jim Lachey OG, OT 1989-95
- 8 Chip Lohmiller K 1988-94
- 58 Wilber Marshall LB 1988-92
- 79 Ron McDole DE 1971-78
- 63 Raleigh McKenzie OG 1985-94
- 66 Myron Pottios LB 1971-73
- 38 George Rogers RB 1985-87
- 11 Mark Rypien QB 1988-93
- 78 Bruce Smith DE 2000-03
- 74 George Starke T 1973-84
- 67 Rusty Tillman LB 1970-77
- 40 Alvin Walton DB 1986-91
- 85 Don Warren TE 1979-92

Head coaches

- Lud Wray 1932
- William (Lone Star) Dietz 1933-1934
- Eddie Casey 1935
- Ray Flaherty 1936-1942
- Dutch Bergman 1943
- Dudley DeGroot 1944-1945
- Turk Edwards 1946-1948
- John Whelchel 1949
- Herman Ball 1949-1951
- Dick Todd 1951
- Curly Lambeau 1952-1953
- John Kuharich 1954-1958
- Mike Nixon 1959-1960
- Bill McPeak 1961-1965
- Otto Graham 1966-1968
- Vince Lombardi 1969
- Bill Austin 1970
- George Allen 1971-1977
- Jack Pardee 1978-1980
- Joe Gibbs 1981-1992
- Richie Petitbon 1993
- Norv Turner 1994-2000
- Terry Robiskie 2000
- Marty Schottenheimer 2001
- Steve Spurrier 2002-2003
- Joe Gibbs 2004-Present

External links

- [http://www.redskins.com/ Washington Redskins official web site]
- [http://www.thewarpath.net/ thewarpath.net - Messageboard, News, and Articles]
- [http://www.extremeskins.com/ Extremeskins.com - Messageboard, News, and Databases]
- [http://www.thehogs.net/ TheHogs.net - Fan Source for Redskins History, Exclusive Articles, News Room, Fan Message Board ]
- [http://www.hailredskins.com/ Hailredskins.com - Extensive Unofficial Fan Site]
- [http://www.webskins.org/ Webskins.org]
- [http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/election.asp Urban Legends Reference Pages Sports (Winning Tradition)] Category:National Football League teams Category:Washington, D.C. sports

National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. The league was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, which adopted the name "National Football League" in 1922. The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. Prior to the 1960s, the most popular version of American football was played collegiately. After the 1958 NFL Championship Game (which went into overtime), the NFL's greatest spurt in popularity came in the 1960s and 1970s with the merger of the rival American Football League, or AFL (1960-1969). The AFL introduced major on- and off-the-field innovations that were eventually adopted by the NFL. Currently, the league's 32 teams are divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference is then further divided into four divisions consisting of four teams each. During the league's regular season, each team plays 16 games over a 17-week period generally from September to December. At the end of each regular season, six teams from each conference play in the NFL playoffs, a 12-team single-elimination tournament that culminates with the NFL championship, the Super Bowl. This game is held at a pre-selected site which is usually a city that hosts an NFL team. One week later, selected all-star players from both the AFC and NFC meet in the Pro Bowl, currently held in Hawaii. In recent decades, the regular season had traditionally started on Labor Day Weekend and lasted through Christmas week. However, declining television ratings on Labor Day have pushed the start of the regular season ahead one week. This is where scheduling currently stands, with the first game of the season being played on the Thursday after Labor Day (the remaining Week 1 games are played three to four days later).

Current franchises

Regular season

The NFL season begins with most teams playing four "pre-season" exhibition games from early August through early September. Two "featured" exhibition games, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and American Bowl, don't count toward the normal allottment of four games, so the four teams playing in those games each end up playing five exhibition games. The regular season starts the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, every game is played on Sunday afternoon with the exception of one game per week being played in Sunday night, and another game being played on Monday night. In recent years, the league has started scheduling a nationally telecast regular season game on the Thursday night prior to the first Sunday of NFL games to "kickoff" the season. In addition, the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions each host a game on Thanksgiving Day. For the last three weeks or so of the regular season, after the end of the college football season, the league typically schedules two or three nationally televised games on Saturday afternoons or evenings. In 2005, with Christmas falling on a Sunday, the NFL has flipped their normal schedule for that weekend, having the normal slate (less the Sunday night contest) of Sunday games on Saturday (Christmas Eve day), with two nationally televised games on Sunday (Christmas Day), similar to what the NFL did in 1994 with the afternoon games on Saturday, and the primetime games the following two days (Detroit at Miami on Sunday, San Francisco at Minnesota on Monday). Currently, each team's regular season schedule is set using a pre-determined formula:
- Each team plays every other team in their division twice: once at home, and once on the road (six games).
- Each team plays the four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
- Each team plays the four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
- Each team plays two games versus two teams within its conference based on the prior year's standings. These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year: one at home, and one on the road. This formula has been regarded as very successful, rekindling old rivalries while starting new ones, as teams will play in each other's stadiums eventually, which makes for a more consistent and attractive schedule each year. For the 2005 season, the assignments are the following:

