1936 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season
OwnerArt Rooney
Head coachJoe Bach
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record6–6
Division place2nd NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fourth season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The team welcomed back head coach, Joe Bach who served his last year at the position (until returning in 1952). His team finished the season with the franchise's best record yet, at 6–6.

The Pirates played all of their home games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, except for one that was played at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Offseason

1936 NFL draft

Pittsburgh Pirates 1936 NFL Draft selections
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Choice Overall
1 3 3 Bill Shakespeare Halfback Notre Dame Did not play professional football
2 3 12 Len Barnum Quarterback West Virginia Wesleyan Never played for Pirates
3 3 21 Bobby Grayson Fullback Stanford Did not play professional football
4 3 30 Truman Spain Tackle Southern Methodist University
5 3 39 Wayne Sandefur Fullback Purdue University
6 3 48 Maurice Orr Tackle Southern Methodist University
7 3 57 Marty Peters Defensive end Notre Dame
8 3 66 Ed Karpowich Tackle Catholic University
9 3 75 Joe Meglen Back Georgetown University

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue
1 September 13 Boston Redskins W 10–0 1–0 Forbes Field
2 September 23 at Brooklyn Dodgers W 10–6 2–0 Ebbets Field
3 September 27 New York Giants W 10–7 3–0 Forbes Field
4 October 4 Chicago Bears L 9–27 3–1 Forbes Field
6 October 14 Philadelphia Eagles W 17–0 4–1 Forbes Field
6 October 18 at Chicago Bears L 7–26 4–2 Wrigley Field
7 October 25 at Green Bay Packers L 10–38 4–3 Wisconsin State Fair Park
8 November 1 Brooklyn Dodgers W 10–7 5–3 Forbes Field
9 November 5 at Philadelphia Eagles W 6–0 6–3 Point Stadium
9 November 8 at Detroit Lions L 3–28 6–4 University of Detroit Stadium
10 November 15 at Chicago Cardinals L 6–14 6–5 Wrigley Field
11 Bye
12 November 29 at Boston Redskins L 0–30 6–6 Fenway Park
13 Bye
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Boston Redskins 7 5 0 .583 6–2 149 110 W3
Pittsburgh Pirates 6 6 0 .500 6–1 98 187 L3
New York Giants 5 6 1 .455 3–3–1 115 163 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 3 8 1 .273 2–5–1 92 161 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 1 11 0 .083 1–7 51 206 L11

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

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 13, 1936): Boston Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 0 0 0 0 0
Pirates 0 7 0 3 10

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 15,622
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 2 (Wednesday September 23, 1936): Brooklyn Dodgers

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 7 3 0 0 10
Dodgers 0 0 0 6 6

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 10,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Strutt 3 run (Niccolai kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 26
  • Brooklyn – Franklin 19 run (kick failed)

Week 3 (Sunday September 27, 1936): New York Giants

1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 0 0 7 0 7
Pirates 0 7 0 3 10

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 25,800
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 4 (Sunday October 4, 1936): Chicago Bears

1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 7 7 13 0 27
Pirates 0 0 0 9 9

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 29,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 6 (Wednesday October 14, 1936): Philadelphia Eagles

1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 0 0 0
Pirates 7 0 10 0 17

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 10,042
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 6 (Sunday October 18, 1936): Chicago Bears

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 7 0 0 7
Bears 6 6 0 14 26

at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

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

Scoring Drives:

Week 7 (Sunday October 25, 1936): Green Bay Packers

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 3 0 0 7 10
Packers 3 21 14 0 38

at Wisconsin State Fair Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 10,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 8 (Sunday November 1, 1936): Brooklyn Dodgers

1 2 3 4 Total
Dodgers 0 0 0 7 7
Pirates 3 0 7 0 10

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 10,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 9 (Thursday November 5, 1936): Philadelphia Eagles

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 6 6
Eagles 0 0 0 0 0

at Point Stadium, Johnstown, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 7,891
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 9 (Sunday November 8, 1936): Detroit Lions

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 3 0 0 0 3
Lions 0 21 0 7 28

at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

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

Scoring Drives:

Week 10 (Sunday November 15, 1936): Chicago Cardinals

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 6 0 0 6
Cardinals 7 7 0 0 14

at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 3,856
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 12 (Sunday November 29, 1936): Boston Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
Redskins 7 10 0 13 30

at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 7,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

References