1941 Philadelphia Eagles season

1941 Philadelphia Eagles season
Head coach Greasy Neale
Home field Municipal Stadium
Results
Record 2–8–1
Division Place 4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1940 1942

The 1941 Philadelphia Eagles season was their ninth in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 1–10, winning two games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

Contents

Off Season

Eagle make move back to larger Municipal Stadium from Shibe Park where they played in 1940.

In late 1940, the football Pittsburgh Pirates owner Art Rooney bought half interest in the Eagles and sold the Pirates to Alexis Thompson. Before the start of the 1941 season Rooney and Thompson swap city and NFL rights for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Pirates players of 1940 and before are now Philadelphia Eagles and the Philadelphia Eagles players are now members of the renamed Pittsburgh Steelers.

Coach Greasy Neal has the Eagles hold training camp in the High School Bowl,in Two Rivers, Wisconsin about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin and 90 miles north of Milwaukee, WI on Lake Michigan.

NFL Draft

The 1941 NFL Draft was held on December 10, 1940. The Eagles would get the 1st pick in the 22 rounds of the draft. Because these player were drafted before the Eagles and Steelers franchise swap of cities, these players ended up playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1941. The Pittsburgh draft picks would come to Philadelphia.

The Chicago Bears (From Philadelphia Eagles) had the number one pick in the draft. They choose Tom Harmon, the 1940 Heisman Trophy winner, a Halfback out of the University of Michigan

Player Selections

The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. 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. These picks were the players that the Pittsburgh Pirates made before the team swap between owners.

= Pro Bowler[2] = Hall of Famer = Picks made by Pittsburgh Pirates that became Eagles in 1941
Rd Pick Player Position School
1 1 PICK WAS TAKEN BY THE CHICAGO BEARS
2 11 Art Jones Back Richmond
3 16 Marion Pugh Back Texas A&M
4 26 Al Ghesquiere Back University of Detroit
5 31 Royal Kahler Tackle University of Nebraska
Pitt
33		 Vic Sears Tackle Oregon State
6 41 Howard "Red" Hickey End University of Arkansas
Pitt
42		 Bob Suffridge Guard Tennessee
7 51 Julius "Mush" Battista Guard Florida
8 61 PICK WAS TAKEN BY THE CHICAGO BEARS
9 71 P. K. Rogers Back East Texas State
10 81 Don Williams Tackle Texas
Pitt
82		 Ralph Fritz Guard Michigan
11 91 Marshall Stenstrom Back Oregon
12 101 John Patrick Back Penn State
13 111 Joe Hoague Back Colgate
14 121 Les Dodson Back Mississippi
15 131 Alex Lukachick End Boston College
16 141 Bill Conatser Back Texas A&M
17 151 John Yauckoes Tackle Boston College
18 161 Joe McFadden Back Georgetown (DC)
19 171 John Shonk End West Virginia
Pitt
173		 George Kerr Guard Boston College
20 181 L. B. Russell Back Hardin-Simmons
21 201 Charley Henke(From Washington) Guard Texas A&M
Pitt
202		 Jim Castiglia Back Georgetown (DC)
22 203 Mike Fernella(From Chicago Bears) Tackle Akron

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 13, 1941 New York Giants L 24–0
25,478
2 September 21, 1941 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 10–7
12,893
3 September 27, 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers L 24–13
16,341
4 October 12, 1941 at New York Giants L 16–0
30,842
5 October 19, 1941 Washington Redskins L 21–17
19,071
6 October 26, 1941 Chicago Cardinals W 21–14
12,683
7 November 2, 1941 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 15–6
15,899
8 November 9, 1941 Pittsburgh Steelers T 7–7
15,601
9 November 16, 1941 at Detroit Lions L 21–17
16,306
10 November 30, 1941 Chicago Bears L 49–14
32,608
11 December 7, 1941 at Washington Redskins L 20–14
27,102

Game Recaps

The Eagles played 11 games over a NFL season that was 14 weeks long. The season started Sunday, September 7 and ended Sunday, December 7, 1941.

Week 1 Bye

The Eagles had the week off as the NFL only scheduled 1 game this week end, Pittsburgh at Cleveland Rams.

Week 2 vs Giants

Week 3 at Steelers

The Eagles travel across the state of Pennsylvania to play the re-named Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time since the franchises swapped cities.

Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 3 7 0 10
Steelers 0 0 7 0 7

at Forbes Field on Grass,

  • Date: Sunday, September 21, 1941
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: degrees, wind mph
  • [1]
Game information
1st quarter
  • No Scoring
2nd quarter
  • Eagles – Len Barnum 43 yard field goal, Eagles 3 – 0
3rd quarter
  • Steelers – Boyd Brumbaugh 4 yard rush (Jack Sanders kick) Steelers 7 – 3
  • Eagles – Lou Tomasetti 40 yard pass from Dan DeSantis (Len Barnum kick) Eagles 10 – 7
4th quarter
  • No Scoring
NFL Eastern Standing
  • Brooklyn Dodgers (1–0)
  • New York Giants (1–0)
  • Philadelphia Eagles (1–1)
  • Washington Redskins (0–0)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers (0–2)
Passing
  • Eagles –
  • Steelers –
Rushing
  • Eagles –
  • Steelers –
Receiving
  • Eagles –
  • Steelers –

Week 4 vs Dodgers

Week 5 Bye

The Eagles were not scheduled to play this weekend.

Week 6 at Giants

Week 7 vs Redskins

The defending 1940 NFL Eastern Division Champions, Washington Redskins make a visit to Philadelphia to play the Eagles. Washington lost the 1940 NFL Championship Game to the Chicago Bears 73–0. The Eagles will host the Bears in week 12 and travel to Washington, DC to re-play the Redskins in week 14 to close out the 1941 season.

Week 7: Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Redskins – Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 0 14 0 7 21
Eagles 14 0 3 0 17

at Phila. Municipal Stadium on Grass,

  • Date: Sunday, October 19, 1941
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: degrees, wind mph
  • [2]
Game information
1st quarter
  • Eagles – Dick Humbert 4 yard pass from Tommy Thompson (Nick Basca kick), Eagles 7 – 0
  • Eagles – Bob Krieger 21 yard pass from Tommy Thompson (Nick Basca kick), Eagles 14 – 0
2nd quarter
  • Redskins – Andy Farkas 5 yard rush (Joe Aguirre kick), Eagles 14 – 7
  • Redskins – Ed Justice 31 yard pass from Sammy Baugh (Joe Aguirre kick), Tied 14 – 14
3rd quarter
  • Eagles – Nick Basca 15 yard field goal, Eagles 17 – 14
4th quarter
  • Redskins – Bob Masterson 22 yard pass from Sammy Baugh (Bob Masterson kick), Redskins 21 – 17
NFL Eastern Standing
  • New York Giants (5–0)
  • Washington Redskins (3–1)
  • Brooklyn Dodgers (2–3)
  • Philadelphia Eagles (1–4)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers (0–5)
Passing
  • Redskins –
  • Eagles –
Rushing
  • Redskins –
  • Eagles –
Receiving
  • Redskins –
  • Eagles –

Week 8 vs Cardinals

Week 9 at Dodgers

Week 10 vs Steelers

The Eagles' across state rivals return to Philadelphia for a rematch of a game of game won by the Eagles played in week 3. The Eagles enter the game with 2 wins and the Steelers are winless.

Week 10: Philadelphia Eagles vs Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 7 0 7
Eagles 7 0 0 0 7

at Phila. Municipal Stadium on Grass,

  • Date: Sunday, November 9, 1941
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: degrees, wind mph
  • [3]
Game information
1st quarter
  • Eagles – Jim Castiglia 47 yard rush (Nick Basca kick) , Eagles 7 – 0
2nd quarter
  • No Scoring
3rd quarter
  • Steelers – Art Jones 25 yard rush (Jack Sanders kick), Tied 7 – 7
4th quarter
  • No Scoring
NFL Eastern Standing
  • New York Giants (6–2)
  • Washington Redskins (5–2)
  • Brooklyn Dodgers (5–3)
  • Philadelphia Eagles (2–5–1)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers (0–7–1)
Passing
  • Steelers –
  • Eagles –
Rushing
  • Steelers –
  • Eagles –
Receiving
  • Steelers –
  • Eagles –

Week 11 at Lions

Week 12 Bye

The Eagles were not scheduled to play this weekend.

Week 13 vs Bears

Week 14 at Redskins

At the Eagles – Washington Redskins game in Washington, DC military personnel and US Gov't officials were getting paged concerning the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the US territory of Hawaii. The attack started about time of kickoff for game.

Standings

NFL Eastern
W L T PCT PF PA STK
New York Giants 8 3 0 .727 238 114 L-1
Brooklyn Dodgers 7 4 0 .636 158 127 W-2
Washington Redskins 6 5 0 .545 176 174 W-1
Philadelphia Eagles 2 8 1 .200 119 218 L-3
Pittsburgh Steelers 1 9 1 .100 103 276 L-2

1941 Roster

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

The 1941 Philadelphia Eagles roster is made up of 39 players which 32 are rookies. The average years in NFL is 1/2 a year.

= 1941 Pro Bowl Pro All-Star[2]
NO. Player AGE POS GP GS WT HT YRS College
Greasy Neale 50 Coach 1941
record
2–8–1		 NFL-Eagles
Lifetime
2–8–1		 1st West Virginia Wesleyan
Jack Banta 24 HB 6 5 191 5–11 Rookie USC
Len Barnum 29 B-P-PK 11 8 200 6–0 3 West Virginia Wesleyan
Sam Bartholomew 24 FB 9 2 188 5–11 Rookie Tennessee
Nick Basca 25 HB-PK 11 0 170 5–8 Rookie Villanova
Frank Bausch 33 C 4 4 220 6–3 7 Kansas
Bob Bjorklund 23 C-LB-E 7 0 225 6–2 Rookie Minnesota
Larry Cabrelli 24 E-DB 7 2 194 5–11 Rookie Colgate
Jim Castiglia 23 FB 11 6 208 5–11 Rookie Georgetown (DC)
Tony Cemore 24 G 10 1 210 6–0 Rookie Creighton
Enio Conti 28 G 9 8 204 5–11 Rookie Arkansas,
Bucknell
Dan DeSantis 23 HB 11 4 180 6–0 Rookie Niagara
Dave DiFilippo 25 G 5 2 210 5–10 Rookie Villanova
John Eibner 27 T 11 9 228 6–2 Rookie Kentucky
Bernie Feibish 22 C 3 0 223 6–2 Rookie NYU
Jack Ferrante 25 E-DE 3 0 197 6–1 Rookie none
Terry Fox 23 FB-LB 11 2 208 6–1 Rookie Miami (FL)
Joe Frank 26 T 11 0 217 6–1 Rookie Georgetown (DC)
Ralph Fritz 24 G 10 1 202 5–9 Rookie Michigan
Woody Gerber 21 G 5 1 223 6–0 Rookie Alabama
Lou Ghecas 23 HB 8 0 175 5–9 Rookie Georgetown (DC)
Fred Gloden 23 HB 6 0 187 5–10 Rookie Tulane
Lyle Graham 26 C 11 7 210 6–3 Rookie Richmond
Gran Harrison 24 E 1 0 211 6–3 Rookie Mississippi State
Kirk Hershey 23 E 6 0 215 6–2 Rookie Carroll (WI),
Cornell
Jack Hinkle 24 B 1 0 195 6–0 1 Syracuse
Dick Humbert* 23 E-DE 11 8 179 6–1 Rookie Richmond
Bob Krieger 23 E 11 11 190 6–1 Rookie Dartmouth
Mort Landsberg 22 HB 11 7 180 5–11 Rookie Cornell
Wes McAfee 23 HB 8 1 175 5–11 Rookie Duke
Rupert Pate 24 G 1 0 205 6–1 1 Wake Forest
Hank Piro 24 E 10 1 186 6–0 Rookie Syracuse
Phil Ragazzo 26 T-G 10 10 216 6–0 3 Case Western Reserve
Vic Sears 23 T-DT 11 2 223 6–3 Rookie Oregon State
John Shonk 23 E 10 0 190 6–1 Rookie West Virginia
Cecil Sturgeon 22 T 6 0 254 6–2 Rookie North Dakota State
Bob Suffridge 25 G 10 9 205 6–0 Rookie Tennessee
Tommy Thompson 25 QB 11 5 192 6–1 1 Tulsa
Lou Tomasetti 25 FB-HB 6 3 198 6–0 2 Bucknell
Foster Watkins 24 QB-HB 11 1 163 5–9 1 West Texas A&M
Burr West 23 T 10 1 220 6–1 Rookie Tennessee
39 Players
Team Average		 24.3 11 201.7 6–0.2 0.5

Honors and Rewards

References

  1. ^ 1941 Philadelphia Eagles
  2. ^ a b Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
Eastern Division Western Division
Brooklyn Chicago Bears
New York Chicago Cardinals
Philadelphia Cleveland
Pittsburgh Detroit
Washington Green Bay
1941 NFL Draft • NFL Championship
1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011
Bold indicates NFL Championship.