1937 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

The 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fifth season as a professional sports club in the National Football League (NFL). The team hired John McNally as head coach after John Bach stepped down during the offseason. McNally was a former player, who played halfback for the Pirates during the 1934 season. His team finished with another 4–7 record however, McNally was welcomed back the next season.

1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season
OwnerArt Rooney
Head coachJohn McNally
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record4–7
Division place3rd NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Offseason

1937 NFL Draft
Main article: 1937 NFL Draft
Pittsburgh Pirates 1937 NFL Draft selections
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Choice Overall
1 5 5 Mike Basrak Center Duquesne Played until 1938
2 5 15 Bob Finley Guard Southern Methodist Played Professional Baseball, never played in NFL
3 5 25 Bill Breeden End Oklahoma Played 1 season in 1937
4 5 35 Elmo "Bo" Hewes End Oklahoma Never played NFL
5 5 45 Jack Frye End Missouri Never Played NFL
6 5 55 Walt Roach Back Virginia Military Institute
7 5 65 Byron Haines Back Washington Played 1 season in 1937
8 5 75 Marty Kordick End St. Mary's (CA)
9 5 85 Matt Patanelli Tackle Michigan Never Played in NFL

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 5 Philadelphia Eagles W 27–14 1–0 Forbes Field Recap
2 Bye
3 September 19 at Brooklyn Dodgers W 21–0 2–0 Ebbets Field Recap
4 September 26 New York Giants L 7–10 2–1 Forbes Field Recap
5 October 4 Chicago Bears L 0–7 2–2 Forbes Field Recap
6 October 10 at Detroit Lions L 3–7 2–3 University of Detroit Stadium Recap
7 October 17 at Washington Redskins L 20–34 2–4 Griffith Stadium Recap
8 October 24 Chicago Cardinals L 7–13 2–5 Forbes Field Recap
9 October 31 Philadelphia Eagles W 16–7 3–5 Forbes Field Recap
10 November 7 at New York Giants L 0–17 3–6 Polo Grounds Recap
11 November 14 Washington Redskins W 21–13 4–6 Forbes Field Recap
12 November 21 Brooklyn Dodgers L 0–23 4–7 Forbes Field Recap
13 Bye
14 Bye

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1 (Sunday September 5, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 7 0 7 14
Pirates 7 0 7 13 27

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 8,588
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Brett 39 pass from Thompson (Weinstock kick)
  • Philadelphia – Hanson 3 run (Smukler kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Davidson 19 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
  • Philadelphia – Hewitt 7 pass from Smukler (Smukler kick)
  • Pittsburgh – McNally 92 kick return (Breeden kick)
  • Pittsburgh – McNally 44 pass from Fiske (kick failed)

Week 2 (Sunday September 19, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 7 7 7 21
Dodgers 0 0 0 0 0

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 18,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 3 (Sunday September 26, 1937): New York Giants
1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 0 7 0 3 10
Pirates 0 0 7 0 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 33,095
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • New York – Richards 13 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Karcis 4 run (Niccolai kick)
  • New York – FG Manton 13

Week 4 (Monday October 4, 1937): Chicago Bears
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 0 7 0 7
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 22,511
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Chicago Bears – Nolting 13 run (Manders kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 10, 1937): Detroit Lions
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 3 0 0 3
Lions 0 0 7 0 7

at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 16,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 11
  • Detroit – Caddel 2 run (Clark kick)

Week 6 (Sunday October 17, 1937): Washington Redskins
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 13 0 7 20
Redskins 7 0 13 14 34

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 12,835
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – Battles 65 interception (Smith kick)
  • Pittsburgh – McNally 43 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Thompson 55 pass from McNally (kick blocked)
  • Washington – Malone 7 pass from Baugh
  • Washington – Justice 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
  • Washington – Battles 60 run (Smith kick)
  • Washington – Battles 62 run (Smith kick)
  • Pittsburgh – McNally 2 pass from Karcis (Niccolai kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 24, 1937): Chicago Cardinals
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 0 7 6 13
Pirates 0 0 0 7 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 8,963
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Chicago Cardinals – Deskin 18 pass from Coffee (May kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Lawrence 2 run (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Davidson 65 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)

Week 8 (Sunday October 31, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 7 0 0 0 7
Pirates 6 3 7 0 16

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 2,772
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Philadelphia – Pilconis 22 fumble run (Smukler kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Davidson 87 interception (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 27
  • Pittsburgh – Sortet 26 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 7, 1937): New York Giants
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
Giants 0 7 3 7 17

at Polo Grounds, New York, NY

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 21,447
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • New York – Burnett 5 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
  • New York – FG Cuf 35
  • New York – Soar 25 interception

Week 10 (Sunday November 14, 1937): Washington Redskins
1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 6 0 0 7 13
Pirates 7 2 3 9 21

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 12,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – Pinckert 3 pass from Smith (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Davidson 68 run (Weinstock kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Safety, Baugh tackled in end zone by Mayhew
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 21
  • Washington – Justice 40 pass from Baugh (Smith kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 41
  • Pittsburgh – Karcis 21 run (kick failed)

Week 11 (Sunday November 21, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
1 2 3 4 Total
Dodgers 0 0 13 10 23
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 3,706
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Brooklyn – Parker 2 run (Parker kick)
  • Brooklyn – Parker 44 punt return (kick failed)
  • Brooklyn – FG Maniaci 29
  • Brooklyn – Mitchell 15 pass from Parker (Maniaci kick)

Standings
NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Washington Redskins 8 3 0 .727 6–2 195 120 W3
New York Giants 6 3 2 .667 5–2–1 128 109 L1
Pittsburgh Pirates 4 7 0 .364 4–4 122 145 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 3 7 1 .300 2–5–1 82 174 T1
Philadelphia Eagles 2 8 1 .200 2–6 86 177 L1

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

References
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