The NFL's 100th season will kick off Thursday night in Chicago, where 88 seasons ago the league played perhaps the most significant game in its history on a 60-yard, tanbark-covered indoor field that reeked of elephant manure so badly that some of the Bears players threw up on the field.
Yeah, the league sure has come a long way in reaching a $15 billion behemoth that will open 2019 with the Packers and Bears at Soldier Field.
One giant step forward took place on Dec. 18, 1932.
Unable to declare a champion based on the regular-season standings, the NFL scheduled the 6-1-4 Portsmouth Spartans to play the 6-1-6 Bears at Wrigley Field in the league's first postseason game.