1937 Philadelphia Eagles season

1937 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	Bert Bell
Head coach	Bert Bell
Home field	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	2–8–1
Division place	5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1937 Philadelphia Eagles season was their fifth in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 1–11, winning two games.^[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

Off season

NFL draft

The 1937 NFL draft took place on December 12, 1936. It would be for 10 rounds, and teams would pick a total of 100 players.

The Eagles would have the 1st pick in the draft. They used this pick to choose, running up in the Heisman Trophy, Sam Francis, a back out of Nebraska. He never played a game for the Eagles but he played for the Chicago Bears.

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. 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 [2]

= Hall of Famer

Rd	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	1	Sam Francis	Back	Nebraska
2	11	Franny Murray	Back	Pennsylvania
3	21	Drew Ellis	Tackle	TCU
4	31	Walt Gilbert	Back	Auburn
5	41	Alex Drobnitch	Back	Denver
6	51	Bill Guckeyson	Back	Maryland
7	61	Herb Barna	Guard	West Virginia
8	71	Nestor Hennon	Back	Carnegie-Mellon
9	81	Paul Fanning	Back	Kansas State
10	91	Ray Antil	Back	Minnesota

Regular season

The Eagles 1937 NFL season started on September 5 and ended 11 weeks later on November 14. The Eagles would play 4 games at home and 7 games on the road.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 5	at Pittsburgh Pirates	L 14–27	0–1	8,588
2	September 10	at Brooklyn Dodgers	L 7–13	0–2	5,221
3	September 21	Cleveland Rams	L 3–21	0–3	3,107
4	September 26	Chicago Cardinals	T 6–6	0–3–1	3,912
5	October 3	New York Giants	L 7–16	0–4–1	4,878
6	October 10	at Washington Redskins	W 14–0	1–4–1	7,320
7	October 17	at New York Giants	L 0–21	1–5–1	20,089
8	October 24	Washington Redskins	L 7–10	1–6–1	6,580
9	October 31	at Pittsburgh Pirates	L 7–16	1–7–1	2,772
10	November 7	at Brooklyn Dodgers	W 14–10	2–7–1	8,373
11	November 14	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–37	2–8–1	13,340

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	8	3	0	.727	6–2	195	120	W2
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.

NFL Playoffs

With a 2–8–1 record in 1937, the Eagles do not make the playoffs and play in the 1937 NFL Championship Game. The Washington Redskins defeated Chicago Bears in Chicago.

Roster

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

A List of the 1937 Philadelphia Eagles.

NO.	Player	AGE	POS	GP	GS	WT	HT	YRS	College
	Bert Bell	42	Coach	1937 record 2–8–1	NFL-Eagles Lifetime 3–19–1			2nd	Pennsylvania
	Jay Arnold	25	HB-WB-DB-BB	10	6	210	6–1	Rookie	Texas
	Winnie Baze	23	B	10	4	190	5–11	Rookie	Missouri, Texas-El Paso
	Art Buss	26	T	11	11	219	6–3	3	Michigan State
	Joe Carter	27	E	10	8	201	6–1	4	Austin, SMU
	Jack Dempsey	25	T	2	1	225	6–2	1	Bucknell
	Fritz Ferko	25	T	10	5	242	6–1	Rookie	Mount St. Mary's University
	Glenn Frey	25	B	6	5	193	5–11	1	Temple
	Swede Hanson	30	B	2	0	192	6–1	6	Temple
	Maurice Harper	27	C	9	3	227	6–4	Rookie	Austin
	Bill Hewitt	28	E-DE	11	11	190	5–9	5	Michigan
	Tex Holcomb	24	T	1	1	235	6–2	Rookie	Texas Tech
	Bill Hughes	22	G-C	11	8	226	6–1	Rookie	Texas
	Rabbit Keen	23	QB	8	0	170	5–9	Rookie	Arkansas
	Charlie Knox	?	B	1	0	185	5–11	Rookie	St. Edmonds
	John Kusko	23	B	10	4	194	5–11	1	Temple
	Jim Leonard	27	B	2	0	204	6–0	3	Notre Dame
	Jim MacMurdo	28	T-G	3	0	209	6–1	5	Pittsburgh
	Bob Masters	26	HB	9	3	200	5–11	Rookie	Baylor
	Forrest McPherson	26	G-C-T	3	0	233	5–11	2	Nebraska
	Emmett Mortell	21	B	11	11	181	6–1	Rookie	Notre Dame, Wisconsin
	Joe Pilconis	26	E	11	3	189	6–1	3	Temple
	George Rado	25	G-DE	9	1	194	5–9	2	Duquesne
	Hank Reese	28	C-G	11	8	214	5–11	4	Temple
	Herb Roton	24	E	9	1	210	6–2	Rookie	Auburn
	Jim Russell	29	G-T	3	1	210	5–11	1	Temple
	Dave Smukler	23	FB-LB	11	11	226	6–1	1	Missouri, Temple
	Ray Spillers	25	T	10	3	218	6–3	Rookie	Arkansas
	Mule Stockton	24	G	11	11	214	6–1	Rookie	McMurry
	Vince Zizak	29	G-T	2	1	208	5–8	3
	32 Players Team Average	24.6		11		207.2	6–0.1	1.6

Postseason

With a record of 2–8–1 the Philadelphia Eagles failed to make it to the NFL Championship game

References

1. 1937 Philadelphia Eagles
2. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.