Intraconference

- AFC East v. AFC West
- AFC North v. AFC South
- NFC East v. NFC West
- NFC North v. NFC South

Interconference

- AFC East v. NFC South
- AFC North v. NFC North
- AFC South v. NFC West
- AFC West v. NFC East

For the 2006 season, the assignments will be:

Intraconference

- AFC East v. AFC South
- AFC North v. AFC West
- NFC East v. NFC South
- NFC North v. NFC West

Interconference

- AFC East v. NFC North
- AFC North v. NFC South
- AFC South v. NFC East
- AFC West v. NFC West

Sixteen Game Schedule

Through 1977, the NFL schedule consisted of fourteen regular season games played over fourteen weeks. Opening weekend typically was the weekend after Labor Day, or even two weekends after Labor Day. Teams played six, or even seven preseason games. In 1978, the league changed the schedule to include sixteen regular season games and four preseason games. From 1978-1989, the sixteen games were played over sixteen weeks. In 1990, the NFL introduced a bye-week to the schedule. Each team would play sixteen regular season games over seventeen weeks. One week during the season, on a rotating basis, each team would have the weekend off. As a result, opening weekend was moved up to Labor Day weekend. In 1993, the league adjusted the schedule to include two bye weeks per team, and the sixteen games were played over eighteen weeks. In 1994, the schedule was changed back to seventeen weeks. In 2001, the NFL decided to move opening week to the weekend after Labor Day. Television ratings seemed to be sagging due to the holiday, and the stadium crowds were apparently lacking due to vacationing fans. In addition, it would leave the three-day holiday weekend alone to the opening weekend of college football, preventing conflicts, and maximizing exposure. In 2002, the NFL began scheduling a Thursday night special opening game, which would be nationally televised. Festivities and a pre-game concert would kick off the season.
- In 1999, the NFL moved the first week of the season one week later due to the conflict with January 1, 2000. The Y2K problem sparked travel concerns for the final week of the season, and playoffs. By moving the season a week later, the NFL hoped to prevent teams traveling complications.
- For most years, there has been an open weekend between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. In the 1990 season, there was no bye, as the league was still adjusting the schedule from adding the bye week during the season. In the 1993 season, there was no bye week since the regular season consisted of eighteen weekends. The bye week was simply removed. In the 1999 season, the bye week was removed to accommodate the schedule being moved ahead one week. In the 2001 season, the bye week disappeared when the league moved opening weekend a week later. As a result, Super Bowl XXXVI had to be delayed after the league postponed the second week's games following the September 11 attacks. By the 2003 season, the bye week was restored. In the 1982 strike-shortened season, a postseason tournament replaced the traditional playoff format. The Super Bowl bye week was removed to accommodate the longer, expanded playoffs.

Playoffs

At the conclusion of each 16-game regular season, six teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl:
- The four division champions from each conference (the team in each division with the best regular season won-lost-tied record), which are seeded one through four based on their regular season won-lost-tied record.
- Two wild card qualifiers (those non-division champions with the conference's best won-lost-tied percentages), which are seeded five and six. The third and the sixth seeded teams, and the fourth and the fifth seeds, face each other during the first round of the playoffs, dubbed the Wild Card Round. The first and the second seeds from each conference receive a bye in the first round, which entitles these teams to automatically advance to the second round, the Divisional Playoff games to face the Wild Card survivors. In any given playoff round, the highest surviving seed always plays the lowest surviving seed. And in any given playoff game, whoever has the higher seed gets the home field advantage (i.e. the game is held at the higher seed's home field). The two surviving teams from the Divisional Playoff games meet in Conference Championship games, with the winners of those contests going on to face one another in the Super Bowl. The terms "Wild Card Round" and "Divisional Playoffs" originated from the playoff format that was used before 1990. During that time, three division winners and two wild card teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. Only the wild card teams played during the first round, while all of the division winners received a bye, automatically advancing to the second round. A major disadvantage that critics cite in the current system is that a divisional winner could host a playoff game against a wild card team that earned a better regular season record. For example, the Tennessee Titans finished the 2003 regular season with a 12-4 record, but only qualified as a wild card team and thus had to face the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC North division champions with a 10-6 record, in Baltimore, Maryland.

