List Of NFL Champions (1920-1969)
This is a list of National Football League (NFL) champions before the 1970 AFL–NFL merger. From 1920–1932, the league champion was determined by a team's win–loss percentage, with tied games omitted. In 1932, because of a tie in the final standings, a playoff game was played to determine the championship.
In 1933, the NFL played its first official championship game. On July 31, 1933, the NFL was divided into two divisions, which were renamed as conferences after 1949, and the winners of each division/conference played each other to determine the league champion. This format would remain through the 1966 season. Any ties in the regular season standings resulted in a playoff game, while the winner of the other conference stood idle. This last occurred in 1965.
In 1967, the then-16-team NFL split each conference into two divisions of four teams each. From 1967–69, the division winners met in a conference championship game. The two conference champions then played for the NFL championship. Starting with the 1966 season, the NFL champion played the American Football League champion in what would become the Super Bowl.
Since the completion of the merger in 1970, the Super Bowl has served as the NFL championship game. Unlike the Super Bowl, which is contested at a venue selected years in advance, NFL championship games from 1933 to 1969 took place at the home field of one of the competing teams. Home field was not determined by record but alternated between the conferences: the East hosted the even-numbered seasons and the West the odds.
Starting with the 1934 game, the winning team received the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, which had replaced the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup, the league's original championship trophy that had gone missing 13 years earlier. The trophy was named after Ed Thorp, a noted referee, rules expert, and sporting goods dealer. Thorp died in 1934, and a large, traveling trophy was made that year, passed along from champion to champion each season with each championship team's name inscribed on it (just like its predecessor). Teams would also receive a replica trophy. The trophy was last awarded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1969. It is now missing.
Read more about List Of NFL Champions (1920-1969): NFL Championships 1920–1932 (pre-playoffs Era)
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