1938 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1938 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous output of 2–8–1, winning five games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

1938 Philadelphia Eagles season
OwnerBert Bell
Head coachBert Bell
Home fieldPhiladelphia Municipal Stadium
Results
Record5–6
Division place4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Off Season

NFL Draft

The 1938 NFL Draft was held on December 12, 1937. The draft consisted of 12 rounds. The Eagles got the second pick in each round, as the expansion Cleveland Rams got the first pick. With the pick they chose Corbett Davis, a back from Indiana University.

Player selections

The table shows the Eagles' selections, 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 PositionCollege
12Jim McDonaldBackOhio State
212Dick RiffleBackAlbright
317Joe BukantBackWashington (St. Louis)
427John MeekBackCalifornia
532Fred ShireyTackleNebraska
642Herschel RamseyEndTexas Tech
752Bob LannonEndIowa
862Clem WoltmanGuardPurdue
972Elmer KolbergBackOregon State
1082Emmett KrielGuardBaylor
1192Carl HinkleCenterVanderbilt
12102John MichelosenBackPittsburgh

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 11, 1938 Washington Redskins L 26–23
20,000
2 September 16, 1938 at Pittsburgh Pirates W 27–7
19,749
3 September 25, 1938 New York Giants W 14–10
20,000
4 October 2, 1938 Chicago Bears L 28–6
N/A
5 October 16, 1938 at New York Giants L 17–7
33,187
6 October 23, 1938 at Washington Redskins L 20–14
3,000
7 October 26, 1938 Chicago Cardinals W 7–0
15,000
8 November 6, 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers L 10–7
12,000
9 November 13, 1938 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 32–14
13,052
10 November 20, 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates W 14–7
6,500
11 December 4, 1938 at Detroit Lions W 21–7
19,000

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
New York Giants 8 2 1 .800 5–2–1 194 79 W1
Washington Redskins 6 3 2 .667 4–2–2 148 154 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 4 4 3 .500 3–2–3 131 161 T1
Philadelphia Eagles 5 6 0 .455 3–5 154 164 W2
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 9 0 .182 2–6 79 169 L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs

The Eagles had a 5–6–0 record and failed to make it to the 1938 NFL Championship Game. The game was on December 11, 1938, at Polo Grounds in New York City. The game attendance was 48,120, a record crowd for a title game.

The game matched the champions of the Eastern Division, New York Giants (8–2–1) against the Western Division champion Green Bay Packers (8–3–0). The Giants won 23–17.

Roster

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

= 1938 Pro All Star [4]

As in the 1937 roster, this year's team is mostly rookies and players with one or two years' NFL experience.

NO. Player AGE POS GP GS WT HT YRS College
Bert Bell42Coach1938 record
5–6
NFL-Eagles Lifetime
8–25
3rdPennsylvania
Jay Arnold26HB-WB-DB-BB11112106–11Texas
Joe Bukant23Back1112166–0RookieWashington (MO)
Tom Burnette23BB801946–1RookieNorth Carolina
Joe Carter*28E11112016–15Austin College and
SMU
John Cole0FB1101975–9RookieSt. Joseph's (PA)
Woody Dow22BB-FB10101956–0RookieWest Texas A&M
Drew Ellis24T11102156–1RookieTCU
Fritz Ferko26T202426–11 Mount State Mary's and
West Chester
Bill Fiedler24G102005–9RookiePennsylvania
Wimpy Giddens24T902206–2RookieLouisiana Tech
Maurice Harper28Cen1192276–41Austin
Bill Hewitt+29E-DE11111905–96Michigan
Bill Hughes23G-C1162266–11Texas
Ray Keeling23T-G932426–3RookieTexas
Rabbit Keen24QB101705–91Arkansas
John Kusko24B101945–112Temple
Bernie Lee26QB101905–11RookieVillanova
Bob Masters27HB112005–111Baylor
Emmett Mortell22B1171816–11 Notre Dame and
Wisconsin
Bob Pylman25T1112146–4RookieSouth Dakota State
George Rado26G-DE1061945–93Duquesne
Red Ramsey27E1101966–0RookieTexas Tech
Hank Reese29C-G1122145–115Temple
Dick Riffle23B1142006–1RookieAlbright
Theodore Schmitt22G1122195–11RookiePittsburgh
Dave Smukler24FB-LB11102266–12Missouri and
Temple
Mule Stockton25G1182146–11McMurry
Billy Wilson27E101845–103Gonzaga
Clem Woltman24T1082146–1RookiePurdue
29 players
Team average
24.111206.46–0.11.2

Awards and honors

  • Dave Smukler finished 2nd in TD passes with 7.
  • Joe Carter finished 2nd in receiving TDs with 7.
  • Dave Smukler returned the only kickoff for a TD this year in the NFL.[5]
  • Jay Arnold was one of 10 players to return an interception for a TD.
  • Joe Carter was named to Pro All-Star team.
  • Bill Hewitt was named to Pro All-Star team as a starter.

References

  • "Philadelphia Eagles Results and Statistics (1930s)" (PDF). Philadelphia Eagles. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 19, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
  1. 1938 Philadelphia Eagles on pro-football-reference.com
  2. Pro Football Hall of Fame. "1938 NFL Draft sorted by team". Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  3. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
  4. Players are identified as a 1938 Pro All Star.
  5. www.databasefootball.com Archived November 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.