1938 Philadelphia Eagles 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

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.

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 Position College
1 2 Jim McDonald Back Ohio State
2 12 Dick Riffle Back Albright
3 17 Joe Bukant Back Washington (St. Louis)
4 27 John Meek Back California
5 32 Fred Shirey Tackle Nebraska
6 42 Herschel Ramsey End Texas Tech
7 52 Bob Lannon End Iowa
8 62 Clem Woltman Guard Purdue
9 72 Elmer Kolberg Back Oregon State
10 82 Emmett Kriel Guard Baylor
11 92 Carl Hinkle Center Vanderbilt
12 102 John Michelosen Back Pittsburgh

Regular season

Schedule

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

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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 Bell 42 Coach 1938 record
5–6		 NFL-Eagles Lifetime
8–25		 3rd Pennsylvania
Jay Arnold 26 HB-WB-DB-BB 11 11 210 6–1 1 Texas
Joe Bukant 23 Back 11 1 216 6–0 Rookie Washington (MO)
Tom Burnette 23 BB 8 0 194 6–1 Rookie North Carolina
Joe Carter* 28 E 11 11 201 6–1 5 Austin College and
SMU
John Cole 0 FB 11 0 197 5–9 Rookie St. Joseph's (PA)
Woody Dow 22 BB-FB 10 10 195 6–0 Rookie West Texas A&M
Drew Ellis 24 T 11 10 215 6–1 Rookie TCU
Fritz Ferko 26 T 2 0 242 6–1 1 Mount State Mary's and
West Chester
Bill Fiedler 24 G 1 0 200 5–9 Rookie Pennsylvania
Wimpy Giddens 24 T 9 0 220 6–2 Rookie Louisiana Tech
Maurice Harper 28 Cen 11 9 227 6–4 1 Austin
Bill Hewitt+ 29 E-DE 11 11 190 5–9 6 Michigan
Bill Hughes 23 G-C 11 6 226 6–1 1 Texas
Ray Keeling 23 T-G 9 3 242 6–3 Rookie Texas
Rabbit Keen 24 QB 1 0 170 5–9 1 Arkansas
John Kusko 24 B 1 0 194 5–11 2 Temple
Bernie Lee 26 QB 1 0 190 5–11 Rookie Villanova
Bob Masters 27 HB 1 1 200 5–11 1 Baylor
Emmett Mortell 22 B 11 7 181 6–1 1 Notre Dame and
Wisconsin
Bob Pylman 25 T 11 1 214 6–4 Rookie South Dakota State
George Rado 26 G-DE 10 6 194 5–9 3 Duquesne
Red Ramsey 27 E 11 0 196 6–0 Rookie Texas Tech
Hank Reese 29 C-G 11 2 214 5–11 5 Temple
Dick Riffle 23 B 11 4 200 6–1 Rookie Albright
Theodore Schmitt 22 G 11 2 219 5–11 Rookie Pittsburgh
Dave Smukler 24 FB-LB 11 10 226 6–1 2 Missouri and
Temple
Mule Stockton 25 G 11 8 214 6–1 1 McMurry
Billy Wilson 27 E 1 0 184 5–10 3 Gonzaga
Clem Woltman 24 T 10 8 214 6–1 Rookie Purdue
29 players
Team average		 24.1 11 206.4 6–0.1 1.2

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