League championships

The NFL's method for determining its champions has changed over the years. For the history of the process see National Football League championships.

Tiebreaking rules

The league uses a set of rules to break ties in the final season standings, i.e. teams that have the same regular season won-lost-tied record. As mentioned above, each team's order of finish in their respective divisions (first-place, second-place, etc.) determine the opponents in two of their games during the following season. The tiebreaking rules are also used to help determine playoff seedings and the order in which teams pick in the NFL draft (see below). The process basically involves comparing a set of each team's season statistics, one record at a time, until one club has a higher value than the others. The first criterion that is always compared first is head-to-head, how the tied teams fared when they played each other during the regular season. Other data that is then compared include their record against teams in their division, their record against teams in their conference, their record against common opponents, net points scored, and net touchdowns scored. If the teams remain tied after comparing all of these statistics, then the tie is broken using a coin toss. To date, a coin toss has never been used by the league to break a tie.

The draft

Many of the USA's college football players want to play in the NFL. There is a highly organized and formal process called the draft (currently consisting of seven rounds) that takes place over two days in April, in which all NFL teams participate. The NFL team with the worst record in the previous year gets first pick of the draft. That is, the team is the first to select a player from a pool of all eligible college players in the country. The idea is that weak teams can thereby become strengthened over time, in the specialties where they need strengthening. Draft picks continue, in the order from the weakest team to the strongest team, and once all teams have picked one player, they all pick again starting with the weakest team. Draft picks are frequently traded in advance for players and other draft picks. For example, before the draft occurs, Team A might trade its first-round draft pick plus a certain player (who already plays for Team A) to Team B in exchange for another particular player who already plays for Team B. Occasionally a player drafted out of college will go right into a "first-string" position as the team's primary player in that position. However, these players usually begin as second- or third-string backups, only playing games if the first-stringer is injured, or if there has been a runaway score and the coach decides to put a backup in the game for a little experience, and to ensure his first-stringer does not get injured at the end in a play that is not meaningful to the team. See List of NFL first overall draft choices

Salaries and the salary cap

The minimum salary for an NFL player is $230,000 in his first year, and rises after that based on the number of years in service. Exhibition game minimum is $10,000. These numbers are set by contract between the NFL and the players' union, the National Football League Players' Association. These numbers are of course exceeded dramatically by the best players in each position. Escalating player salaries throughout the 1980s and the advent of free agency in 1992 led to the NFL's adoption of a salary cap in 1994, a maximum amount of money each team can pay its players in aggregate. The cap is determined via a complicated formula based on the revenue that all NFL teams receive during the previous year. For the 2004 season, the NFL's salary cap was $80.582 million, an increase of $5.5 million from 2003. The cap for the 2005 season is expected to be approximately $85.5 million. Proponents of the salary cap note that it prevents a well-financed team in a major city from simply spending giant amounts of money to secure the very best players in every position and thus dominating the entire sport. This has been seen as a problem in American baseball, long dominated since the advent of free agency by large market teams. They point to the relative parity of competition that exists in the NFL as of 2005 compared to Major League Baseball as evidence that the NFL salary cap preserves competitive balance. They claim fans end up paying higher ticket prices to help pay for escalating player salaries. These concerns, among others, led in part to modified salary cap adoption in the National Basketball Association in 1984 and the National Hockey League in 2005. Critics of the salary cap note that the driving reason for the cap was to maximize the profitability of the NFL teams, and limit the power of NFL players to command the high salaries they are said to deserve in exchange for bringing in large numbers of paying fans to the stadiums. They also note that the salary cap could hypothetically drive prospective athletes to other sports that do not cap the salaries of players; furthermore, they attribute NFL competitive parity instead to the league's extensive revenue sharing policies. The NFL's current CBA (collective bargaining agreement) expires in 2008.

