The Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 5th in Washington, D.C. The team failed to improve on their 9âÂÂ2 record from 1940, finishing at 6âÂÂ5 and missed the playoffs.
The final game of the season, a home game against the Eagles, occurred on Sunday, December 7, starting just twelve minutes after the start of the attack on Pearl Harbor and approximately twenty minutes before the news was released by White House Press Secretary Stephen Early. Announcements were made recalling military, government and diplomatic personnel to their offices starting midway through the first quarter and continued throughout the game. By the end of the game, despite no official announcement being made there, most press and spectators had left, either out of curiosity or because of being called away. When questioned, Washington owner George Preston Marshall stated that he did not make the announcement because, "I didn't want to divert the fans' attention from the game."