1941 Philadelphia Eagles season

NFL team season November 2013 March 2026 Philadelphia Eagles 1941 2–8–1 4th NFL Eastern Greasy Neale Municipal Stadium Did not qualify Eagles seasons The 1941 season was the Philadelphia Eagles' ninth in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their 1–10 record from the previous season, but just barely, winning two games, and they missed out on the playoffs again.1941 Philadelphia Eagles Offseason After a year sharing Shibe Park with the Philadelphia Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball teams in 1940, the Eagles returned to the larger Philadelphia Municipal Stadium they had used from 1936 to 1939. In late 1940, Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers (then known as the Pittsburgh Pirates), bought a 70 percent stake in the Eagles after selling the Pirates to New York entrepreneur Alexis Thompson. Thompson wanted to move the Pittsburgh franchise to Boston, but before the start of the 1941 season Rooney and Thompson agreed that their franchises would switch places, with Rooney moving the Eagles to Pittsburgh, where they would be renamed the Steelers, and Thompson moving the Pittsburgh team (whom he had renamed the Iron Men) to Philadelphia, where they would take up the Eagles name. The switch meant the rosters of both teams were made up of players who had played in the other city the previous season, though many were traded back before the start of the season. Coach Greasy Neale held training camp at the High School Bowl in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, about 50 mi km southeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and 90 mi km north of Milwaukee on Lake Michigan. NFL draft The 1941 NFL draft was held on December 10, 1940. As the team with the worst record from the previous season, the Eagles had the first pick in all but the last two of the draft's 22 rounds. Because these players were drafted before the Eagles and Steelers swapped cities, these players ended up playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1941. The Pittsburgh draft picks would come to Philadelphia, and vice versa, though five players originally picked by the original Eagles ended up being traded to the new Eagles franchise. The Chicago Bears (From Philadelphia Eagles) had the number one pick in the draft. They choose Tom Harmon, the 1940 Heisman Trophy winner, a Halfback out of the University of Michigan Player selections thumb|right|240px|Oregon State tackle Vic Sears, selected in the fifth round of the 1941 draft, had a 13 year career as an Eagle. The table shows the Eagles selections and 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. These picks were the players that the Pittsburgh Pirates made before the team swap between owners. Pro BowlerPlayers are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.Hall of FamerPicks made by Pittsburgh Pirates that became Eagles in 1941 Round Pick Player Position School 1 1 Traded to the Chicago Bears 2 11 Art Jones Back Richmond 3 16 Marion Pugh Back Texas A&M 4 26 Al Ghesquiere Back University of Detroit 5 31 Royal Kahler Tackle University of Nebraska Pitt33 Vic Sears Tackle Oregon State 6 41 Red Hickey End University of Arkansas Pitt42 Bob Suffridge Guard Tennessee 7 51 Julius "Mush" Battista Guard Florida 8 61 Traded to the Chicago Bears 9 71 P. K. Rogers Back East Texas State 10 81 Don Williams Tackle Texas Pitt82 Ralph Fritz Guard Michigan 11 91 Marshall Stenstrom Back Oregon 12 101 John Patrick Back Penn State 13 111 Joe Hoague Back Colgate 14 121 Les Dodson Back Mississippi 15 131 Alex Lukachick End Boston College 16 141 Bill Conatser Back Texas A&M 17 151 John Yauckoes Tackle Boston College 18 161 Joe McFadden Back Georgetown (DC) 19 171 John Shonk End West Virginia Pitt173 George Kerr Guard Boston College 20 181 L. B. Russell BackHardin–Simmons 21 201 Charley Henke (from Redskins) Guard Texas A&M Pitt202 