How the NFL Went From Standings to the Super Bowl
Follow the NFL title from standings-era champions and the 1932 tiebreaker through the scheduled championship game, merger and modern Super Bowl.
The NFL has recognized champions since 1920, but the method has changed: standings determined the title through 1931, a special tiebreaker settled 1932, a scheduled championship game began in 1933, and the Super Bowl became the NFL final after the 1970 merger. The interleague games for the 1966–1969 seasons are now counted as Super Bowls I–IV.
Choose an era to see what decided the NFL title and whether the Super Bowl existed.
Selected era
1933–1965
The winners of the NFL’s two divisions or conferences met in the scheduled NFL Championship Game. A tiebreaker playoff was held first when necessary.
Super Bowl status: Not yet played.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame chronology and NFL champions records cited in the article.
That changing structure is why NFL championships and Super Bowl wins are not interchangeable. A title won before the Super Bowl remains an NFL championship; it is not retroactively a Super Bowl victory.
From 1920 Through 1931, Standings Produced the Champion
The league began in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association and adopted the NFL name in 1922. Clubs initially arranged much of their own schedules, so they did not necessarily play the same number of games. Championship position depended on win-loss percentage; ties were excluded from that calculation at the time.
There was no championship game. The first title was formally awarded only when the owners met after the season. At their April 1921 meeting, they named the undefeated Akron Pros the 1920 champions. The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s chronology says incoming league president Joe Carr then issued standings for the first time, giving the association a clearer way to identify its champion (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
The system produced disputes that look unfamiliar beside a modern fixed schedule. The Buffalo All-Americans and Chicago Staleys both claimed the 1921 title before Carr ruled for Chicago. These were nevertheless official league championships, even though no postseason final settled them.
The 1932 Tiebreaker Became a Regular-Season Game
The Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans finished the 1932 season tied for first with matching .857 winning percentages. Their two meetings had both ended in ties, so the league arranged another game to determine the champion (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
Bitter cold and heavy snow forced the game from Wrigley Field into Chicago Stadium. The indoor floor allowed an 80-yard field that ran to the arena walls. The goal posts were moved from the end lines to the goal lines, and hash marks kept the ball away from the walls.
Chicago’s decisive touchdown came on a Bronko Nagurski pass to Red Grange in the Bears’ 9–0 victory (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
The league classified the contest as an additional regular-season game rather than a scheduled NFL Championship Game. Its influence was direct, however. In 1933, Bears owner George Halas and Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall pushed through a two-division structure whose winners would play for the title.
From 1933 Through 1965, Division Winners Played for the Title
On December 17, 1933, the Bears beat the New York Giants 23–21 in the first NFL Championship Game scheduled before the season. For the next three decades, finishing first in one of the league’s two divisions—or conferences, as they were called for part of the period—normally earned a place in the final. When teams tied for first, a one-game tiebreaker determined who advanced.
The postseason was much smaller than today’s bracket. A team could win the NFL championship by finishing first in its division or conference and then winning one title game.
The format produced games that helped carry professional football to a national audience. In the 1958 championship, Johnny Unitas led Baltimore past the Giants 23–17. Alan Ameche’s one-yard touchdown ended the first sudden-death overtime in an NFL Championship Game after 8:15 of extra play (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
This period also overlapped with rival leagues. The Cleveland Browns won all four All-America Football Conference championships from 1946 through 1949 before Cleveland, San Francisco and Baltimore entered the NFL in 1950 (Pro Football Hall of Fame). Those AAFC titles belong in a broader history of major professional football, but they are not NFL championships.
The same distinction applies to the American Football League, which began play in 1960. Through the 1965 season, the AFL and NFL each crowned a champion without a game between them.
From 1966 Through 1969, Three Championship Labels Applied
The leagues announced their merger in June 1966. They retained separate regular-season schedules through 1969 but agreed that their champions would meet annually, beginning in January 1967 (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
Each of those four seasons therefore produced three relevant labels:
- NFL champion;
- AFL champion;
- winner of the joint championship game.
Green Bay, for example, won the 1966 NFL Championship and then defeated AFL champion Kansas City 35–10 in January 1967. The contest was formally the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt had informally suggested “Super Bowl,” and the name became official with Super Bowl III (NFL).
The Packers won the first two meetings. The New York Jets won the third and Kansas City the fourth, leaving the AFL and NFL 2–2 in the series before full integration.
Since 1970, the Super Bowl Winner Has Been NFL Champion
The merger became operational for the 1970 season. The former AFL clubs joined Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh in the AFC; the remaining NFL clubs formed the NFC. The conference playoff winners met in the Super Bowl to decide the NFL championship (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
The championship trophy was renamed for Vince Lombardi in September 1970 (Pro Football Hall of Fame).
The playoff field has expanded since then, but the championship’s place in the structure has not changed: the Super Bowl winner is the NFL champion. The AFC and NFC title games determine the two participants and their respective conference championships.
Championship Totals Must Separate NFL, AFL and AAFC Titles
Three counting rules prevent most errors:
- Count pre-Super Bowl NFL titles. A franchise’s all-time NFL championship total includes recognized league titles from 1920 onward, not merely Super Bowl wins.
- Keep rival-league titles separate. AAFC and pre-merger AFL championships can be listed as major professional titles, but they should not be silently converted into NFL championships.
- Label titles by season. Green Bay’s championship game for the 1966 season was played in January 1967. Modern Super Bowls likewise occur in the calendar year after most of the corresponding regular season.
A table of “Super Bowl winners” therefore answers a narrower question than a history of NFL champions. For the season-by-season names—including standings champions, NFL title-game winners, parallel AAFC and AFL winners, and Super Bowl champions—see every NFL champion by season.