1937 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season
NFL team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fifth season as a professional sports club in the National Football League (NFL). The team hired John McNally as head coach after John Bach stepped down during the offseason. McNally was a former player, who played halfback for the Pirates during the 1934 season. His team finished with another 4â7 record however, McNally was welcomed back the next season.
| 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Art Rooney |
| Head coach | John McNally |
| Home stadium | Forbes Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 4â7 |
| Division place | 3rd NFL Eastern |
| Playoffs | Did not qualify |
Offseason
Draft
| 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Mike Basrak | C | Duquesne | |
| 2 | 15 | Bob Finley | B | SMU | Played pro baseball |
| 3 | 25 | Bill Breeden | B | Oklahoma | |
| 4 | 35 | Elmo "Bo" Hewes | B | Oklahoma | |
| 5 | 45 | Jack Frye | B | Missouri | |
| 6 | 55 | Walt Roach | E | TCU | |
| 7 | 65 | Byron Haines | HB | Washington | |
| 8 | 75 | Marty Kordich | G | Saint Mary's (CA) | |
| 9 | 85 | Matt Patanelli | E | Michigan | |
| 10 | 95 | Stan Nevers | T | Kentucky | |
| Made roster | |||||
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27â14 | 1â0 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 2 | Bye | |||||
| 3 | September 19 | at Brooklyn Dodgers | W 21â0 | 2â0 | Ebbets Field | Recap |
| 4 | September 26 | New York Giants | L 7â10 | 2â1 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 5 | October 4 | Chicago Bears | L 0â7 | 2â2 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 6 | October 10 | at Detroit Lions | L 3â7 | 2â3 | University of Detroit Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 17 | at Washington Redskins | L 20â34 | 2â4 | Griffith Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 24 | Chicago Cardinals | L 7â13 | 2â5 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 9 | October 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 16â7 | 3â5 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 10 | November 7 | at New York Giants | L 0â17 | 3â6 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 11 | November 14 | Washington Redskins | W 21â13 | 4â6 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 12 | November 21 | Brooklyn Dodgers | L 0â23 | 4â7 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 13 | Bye | |||||
| 14 | Bye | |||||
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday September 5, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 8,588
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh â Brett 39 pass from Thompson (Weinstock kick)
- Philadelphia â Hanson 3 run (Smukler kick)
- Pittsburgh â Davidson 19 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
- Philadelphia â Hewitt 7 pass from Smukler (Smukler kick)
- Pittsburgh â McNally 92 kick return (Breeden kick)
- Pittsburgh â McNally 44 pass from Fiske (kick failed)
Week 2 (Sunday September 19, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 18,000
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Week 3 (Sunday September 26, 1937): New York Giants
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 33,095
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Week 4 (Monday October 4, 1937): Chicago Bears
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 22,511
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Chicago Bears â Nolting 13 run (Manders kick)
Week 5 (Sunday October 10, 1937): Detroit Lions
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 16,000
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh â FG Niccolai 11
- Detroit â Caddel 2 run (Clark kick)
Week 6 (Sunday October 17, 1937): Washington Redskins
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Redskins | 7 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 34 |
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 12,835
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Washington â Battles 65 interception (Smith kick)
- Pittsburgh â McNally 43 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)
- Pittsburgh â Thompson 55 pass from McNally (kick blocked)
- Washington â Malone 7 pass from Baugh
- Washington â Justice 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
- Washington â Battles 60 run (Smith kick)
- Washington â Battles 62 run (Smith kick)
- Pittsburgh â McNally 2 pass from Karcis (Niccolai kick)
Week 7 (Sunday October 24, 1937): Chicago Cardinals
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 8,963
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Week 8 (Sunday October 31, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Pirates | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 2,772
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Week 9 (Sunday November 7, 1937): New York Giants
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 21,447
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- New York â Burnett 5 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
- New York â FG Cuf 35
- New York â Soar 25 interception
Week 10 (Sunday November 14, 1937): Washington Redskins
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redskins | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Pirates | 7 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 21 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 12,000
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Washington â Pinckert 3 pass from Smith (kick failed)
- Pittsburgh â Davidson 68 run (Weinstock kick)
- Pittsburgh â Safety, Baugh tackled in end zone by Mayhew
- Pittsburgh â FG Niccolai 21
- Washington â Justice 40 pass from Baugh (Smith kick)
- Pittsburgh â FG Niccolai 41
- Pittsburgh â Karcis 21 run (kick failed)
Week 11 (Sunday November 21, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 3,706
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Brooklyn â Parker 2 run (Parker kick)
- Brooklyn â Parker 44 punt return (kick failed)
- Brooklyn â FG Maniaci 29
- Brooklyn â Mitchell 15 pass from Parker (Maniaci kick)
Roster
| 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates final roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Backs
Ends/Receivers
|
Linemen/Linebackers
Rookies in italics | |||||
Standings
| NFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 6â2 | 195 | 120 | W2 | |
| New York Giants | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 5â2â1 | 128 | 109 | L1 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 4â4 | 122 | 145 | L1 | |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 7 | 1 | .300 | 2â5â1 | 82 | 174 | T1 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 8 | 1 | .200 | 2â6 | 86 | 177 | L1 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.