1939 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's seventh season as a professional football club in the National Football League (NFL). The Pirates brought John McNally back for his third year, however, after finishing with a 2–9 record, Owner Art Rooney provided him with support by signing Walt Kiesling during the offseason. Despite this, the Pirates experienced their worst season yet, placing last in the league with a 1–9–1 record. The team just barely tallied a number in the win column, but during Week 11, they beat the Philadelphia Eagles. It was their first win at home in 9 games at Forbes Field (Week 10, 1937). It was also the final season for the franchise before becoming the "Steelers" the following season.

1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season
OwnerArt Rooney
Head coachJohn McNally, Walt Kiesling
Home fieldForbes Field
Local radioKDKA
Results
Record1–9–1
Division place4th (tied) NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersByron Gentry

Offseason

1939 NFL draft
Main article: 1939 NFL Draft
Pittsburgh Pirates 1939 NFL Draft selections
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Choice Overall
1 2 2 Sidney "Sid" Luckman Quarterback Columbia Traded pick to Chicago
2 1 11 Clarence "Pug" Manders Fullback Drake Traded pick to Brooklyn
3 2 17 Billy Patterson Back Baylor Played 1 season for Steelers in 1940
4 1 26 Hugh McCullough Defensive back Pittsburgh Played 1 season for Pirates in 1939
5 2 32 Ernie Wheeler Back North Dakota State Played for Cards and Steelers in 1939
6 1 41 Sam Boyd End Baylor Played 3 seasons for Pirates/Steelers
7 2 52 Eddie Palumbo Back Detroit
8 1 61 Ole Nelson End Michigan State
9 2 72 Steve Petro Guard Pittsburgh Played for Dodgers
10 1 81 Jack Lee Back Carnegie-Mellon
11 2 92 Lou Tomasetti Back Bucknell
12 1 101 Denny Cochran Back St. Louis Played 3 seasons for Pirates/Steelers
13 2 112 Fabian Hoffman End Pittsburgh
14 1 121 Ed Clary Back South Carolina
15 2 132 John Tosi Center Niagara
16 1 141 Al Lezouski Guard Pittsburgh
17 2 152 Ed Longhi Center Notre Dame
18 1 161 Dave Shirk End Kansas
19 2 172 Frank Peters End Washington
20 1 181 Tom Sheldrake End Washington

Pittsburgh's 1939 Draft (like many of the Steelers drafts from these days) was useless. The one player that played longer 1 season was Sam Boyd who played just 3 seasons for the Pirates/Steelers. The Pirates also traded their first two picks to Chicago and Brooklyn. The Bears would draft future Hall of Famer, QB Sid Luckman, and the Dodgers would select Clarence "Pug" Manders who eventually played 9 years of pro ball.

Regular season

Schedule
Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 14 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 7–12 0–1 Ebbets Field Recap
2 September 24 Chicago Cardinals L 0–10 0–2 Forbes Field Recap
3 October 2 Chicago Bears L 0–32 0–3 Forbes Field Recap
4 October 8 New York Giants L 7–14 0–4 Forbes Field Recap
5 October 15 at Washington Redskins L 14–44 0–5 Griffith Stadium Recap
6 October 22 Washington Redskins L 14–21 0–6 Forbes Field Recap
7 October 29 at Cleveland Rams T 14–14 0–6–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium Recap
8 November 6 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 13–17 0–7–1 Ebbets Field Recap
9 November 19 at New York Giants L 7–23 0–8–1 Polo Grounds Recap
10 November 23 at Philadelphia Eagles L 14–17 0–9–1 Philadelphia Municipal Stadium Recap
11 November 26 Philadelphia Eagles W 24–12 1–9–1 Forbes Field Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1 (Thursday September 14, 1939): Brooklyn Dodgers
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 7 0 0 7
Dodgers 3 7 0 2 12

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 19,444
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Brooklyn – FG Kercheval 27
  • Pittsburgh – Platukis 30 pass from Wheeler (Niccolai kick)
  • Brooklyn – Parker 10 run (Kinard kick)
  • Brooklyn – Safety, Wheeler tackled in end zone by Hill

Week 2 (Sunday, September 24, 1939): Chicago Cardinals
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 7 0 0 3 10
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 19,008
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Chicago Cardinals – Goldberg 4 run (Monahan kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – FG Monahan 32