Racial policies

Although the current NFL is well-represented at virtually every position by African-American athletes, that was not always the case. The league had a few black players until 1933, one year after entry to the league of George Preston Marshall. Marshall's policies not only excluded blacks from his Washington Redskins team but may have influenced the entire league to drop blacks until 1946, when pressure from the competing All-America Football Conference induced the NFL to be more liberal in its signing of blacks. Another theory holds that the NFL, like most of the United States during the Great Depression, simply fired black workers before white workers, but this could hardly account for the league's apparent "all-white" policy during this period. Still, Marshall refused to sign black players until threatened with civil rights legal action by the Kennedy administration in 1962, in which it was explained to him that his lease on the then-new D.C. Stadium, which was at the time controlled by the United States Department of the Interior, would be voided if he continued to refuse to sign any black players. This action, and pressure by another competing league, the more racially-liberal American Football League, slowly managed to reverse the NFL's racial quotas. The AFL's Denver Broncos were the first modern-era team to have a black starting quarterback, Marlin Briscoe, who started the fourth game of the 1968 season, and broke pro football rookie records for passing yardage and touchdowns. The next year 1969, another American Football League team, the Buffalo Bills were the first professional football team of the modern era to begin the season with a black, James Harris as their starting quarterback. The Chicago Bears had a black quarterback in 1953, Willie Thrower, who played in only one game and did not start in any games. After that, no old-line NFL team had a black starting quarterback until the Steelers' Joe Gilliam in 1972. Even after that, for many NFL teams the door would remain closed to black quarterbacks through the 1970s. 1978 Rose Bowl MVP Warren Moon played for six seasons in the CFL before his abilities finally landed him the starting role with the Houston Oilers. It took until 1988 before a black quarterback started for a Super Bowl team, when Doug Williams won it for the Redskins. To this day, the NFL's head-coach hiring policies are questioned, and it has had to institute measures to attempt to have black head coach candidates be treated more equitably. White skill players have become increasingly rare in the modern NFL, as most positions are filled by blacks. White running backs, defensive backs, and receivers have become less and less common over the last 25 years. In 2005, a slim majority of offensive linemen are white, while no whites are listed as Tailbacks or Cornerbacks on NFL rosters. Most quarterbacks, punters, and kickers are white, while almost all running backs, wide receivers, defensive backs, defensive linemen, safeties, punt returners, and kickoff returners are black. Increasingly, positions such as tight end, fullback, and linebacker are being filled by blacks. In the early 1980s, blacks and whites each made up roughly half of the players. Since then, the percentage of black players has increased steadily to its present 2005 level of 69%. Whites make up the majority of the remaining players, followed by Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and Asians.

Television

The television rights to pro football are the most lucrative (and most expensive) rights of any sport available. In fact, it was television that brought pro football into prominence in the modern era of technology. Since then, NFL broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights.

