1945 NFL Championship Game

In the first quarter, the Redskins had the ball at their own 5-yard line. Dropping back into the end zone, quarterback Sammy Baugh threw, but the ball hit the goal post (which at the time were on the goal line instead of at the back of the end zone) and bounced back to the ground in the end zone. Under the rules at the time, this was ruled as a safety and thus gave the Rams a 2–0 lead.[9]

Upper deck ticket for the 1945 "World's Professional Football Championship" game held in Cleveland. Printed ahead of the game, these tickets included neither the date nor the name of the Eastern Conference opponent.

In the second quarter, Baugh suffered bruised ribs and was replaced by Frank Filchock. Filchock threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Steve Bagarus to give the Redskins a 7–2 lead. But the Rams scored just before halftime when rookie quarterback Bob Waterfield threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jim Benton. Waterfield's ensuing extra point was partially blocked, with the ball teetering on the crossbar, but it dropped over to give Cleveland a 9–7 lead.[10]

In the third quarter, the Rams increased their lead when Jim Gillette scored on a 44-yard touchdown reception, but this time the extra point was missed. The Redskins then came back to cut their deficit to 15–14 with Bob Seymour's 8-yard touchdown catch from Filchock. In the fourth quarter, Washington kicker Joe Aguirre missed two field goals attempts, of 46 and 31 yards, that could have won the game.[11]

But it was the safety that proved to be the margin of victory. Redskins owner George Preston Marshall was so upset with the outcome that he became a major force in passing the following major rule change after the season: A forward pass that strikes the goal posts is automatically ruled incomplete. This rule, which eventually became known as the "Baugh/Marshall Rule", remained in effect until 1974 when the moving of the goalposts back to the end line made it impossible to hit the goal posts with a legal forward pass, and thus made the rule dead letter.

• Referee: Ronald Gibbs
• Umpire: Harry Robb
• Head Linesman: Charlie Berry
• Field Judge: Bill Downes [1]

The NFL had only four game officials in 1945; the back judge was added in 1947, the line judge in 1965, and the side judge in 1978.

Total revenue generated by the championship game totaled $164,542, which included $15,081 for radio broadcast rights, a new record.[12] Of this total, $95,261 was allotted to the players, resulting of winners' shares of about $1,409 per player for the victorious Rams and $902 per player for the losing Redskins.[12][13]

Despite winning the world championship, Rams owner Dan Reeves lost money with his franchise during the 1945 season, helping to assure his move to Los Angeles in January 1946.[14]

• Bruce Nash and Allen Zullo, The Football Hall of Shame. New York: Pocket Books, 1986; pp. 68–69.
• The Sporting News Complete Super Bowl Book 1995. St. Louis, MO: Sporting News Publishing Co., 1995; pp. 395–396.