Week 3 (Monday October 2, 1939): Chicago Bears
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 13 13 6 32
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 10,325
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Chicago Bears – Omanski 21 run (Stydahar kick)
  • Chicago Bears – Manske 24 pass from Masterson (kick failed)
  • Chicago Bears – Maniaci 75 run (kick failed)
  • Chicago Bears – Maniaci 4 run (Manders kick)
  • Chicago Bears – MacLeod 29 pass from Patterson (kick failed)

Between this game and the next, the Pirates shoehorned in a midseason exhibition game against the McKeesport Olympics, in McKeesport on October 4. The Pirates won that game, 9–6.[1]

Week 4 (Sunday October 8, 1939): New York Giants
1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 0 0 14 0 14
Pirates 0 7 0 0 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 9,663
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Niccolai kick)
  • New York – Cuff 20 pass from Danowski (Cuff kick)
  • New York – Cuff 5 pass from Danowski (Cuff kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 15, 1939): Washington Redskins
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 7 7 0 0 14
Redskins 13 6 19 6 44

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 25,982
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – German 15 run (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Francis run (Niccolai kick)
  • Washington – German 14 run (Russell kick)
  • Pittsburgh – McDonough 3 pass from Tomasetti (Niccolai kick)
  • Washington – Farkas 11 run (kick blocked)
  • Washington – Farkas 99 pass from Filchock (kick failed)
  • Washington – Todd 19 pass from Filchock (Todd kick)
  • Washington – Todd 60 run (kick failed)
  • Washington – Justice 33 run (kick failed)

Week 6 (Sunday October 22, 1939): Washington Redskins
1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 14 0 7 0 21
Pirates 0 7 0 7 14

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 8,602
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – Millner 56 pass from Filchock (Russell kick)
  • Washington – Farkas 40 pass from Filchock (Russell kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Boyd pass from McDonough (Niccolai kick)
  • Washington – Irwin 25 run (Farkas kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Brumbaugh pass from McDonough (Niccolai kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 29, 1939): Cleveland Rams
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 7 7 0 14
Rams 7 0 0 7 14

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 11,579
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Cleveland – Hall 88 run (Spadaccini kick)
  • Pittsburgh – McCullough 9 run (Niccolai kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Boyd 27 pass from McCullough (Niccolai kick)
  • Cleveland – Drake 3 run (Spadaccini kick)

Week 8 (Monday November 6, 1939): Brooklyn Dodgers
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 3 3 7 13
Dodgers 0 7 7 3 17

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 8,951
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Brooklyn – Schwartz 9 pass from Parker (Kinard kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 25
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 37
  • Brooklyn – Parker 28 run (Kinard kick)
  • Brooklyn – FG Parker 28
  • Pittsburgh – Sortet 22 pass from McCullough (Niccolai kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 19, 1939): New York Giants
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 7 7
Giants 7 7 3 7 24

at Polo Grounds, New York, NY

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 19,372
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • New York – Soar 2 run (Strong kick)
  • New York – FG Barnum 37
  • New York – FG Barnum 28
  • New York – FG Strong 24
  • Pittsburgh – Brumbaugh 19 run (Niccolai kick)
  • New York – Miller 21 run (Barnum kick)

Week 10 (Thursday November 23, 1939): Philadelphia Eagles
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 14 14
Eagles 0 7 3 7 17

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 20,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Philadelphia – Carter 65 pass from O'Brien (Murray kick)
  • Philadelphia – FG Murray 32
  • Pittsburgh – Brumbaugh 1 run (Niccolai kick)

Week 11 (Sunday November 26, 1939): Philadelphia Eagles
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 6 6 12
Pirates 3 14 7 0 24

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 8,788
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 28
  • Pittsburgh – Johnston 2 run (Niccolai kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Tomasetti 1 run (Niccolai kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Platukis 37 pss from Brumbaugh (Niccolai kick)
  • Philadelphia – O'Brien 2 run (kick blocked)
  • Philadelphia – Bukant 3 run (kick blocked)

Standings
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.

References
  1. Ten interesting things about the 1939 NFL season that I couldn't fit into my other article about that season Archived April 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine by John Hogrogian.
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