1944 Green Bay Packers season

1944 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach	Curly Lambeau
Home field	City Stadium Wisconsin State Fair Park
Results
Record	8–2
Division place	1st NFL Western
Playoff finish	Won NFL Championship (at Giants) 14–7

The 1944 Green Bay Packers season was their 26th season overall and their 24th season in the National Football League. The team finished with an 8–2 record under coach Curly Lambeau, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season beating the New York Giants 14–7 in the NFL Championship Game, their sixth league title. Don Hutson led the NFL in touchdowns for a record-setting eighth time in his career.^[1]

Pre-season

1944 NFL draft

Main article: 1944 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	7	Merv Pregulman	Guard	Michigan
3	22	Tom Kuzma	Halfback	Michigan
5	38	Bill McPartland	Tackle	St. Mary's (CA)
6	49	Mickey McCardle	Back	USC
7	60	Jack Tracy	End	Washington
8	71	Alex Agase	Guard	Illinois
9	82	Don Whitmire	Tackle	Alabama/Navy
10	93	Bob Koch	Back	Oregon
11	104	Virgil Johnson	End	Arkansas
12	115	Roy Giusti	Back	St. Mary's (CA)
13	126	Bill Baughman	Center	Alabama
14	137	Don Griffin	Back	Illinois
15	148	Bert Gissler	End	Nebraska
16	159	Lou Shelton	Back	Oregon State
17	170	Charley Cusick	Guard	Colgate
18	181	Hugh Cox	Back	North Carolina
19	192	Kermit Davis	End	Mississippi State
20	203	Bob Johnson	Center	Purdue
21	214	Jim Cox	Tackle	Stanford
22	225	Cliff Anderson	End	Minnesota
23	236	John Wesley Perry	Back	Duke
24	247	Pete DeMaria	Guard	Purdue
25	258	Len Liss	Tackle	Marquette
26	269	Ray Jordan	Back	North Carolina
27	280	Al Grubaugh	Tackle	Nebraska
28	291	A. B. Howard	End	Mississippi State
29	302	Paul Paladino	Guard	Arkansas
30	313	Bob Butchofsky	Back	Texas A&M
31	319	Russ Deal	Guard	Indiana
32	325	Abel Gonzales	Back	SMU

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 17	Brooklyn Tigers	W 14–7	1–0	State Fair Park	12,994	Recap
2	September 24	Chicago Bears	W 42–28	2–0	City Stadium	24,362	Recap
3	October 1	Detroit Lions	W 27–6	3–0	State Fair Park	18,556	Recap
4	October 8	Card-Pitt	W 34–7	4–0	City Stadium	16,535	Recap
—	Bye
5	October 22	Cleveland Rams	W 30–21	5–0	City Stadium	18,780	Recap
6	October 29	at Detroit Lions	W 14–0	6–0	Briggs Stadium	30,844	Recap
7	November 5	at Chicago Bears	L 0–21	6–1	Wrigley Field	45,553	Recap
8	November 12	at Cleveland Rams	W 42–7	7–1	League Park	17,166	Recap
9	November 19	at New York Giants	L 0–24	7–2	Polo Grounds	56,481	Recap
10	November 26	at Card-Pitt	W 35–20	8–2	Comiskey Park	7,158	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	8	2	0	.800	7–1	238	141	W1
Chicago Bears	6	3	1	.667	4–3–1	258	172	W2
Detroit Lions	6	3	1	.667	4–3–1	216	151	W4
Cleveland Rams	4	6	0	.400	4–4	188	224	L2
Card-Pitt	0	10	0	.000	0–8	108	328	L10

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

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	8	1	1	.889	6–1–1	206	75	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	1	2	.875	6–0–2	267	131	W2
Washington Redskins	6	3	1	.667	4–3–1	169	180	L2
Boston Yanks	2	8	0	.200	2–6	82	233	L2
Brooklyn Tigers	0	10	0	.000	0-8	69	166	L10

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

Postseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
NFL Championship	December 17	at New York Giants	W 14–7	1–0	Polo Grounds	46,015	Recap	[2][3]

NFL Championship

1 2 3 4 Total • Packers 0 14 0 0 14 Giants 0 0 0 7 7 Date: December 17 Location: Polo Grounds Game attendance: 46,015

Scoring summary Q2 GB Fritsch 1 yard run (Hutson kick) GB 7–0 Q2 GB Fritsch 28 yard pass from Comp (Hutson kick) GB 14–0 Q4 NYG Cuff 1 yard run (Strong kick) GB 14–7

Roster

Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks Larry Craig Ben Starret Running backs Dick Bilda Irv Comp Paul Duhart Ted Fritsch Don Hutson Joe Laws Roy McKay Don Perkins Wide receivers Harry Jacunski Joel Mason Ray Wehba		Offensive linemen Paul Berezney Charley Brock Mike Bucchianeri Tiny Croft Bob Flowers Charles Goldenberg Bill Kuusisto Forrest McPherson Baby Ray Ade Schwammel Glen Sorenson Pete Tinsley Chuck Tollefson Defensive linemen Bob Kercher Alex Urban		Defensive backs Bob Kahler Special teams Lou Brock Rookies and first-year players in italics

Awards, records and honors

• Don Hutson, NFL Leader, Touchdowns
• Don Hutson, NFL Record, Touchdown Leader, Eighth Time

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 408
2. Video: B-29s Rule Jap Skies,1944/12/18 (1944). Universal Newsreel. 1944. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-Oct-08.

Further reading

• Cliff Christl, The Greatest Story in Sports: Green Bay Packers, 1919–2019. 4 volumes. Stevens Point, WI: KCI Sports Publishing, 2021.
• Larry D. Names, The History of the Green Bay Packers: The Lambeau Years, Part Two. Wautoma, WI: Angel Press of Wisconsin, 1989.
• Arch Ward, The Green Bay Packers. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1946.

External links

• Sportsencyclopedia.com