1939 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

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 season 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.

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.