History

For information on the development of football prior to formation of the NFL, see: History of American football. Professional football dates at least to 1892, when an athletic club in Pittsburgh paid William "Pudge" Heffelfinger $500 to take part in a game. Over the next few decades, while most attention was paid to football at elite colleges on the East Coast, the professional game spread widely in the Midwest. The American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920 at a Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio. Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe was elected president. The group of 11 teams, all but one in the Midwest, was originally less a league than an agreement not to rob other teams' players. In the early years, APFA members continued to play non-APFA teams. In 1921, the APFA began releasing official standings, and the following year, the group changed its name to the National Football League. However, the NFL was hardly a major league in the '20s. Teams entered and left the league frequently. Franchises included such colorful representatives as the Oorang Indians, an all-Native American outfit that also put on a performing dog show. Yet as former college stars like Red Grange and Benny Friedman began to test the professional waters, the pro game slowly began to increase in popularity. By 1934 all of the small-town teams, with the exception of the Green Bay Packers, had moved to or been replaced by big cities. One factor in the league's rising popularity was the institution of an annual championship game in 1933. By the end of World War II, pro football began to rival the college game for fans' attention. The spread of the T formation led to a faster-paced, higher-scoring game that attracted record numbers of fans. In 1945, the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, becoming the first big-league sports franchise on the West Coast. In 1950, the NFL accepted three teams from the defunct All-America Football Conference, expanding to 13 clubs. In the 1950s, pro football finally earned its place as a major sport. The NFL embraced television, giving Americans nationwide a chance to follow stars like Bobby Layne, Paul Hornung and Johnny Unitas. The 1958 NFL championship in New York -- considered by many to be the most-important game in the rise of the NFL -- drew record TV viewership and made national celebrities out of Unitas and his Baltimore Colts teammates. The rise of pro football was so fast that by the mid-'60s, it had surpassed baseball as Americans' favorite spectator sport in some surveys. As more people wanted to cash in on this surge of popularity than the NFL could accommodate, a rival league, the American Football League, was founded in 1960. The ensuing costly war for players between the NFL and AFL almost derailed the sport's ascent. In 1966, the leagues agreed to merge as of the 1970 season. The ten AFL teams joined three existing NFL teams to form the NFL's American Football Conference. The remaining 13 NFL teams became the National Football Conference. Another result of the merger was the creation of the Super Bowl to determine the "world champion" of pro football. In the 1970s and '80s, the NFL solidified its dominance as America's top spectator sport and its important role in American culture. The Super Bowl became an unofficial national holiday and the top-rated TV program most years. Monday Night Football, which first aired in 1970 brought in high ratings by mixing sports and entertainment. Rules changes in the late '70s ensured a fast-paced game with lots of passing to attract the casual fan. The founding of the United States Football League in the early '80s was the biggest challenge to the NFL in the post-merger era. The USFL was a well-financed competitor with big-name players and a national television contract. However, the USFL failed to make money and folded after three years. In recent years, the NFL has expanded into new markets and ventures. In 1993, the league formed the World League of American Football, (now NFL Europe), a developmental league now with teams in Germany and the Netherlands. The league played a regular-season NFL game in Mexico City in 2005 and intends to play more such games in other countries. In 2003, The NFL lauched its own cable-television channel, the NFL Network.

Video games

NFL Network]] Electronic Arts publishes an NFL video game for current video game consoles and for PCs each year, called Madden NFL, being named after former coach and current football commentator John Madden. Prior to the 2005-2006 football season, other NFL games were produced by competing video game publishers, such as Sega and Midway Games. However, in December 2004, Electronic Arts signed a five-year exclusive agreement with the NFL, meaning only Electronic Arts will publish games featuring NFL team and player names.

Commissioners and presidents

#President Jim Thorpe (1920) #President Joseph Carr (1921-1939) #President Carl Storck (1939-1941) #Commissioner Elmer Layden (1941-1946) #Commissioner Bert Bell (1946-1959) #Interim President Austin Gunsel (1959-1960, following death of Bell) #Commissioner Alvin "Pete" Rozelle (1960-1989) #Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (1989-present)

League offices

- Canton, Ohio (1920-1921)
- Columbus, Ohio (1921-1941)
- Chicago, Illinois (1941-1946)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1946-1960)
- New York, New York (1960-present)

Players

- List of American football players
- Current NFL players

Rules named after players

The following is a partial list of rules that were enacted largely based on a single player's exploits on the field.
- the Bronko Nagurski Rule -- forward passing made legal from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Enacted in 1933. Prior to this rule change a player had to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage to throw a forward pass.
- the Deacon Jones Rule -- no head-slapping. Enacted in 1977.
- the Deion Sanders rule -- Player salary rule which correlates a contract's signing bonus with its yearly salary. Enacted after Deion Sanders signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 for a minimum salary and a $13 million signing bonus. (There is also a college football rule with this nickname.)
- the Emmitt Smith Rule -- no taking your helmet off on the field of play. Enacted in 1997.
- the Erik Williams rule -- no hands to the facemask by offensive linemen.
- the Fran Tarkenton rule -- a line judge was added as the sixth official. Enacted in 1965.
- the Ken Stabler rule -- on fourth down or any down in the final two-minutes of play, if a player fumbles, only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball. Enacted in 1979.
- the Lester Hayes rule -- no Stickum™ allowed. Enacted in 1981.
- the Lou Groza rule -- no artificial medium to assist in the execution of a kick. Enacted in 1956.
- the Mel Renfro rule -- allows a "double touch" by the offense. Enacted in 1978.
- the Michael Irvin rule -- no taunting. Another rule, resulting in offensive pass interference, prohibiting WRs to push off CBs, is also often called "the Michael Irvin rule."
- the Bert Emanuel rule -- the ball can touch the ground during a completed pass as long as the receiver maintains control of the ball.
- the Terrell Owens rule -- no "foreign objects" on a player's uniform (enacted in response to the 2002 "Sharpie™ incident").
- the Peyton Manning rule -- Defensive backs can only make contact with receivers within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
- the Roy Williams rule -- no horse-collar tackles. Enacted in 2005. See the external [http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=rulesname Professional Football Researchers Association] for more "player named" rules, and background information on how these rules came about.

