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1938 Philadelphia Eagles season
1938 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	Bert Bell
Head coach	Bert Bell
Home field	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	5–6
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1937; Eagles seasons; 1939 →;

The 1938 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous output of 2–8–1, winning five games.^[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

Off Season

NFL draft

The 1938 NFL draft was held on December 12, 1937. The draft consisted of 12 rounds. The Eagles got the second pick in each round, as the expansion Cleveland Rams got the first pick. With the pick they chose Corbett Davis, a back from Indiana University.

Player selections

The table shows the Eagles' selections, what picks they had that were traded away, and the team that ended up with that pick.^[2] 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.

= Pro Bowler ^[3]

= Hall of Famer

Rd	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	2	Jim McDonald	Back	Ohio State
2	12	Dick Riffle	Back	Albright
3	17	Joe Bukant	Back	Washington (St. Louis)
4	27	John Meek	Back	California
5	32	Fred Shirey	Tackle	Nebraska
6	42	Herschel Ramsey	End	Texas Tech
7	52	Bob Lannon	End	Iowa
8	62	Clem Woltman	Guard	Purdue
9	72	Elmer Kolberg	Back	Oregon State
10	82	Emmett Kriel	Guard	Baylor
11	92	Carl Hinkle	Center	Vanderbilt
12	102	John Michelosen	Back	Pittsburgh

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 11	Washington Redskins	L 23–26	0–1	20,000
2	September 16	at Pittsburgh Pirates	W 27–7	1–1	19,749
3	September 25	New York Giants	W 14–10	2–1	20,000
4	October 2	Chicago Bears	L 6–28	2–2	N/A
5	October 16	at New York Giants	L 7–17	2–3	33,187
6	October 23	at Washington Redskins	L 14–20	2–4	3,000
7	October 26	Chicago Cardinals	W 7–0	3–4	15,000
8	November 6	Brooklyn Dodgers	L 7–10	3–5	12,000
9	November 13	at Brooklyn Dodgers	L 14–32	3–6	13,052
10	November 20	Pittsburgh Pirates	W 14–7	4–6	6,500
11	December 4	at Detroit Lions	W 21–7	5–6	19,000

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	8	2	1	.800	5–2–1	194	79	W1
Washington Redskins	6	3	2	.667	4–2–2	148	154	L1
Brooklyn Dodgers	4	4	3	.500	3–2–3	131	161	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	5	6	0	.455	3–5	154	164	W2
Pittsburgh Pirates	2	9	0	.182	2–6	79	169	L6

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

Playoffs

The Eagles had a 5–6–0 record and failed to make it to the 1938 NFL Championship Game. The game was on December 11, 1938, at Polo Grounds in New York City. The game attendance was 48,120, a record crowd for a title game.

The game matched the champions of the Eastern Division, New York Giants (8–2–1) against the Western Division champion Green Bay Packers (8–3–0). The Giants won 23–17.

Roster

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

= 1938 Pro All Star^[4]

As in the 1937 roster, this year's team is mostly rookies and players with one or two years' NFL experience.

Player	AGE	POS	GP	GS	WT	HT	YRS	College
Bert Bell	42	Coach	_{1938 record} 5–6	_{NFL-Eagles Lifetime} 8–25			3rd	Pennsylvania
Jay Arnold	26	HB-WB-DB-BB	11	11	210	6–1	1	Texas
Joe Bukant	23	Back	11	1	216	6–0	Rookie	Washington (MO)
Tom Burnette	23	BB	8	0	194	6–1	Rookie	North Carolina
Joe Carter*	28	E	11	11	201	6–1	5	_{Austin College and SMU}
John Cole	0	FB	11	0	197	5–9	Rookie	St. Joseph's (PA)
Woody Dow	22	BB-FB	10	10	195	6–0	Rookie	West Texas A&M
Drew Ellis	24	T	11	10	215	6–1	Rookie	TCU
Fritz Ferko	26	T	2	0	242	6–1	1	_{Mount State Mary's and West Chester}
Bill Fiedler	24	G	1	0	200	5–9	Rookie	Pennsylvania
Wimpy Giddens	24	T	9	0	220	6–2	Rookie	Louisiana Tech
Maurice Harper	28	Cen	11	9	227	6–4	1	Austin
Bill Hewitt+	29	E-DE	11	11	190	5–9	6	Michigan
Bill Hughes	23	G-C	11	6	226	6–1	1	Texas
Ray Keeling	23	T-G	9	3	242	6–3	Rookie	Texas
Rabbit Keen	24	QB	1	0	170	5–9	1	Arkansas
John Kusko	24	B	1	0	194	5–11	2	Temple
Bernie Lee	26	QB	1	0	190	5–11	Rookie	Villanova
Bob Masters	27	HB	1	1	200	5–11	1	Baylor
Emmett Mortell	22	B	11	7	181	6–1	1	_{Notre Dame and Wisconsin}
Bob Pylman	25	T	11	1	214	6–4	Rookie	South Dakota State
George Rado	26	G-DE	10	6	194	5–9	3	Duquesne
Red Ramsey	27	E	11	0	196	6–0	Rookie	Texas Tech
Hank Reese	29	C-G	11	2	214	5–11	5	Temple
Dick Riffle	23	B	11	4	200	6–1	Rookie	Albright
Theodore Schmitt	22	G	11	2	219	5–11	Rookie	Pittsburgh
Dave Smukler	24	FB-LB	11	10	226	6–1	2	_{Missouri and Temple}
Mule Stockton	25	G	11	8	214	6–1	1	McMurry
Billy Wilson	27	E	1	0	184	5–10	3	Gonzaga
Clem Woltman	24	T	10	8	214	6–1	Rookie	Purdue
29 players Team average	24.1		11		206.4	6–0.1	1.2

Awards and honors

Dave Smukler finished 2nd in TD passes with 7.
Joe Carter finished 2nd in receiving TDs with 7.
Dave Smukler returned the only kickoff for a TD this year in the NFL.^[5]
Jay Arnold was one of 10 players to return an interception for a TD.
Joe Carter was named to Pro All-Star team.
Bill Hewitt was named to Pro All-Star team as a starter.

References

"Philadelphia Eagles Results and Statistics (1930s)" (PDF). Philadelphia Eagles. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 19, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2009.

^ 1938 Philadelphia Eagles on pro-football-reference.com
^ Pro Football Hall of Fame. "1938 NFL Draft sorted by team". Retrieved June 6, 2011.
^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
^ Players are identified as a 1938 Pro All Star.
^ www.databasefootball.com Archived November 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine