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1939 Philadelphia Eagles season

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1939 Philadelphia Eagles season
OwnerBert Bell
Head coachBert Bell
Home fieldPhiladelphia Municipal Stadium
Local radioWCAU
Results
Record1–9–1
Division place4th (tied) NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1939 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 7th season in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 5–6, winning only one game.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The October 22 game against Brooklyn was the first NFL game to be televised. The Eagles threw 267 passes in 1939, or 24.3 per game, the most by an NFL team in the 1930s.

Off season

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The Eagle moved their training camp to St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

NFL draft

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The 1939 NFL draft had 22 rounds and was held on December 9, 1938.

The Eagles drafted in the 4th spot in the 20 rounds they had picks. They chose a total 20 players, of which 9 made the team for the 1939 season.

The Chicago Cardinals choose Charles "Ki" Aldrich as a center that went to Texas Christian. The TCU Horned Frogs had 3 players in the top 7 picks in the first round

Player selections

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The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick.[2] It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.

= Pro Bowler [3] = Hall of Famer
Rd Pick # Player Position College
1 4 Davey O'Brien[4] Back Texas Christian
2 14 Charles Newton Back Washington
3 19 Joe Mihal Tackle Purdue
4 29 Billy Dewell Offensive End Southern Methodist
5 34 Fred Coston Guard Texas A&M
6 44 Jake Schuehle Back Rice
7 54 Tony Ippolito Back Purdue
8 64 George Somers Tackle La Salle
9 74 Rankin Britt End Texas A&M
10 84 Bill McKeever Tackle Cornell
11 94 Paul Humphrey Center Purdue
12 104 Jack Kraynick Back North Carolina
13 114 Thomas "Allie" White Tackle Texas Christian
14 124 Joe Aleskus Tackle Ohio State
15 134 Foster Watkins Back West Texas State Teachers
16 144 Irv Hall Back Brown
17 154 Bob Riddell End South Dakota State
18 164 Charlie Gainor End North Dakota
19 174 Morris White Back Tulsa
20 184 Dick Gormley Center Louisiana State
21 No Pick in this Round .
22 No Pick in this Round .

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 17 Washington Redskins L 0–7 0–1 33,258
2 September 24 New York Giants L 3–13 0–2 30,600
3 October 1 Brooklyn Dodgers T 0–0 0–2–1 1,880
4 October 15 at New York Giants L 10–27 0–3–1 34,471
5 October 22 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 14–23 0–4–1 13,057
6 November 5 at Washington Redskins L 6–7 0–5–1 20,444
7 November 12 Green Bay Packers L 16–23 0–6–1 23,000
8 November 19 at Chicago Bears L 14–27 0–7–1 21,398
9 November 23 Pittsburgh Pirates W 17–14 1–7–1 20,000
10 November 26 at Pittsburgh Pirates L 12–24 1–8–1 8,788
11 December 3 at Cleveland Rams L 13–35 1–9–1 9,189

Standings

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NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
New York Giants 9 1 1 .900 7–0–1 168 85 W4
Washington Redskins 8 2 1 .800 6–1–1 242 94 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 4 6 1 .400 3–4–1 108 219 L3
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 9 1 .100 1–7 114 216 W1
Philadelphia Eagles 1 9 1 .100 1–6–1 105 200 L2
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs

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The Eagles had a 1–9–1 record and failed to make it to the 1939 NFL Championship Game. The game was on December 10, 1939, at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was the seventh NFL championship game played. The Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants to win their fifth title. The game attendance was 32,379.

The game matched the champions of the Eastern Division, New York Giants (9–1–1) against the Western Division champion Green Bay Packers (9–2–0). The Packers won 27–0 in a rematch of the 1938 NFL Championship Game that was won by the Giants.

Roster

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(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)

= 1939 Pro All Star[5] = Hall of Famer

As was in 1937 roster and 1938 roster, this year team is mostly rookies and players with 1 or 2 years NFL experience.

NO. Player AGE POS GP GS WT HT YRS College
Bert Bell 44 Coach 1939 record
1–9–1
NFL-Eagles
Lifetime

9–34–2
4th Pennsylvania
Jay Arnold 27 HB-WB-DB
BB-KR-PR
10 9 210 6–1 2 Texas
Rankin Britt 26 End 1 0 205 6–2 Rookie Texas A&M
Joe Bukant 23 Back 11 1 216 6–0 1 Washington (MO)
Tom Burnette 24 BB 11 3 194 6–1 Rookie North Carolina
Joe Carter* 29 E 11 11 201 6–1 6 Austin College and
SMU
Zed Coston 24 C 1 0 222 6–2 Rookie Texas A&M
Bree Cuppoletti 29 G 10 8 200 5–10 5 Oregon
Woody Dow 23 BB-FB 9 2 195 6–0 1 West Texas A&M
Drew Ellis 25 T 11 9 215 6–1 1 TCU
Maurice Harper 29 Cen 11 8 227 6–4 3 Austin
Bill Hewitt 30 E-DE 11 2 190 5–9 7 Michigan
Bill Hughes 24 G-C 11 6 226 6–1 2 Texas
Ray Keeling 24 T-G 9 0 242 6–3 1 Texas
Elmer Kolberg 23 HB-E 8 3 201 6–4 Rookie Oregon State
Emmett Kriel 23 G 1 0 199 6–2 Rookie Baylor
Emmett Mortell 23 B 8 2 181 6–1 2 Notre Dame and
Wisconsin
Davey O'Brien* 22 QB-TB 11 8 151 5–7 Rookie TCU
Bob Pylman 26 T 10 2 214 6–4 1 South Dakota State
Red Ramsey 28 E 11 6 196 6–0 1 Texas Tech
Hank Reese 30 C-G 5 3 214 5–11 6 Temple
Dick Riffle 24 B 10 3 200 6–1 1 Albright
Theodore Schmitt 23 G 11 8 219 5–11 1 Pittsburgh
Jake Schuehle 22 HB 2 0 196 6–0 Rookie Rice
Dave Smukler 25 FB-LB 4 4 226 6–1 2 Missouri and
Temple
George Somers 24 T 9 3 253 6–2 Rookie La Salle
Allie White 24 G-T 7 0 212 5–11 Rookie Texas Christian
Clem Woltman 24 T 10 8 214 6–1 1 Purdue
28 Players
Team Average
25.1 11 208.2 6–0.6 1.6

Awards and honors

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  • Davey O'Brien finishes 2nd in pass attempts with 210
  • Davey O'Brien finishes 2nd in pass completions with 99
  • Davey O'Brien leads NFL in passing yards with 1324
  • Joe Carter named to Pro All_Star team.
  • Davey O'Brien named to Pro All-Star team.

References

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  1. ^ 1939 Philadelphia Eagles
  2. ^ Pro Football Hall of Fame. "1938 NFL Draft sorted by team".
  3. ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
  4. ^ Davey O'Brien, 1938 Heisman Trophy winner "Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Players are identified as a 1939 Pro All Star.