Awards

- Vince Lombardi Trophy
- Lamar Hunt Trophy
- George S. Halas Trophy
- Most Valuable Player
- Coach of the Year
- Offensive Player of the Year
- Defensive Player of the Year
- Offensive Rookie of the Year
- Defensive Rookie of the Year
- Super Bowl MVP
- NFL Comeback Player of the Year
- Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

Footnotes

# [http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/2005_opponents NFL scheduling formula at NFL.com]

References

- [http://www.nfl.com Official NFL website]
- [http://www.superbowl.com Official Super Bowl website]
- [http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/history NFL History] - Champion and Award Lists
- "NFL Scores Nearly $18 Billion in TV Rights", by Stefan Fatsis and Kyle Pope, 14 January 1998, The Wall Street Journal (p. B1) [http://subscribe.wsj.com/microexamples/articlefiles/NFLScoresNearly18BillionInTVRights.doc]
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 193299436X)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large online database of NFL data and statistics
- [http://nflhistory.net/ The NFL History Network] - includes a large database of historic NFL box scores
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57668-2005Jan7?language=printer NFL's Economic Model Shows Signs of Strain]
- [http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=rulesname Professional Football Researchers Association] - detailed descriptions of why many of the rules named after players were enacted. Category:American football ja:NFL th:เอ็นเอฟแอล

1932

1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday.

Events

January-February

- January 3 - British arrest and intern Mohandas Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel
- January 8 - In Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees
- January 12 - Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate
- January 14 - Maurice Ravel's Concerto in G (Ravel) debuts with piano soloist Marguerite Long and Ravel conducting the Lamoureux Orchestra
- January 15 - Pierre Laval forms a new government in France
- January 15 - About 6 million unemployed in Germany
- January 26 - British submarine M-2 sinks with all 50 hands
- January 28 - Japan occupies Shanghai
- January 29 - Minority government of Karl Mureschi in Austria ends the governmental crisis
- January 31 - Japanese warships arrive in Nanking
- February 2 - General convention of disarmament begins in Geneva
- February 2 - League of Nations again recommends negotiations between the Republic of China and Japan
- February 4 - 1932 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York. Japan occupies Harbin, China
- February 11 - Pope Pius XI meets Benito Mussolini in the Vatican City
- February 18 - Japan declares Manzhouguo (Japanese name for Manchuria) formally independent from China
- February 27 - Adolf Hitler gains German citizenship prior to elections
- February 27 - Mäntsälä Rebellion in Finland

March-April

- March 1 - Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, the baby son of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped
- March 9 - Eamon de Valera is elected President of the Executive Council. It is the first change of government in the Irish Free State in 10 years.
- March 18 - Peace negotiations between China and Japan begin.
- March 19 - Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
- March 20 - Graf Zeppelin begins a regular route to South America
- March 25 - Tarzan the Ape Man opens, with Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. Weismuller starred in a total of 12 Tarzan films.
- April 5 - Prohibition is lifted in Finland at 10 in the morning (local time), inventing a new mnemonic "543210".
- April 6 - U.S. president Herbert Hoover supports armament limitations
- April 6 - Trial against fraudulent art dealer Otto Wacker begins in Berlin
- April 10 - Paul von Hindenburg elected president of Germany. Adolf Hitler receives over 13 million votes.
- April 17 - Haile Selassie announces an anti-slavery law in Abyssinia
- April 19 - German art dealer Otto Wacker is sentenced for 19 months for selling fraudulent paintings of Vincent van Gogh

