- Source: 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.
Offseason
= 1939 NFL draft
=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 summaries
=Week 1 (Thursday September 14, 1939): Brooklyn Dodgers
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
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
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.
Week 4 (Sunday October 8, 1939): New York Giants
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season
- 1939 NFL season
- List of Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches
- List of Pittsburgh Steelers seasons
- List of Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterbacks
- 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- History of the Pittsburgh Steelers
- Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL)
- List of last undefeated NFL teams by season