May-June

- May 2 - Comedian Jack Benny's radio show airs for the first time.
- May 6 - Paul Gorguloff assassinates French president Paul Doumer in Paris - Doumer dies the next day.
- May 10 - Albert Lebrun becomes the new president of France
- May 12 - Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey just a few miles from the Lindbergh's home.
- May 13 - The Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, is dismissed by the State Governor, Sir Phillip Game
- May 15 - Japanese troops leave Shanghai; May 15 Incident, the assassination of Japanese prime minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, occurs.
- May 16 - Massive riots between Hindus and Muslims in Bombay - thousands dead and injured.
- May 20-21 - Amelia Earhart flies from USA to Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 14 hours 54 minutes
- May 30 - German chancellor Heinrich Brüning resigns. President Hindenburg takes Franz von Papen to form a new government.
- June - 15,000 World War I veterans march in Washington, DC
- June 4 - Military coup in Chile
- June 6 - The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States at 1 cent per US gallon (0.26 ¢/L) sold.
- June 14 - Bans against SS and SA overturned in Germany
- June 20 - Benelux customs union negotiated
- June 24 - After a relatively bloodless military rebellion, Siam becomes a constitutional monarchy

July-October

- July 1- ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) established
- July 5 - António de Oliveira Salazar becomes the fascists prime minister of Portugal (for the next 36 years)
- July 7 - French submarine Sromethee sinks off Cherbourg - 66 dead
- July 12 - Hedley Verity establishes a new first-class record by taking all ten wickets for only ten runs against Nottinghamshire on a pitch affected by a storm.
- July 17 - Bloody Sunday of Altona in Germany - armed communists attack a national socialist demonstration - 18 dead. Many other political street fights follow.
- July 28 - US President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, DC. US troops dispersed the last of the "Bonus Army" the next day.
- July 30 - 1932 Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles.
- August 6 - First Venice Film Festival
- August 10 - A 5.1 kg chondrite type meteorite broke into at least seven fragments and struck earth near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
- August 18 - Auguste Piccard reaches altitude of 16.500 meters with an air balloon
- August 30 - Hermann Göring elected as a chairman of German senate
- August 31 - Total solar eclipse visible from northern Canada through NE Vermont, New Hampshire, SW Maine, and the Capes of Massachusetts
- September 9 - The Generalitat reinstaurated, Catalonia regains political autonomy inside the 2nd Spanish Republic from September 25
- September 18 - Actress Peg Entwhistle commits suicide jumping from the letter H of the (then) Hollywoodland sign
- September 20 - Mohandas Gandhi begins an hunger strike in Poona prison
- September 28 - According to Prussian statistics, 115 people have been killed in political riots during the year
- October 15 - Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight
- October 19 - Wedding of Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

November-December

- November 1 - San Francisco Opera House opened
- November 7 - Buck Rogers in the 25th Century airs on radio for the first time.
- November 8 - U.S. presidential election, 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory.
- November 9 - Riots between conservative and socialist supporters in Switzerland - 12 dead, 60 injured
- November 11 - Tornado and huge waves kills about thousand in Santa Crus del Sure in Cuba
- November 19 - Second wife of Josef Stalin is found dead in her home
- November 21 - German president Hindenburg begins negotiations with Adolf Hitler about the formation of a new government
- November 24 - In Washington, DC, the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
- December 3 - Hindenburg names Kurt von Schleicher as a German chancellor
- December 12 - Japan and Soviet Union reform their diplomatic connections
- December 25 - Earthquake in the Kansu Province in China - 70,000 dead

Unknown dates

- Saudi Arabia is declared a unified nation with Ibn Saud as a king.
- Female suffrage in Brazil
- Norway annexes northern Greenland.
- Chaco war between Bolivia and Paraguay
- In the next five years, Dr. Morris Bolber and associates successfully murder and collect the insurance money for more than 30 victims.
- Mars candy bar
- Zippo lighters
- Zero-length springs invented, revolutionizing seismometers and gravimeters
- The Kennedy-Thorndike experiment shows that measured time as well as length are affected by motion, in accordance with the theory of special relativity.
- Chadwick discovers the neutron.
- Geneticist J. B. S. Haldane publishes The Causes of Evolution and thereby unifies the findings of Mendelian genetics with those of evolutionary science.
- Second Polar Year, an international scientific collaboration.
- Kreuger & Toll of the "Match King" Ivar Kreuger collapses - he commits suicide.
- Republican Citizens Committee Against National Prohibition established for repeal of prohibition in U.S.

Births

January

- January 3 - Dabney Coleman, American actor
- January 3 - Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
- January 5 - Johnny Adams, American musician (d. 1998)
- January 5 - Umberto Eco, Italian scholar and author
- January 6 - Stuart A. Rice, American chemist
- January 16 - Dian Fossey, American zoologist (d. 1985)
- January 18 - Robert Anton Wilson, American author
- January 22 - Piper Laurie, American actress
- January 26 - Coxsone Dodd, Jamaican record producer (d. 2004)
- January 29 - Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
- January 30 - Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician

February-March

- February 3 - Peggy Ann Garner, American actress (d. 1984)
- February 6 - François Truffaut, French film director (d. 1984)
- February 7 - Gay Talese, American author
- February 8 - John Williams, American composer and conductor
- February 9 - Gerhard Richter, German painter
- February 11 - Jerome Lowenthal, American pianist
- February 12 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)
- February 14 - Alexander Kluge, German author and film director
- February 16 - Harry Goz, American actor (d. 2003)
- February 18 - Milos Forman, Czech film director
- February 22 - Edward Kennedy, American politician
- February 23 - Majel Barrett, American actress
- February 24 - Michel Legrand, French composer
- February 25 - Faron Young American singer (d. 1996)
- February 26 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
- February 27 - Elizabeth Taylor, English-born actress
- March 4 - Miriam Makeba, South African singer
- March 12 - Andrew Young, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- March 16 - Don Blasingame, Major League Baseball player and Japanese baseball manager (d. 2005)
- March 18 - John Updike, American author
- March 21 - Walter Gilbert, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 30 - Ted Morgan, French-born author, biographer, and journalist

April-July

- April 1 - Gordon Jump, American television actor (d. 2003)
- April 1 - Debbie Reynolds, American actress
- April 2 - Michael Vernon, Australian consumer activist (d.1993)
- April 4 - Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1992)
- April 4 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (d. 1986)
- April 8 - Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, King of Malaysia
- April 9 - Carl Perkins, American musician (d. 1998)
- April 12 - Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (assassinated) (d. 2005)
- April 12 - Tiny Tim, American musician (d. 1996)
- April 23 - Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
- April 26 - Michael Smith, English-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- April 27 - Casey Kasem, American disc jockey and voice actor
- April 27 - Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-born mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
- May 8 - Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
- May 8 - Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970)
- May 25 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)
- June 4 - John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
- June 4 - Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (d. 2004)
- June 12 - Rona Jaffe, American novelist
- June 18 - Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 18 - Geoffrey Hill, English poet
- June 25 - Peter Blake, English artist
- June 27 - Anna Moffo, American soprano
- June 28 - Pat Morita, American actor (d. 2005)
- July 2 - Dave Thomas, American fast-food entrepreneur (d. 2002)
- July 9 - Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense
- July 12 - Otis Davis, American runner
- July 21 - Ernie Warlick, American football player
- July 29 - Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, U.S. Senator

August-December

- August 1 - Meena Kumari, Indian actress
- August 2 - Lamar Hunt, American sportsman
- August 2 - Peter O'Toole, Irish-born actor
- August 6 - Howard Hodgkin, British painter and print-maker
- August 11 - Fernando Arrabal, Moroccan-born writer
- August 17 - V. S. Naipaul, West Indian-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 18 - William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia
- September 4 - Dinsdale Landen, British actor (d. 2003)
- September 7 - Paul Getty, American-born philanthropist (d. 2003)
- September 8 - Patsy Cline, American singer (d. 1963)
- September 18 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (d. 2002)
- September 22 - Algirdas Brazauskas, President of Lithuania
- September 25 - Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (d. 1982)
- September 26 - Richard Herd, American actor
- September 26 - Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
- September 27 - Oliver E. Williamson , American economist
- September 30 - Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author and politician
- October 19 - Robert Reed, American actor (d. 1992)
- October 20 - Rosey Brown, American football playerr (d. 2004)
- October 24 - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 24 - Robert Mundell, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 28 - Suzy Parker, American actress (d. 2003)
- November 3 - Albert Reynolds, President of Ireland
- November 4 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (d. 2004)
- November 4 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (d. 1999)
- November 15 - Petula Clark, British singer, actress, and songwriter
- November 20 - Richard Dawson, British-born game show host
- November 29 - Jacques Chirac, President of France
- December 2 - Manuel Puig, Argentinian writer (d. 1990)
- December 5 -