Jim Castiglia Back Georgetown (DC) 22 203 Mike Fernella (from Bears) Tackle Akron Regular season Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 13 New York Giants L 0–24 0–1 Municipal Stadium 25,478 Recap 2 September 21 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 10–7 1–1 Forbes Field 12,893 Recap 3 September 27 Brooklyn Dodgers L 13–24 1–2 Municipal Stadium 16,341 Recap — Bye 4 October 12 at New York Giants L 0–16 1–3 Polo Grounds 30,842 Recap 5 October 19 Washington Redskins L 17–21 1–4 Municipal Stadium 19,071 Recap 6 October 26 Chicago Cardinals W 21–14 2–4 Municipal Stadium 12,683 Recap 7 November 2 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 6–15 2–5 Ebbets Field 15,899 Recap 8 November 9 Pittsburgh Steelers T 7–7 2–5–1 Municipal Stadium 15,601 Recap 9 November 16 at Detroit Lions L 17–21 2–6—1 Briggs Stadium 16,306 Recap — Bye 10 November 30 Chicago Bears L 14–49 2–7–1 Municipal Stadium 32,608 Recap 11 December 7 at Washington Redskins L 14–20 2–8–1 Griffith Stadium 27,102 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. • Sept. 13 & 27: Saturday night gamesGeorge Strickler, Official National Football League Roster and Record Manual, 1941. Chicago: National Football League, 1941; back cover. Game summaries The Eagles played 11 games over an NFL season that was 14 weeks long. The season started on September 7 and ended on December 7. Game 2: at Pittsburgh Steelers Philadelphia Eagles;Philadelphia Eagles;text-align:center; autocollapse Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary September 21, 1941 1:00 p.m. EST Eagles 0 3 7 0 Steelers 0 0 7 0 Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pro-Football-Reference.com First quarter No scoring plays. Second quarter PHI – Len Barnum 43-yard field goal. Eagles 3–0. Third quarter PIT – Boyd Brumbaugh 4-yard run (Jack Sanders kick). Steelers 7–3. PHI – Lou Tomasetti 40-yard pass from Dan DeSantis (Len Barnum kick). Eagles 10–7. Fourth quarter No scoring plays. The Eagles travel across the state of Pennsylvania to play the renamed Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time since the franchises swapped cities. Game 5: vs Washington Redskins Philadelphia Eagles;Philadelphia Eagles;text-align:center; autocollapse Week 7: Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Redskins – Game summary October 19, 1941 1:00 p.m. EST Redskins 0 14 0 7 Eagles 14 0 3 0 Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia Pro-Football-Reference.com First quarter PHI – Dick Humbert 4-yard pass from Tommy Thompson (Nick Basca kick). Eagles 7–0. PHI – Bob Krieger 21-yard pass from Tommy Thompson (Nick Basca kick). Eagles 14–0. Second quarter WAS – Andy Farkas 5-yard rush (Joe Aguirre kick). Eagles 14–7. WAS – Ed Justice 31-yard pass from Sammy Baugh (Joe Aguirre kick). Tied 14–14. Third quarter PHI – Nick Basca 15-yard field goal. Eagles 17–14. Fourth quarter WAS – Bob Masterson 22-yard pass from Sammy Baugh (Bob Masterson kick). Redskins 21–17. The defending 1940 NFL Eastern Division Champions, Washington Redskins make a visit to Philadelphia to play the Eagles. Washington lost the 1940 NFL Championship Game to the Chicago Bears 73–0. The Eagles will host the Bears in week 12 and travel to Washington, D.C. to re-play the Redskins in week 14 to close out the 1941 season. Game 8: vs Pittsburgh Steelers Philadelphia Eagles;Philadelphia Eagles;text-align:center; autocollapse Week 10: Philadelphia Eagles vs Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary November 9, 1941 1:00 p.m. EST Steelers 0 0 7 0 Eagles 7 0 0 0 Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pro-Football-Reference.com First quarter PHI – Jim Castiglia 47-yard rush (Nick Basca kick). Eagles 7–0. Second quarter No scoring plays. Third quarter PIT – Art Jones 25-yard rush (Jack Sanders kick). Tied 7–7. Fourth quarter No scoring plays. The Eagles' cross-state rivals returned to Philadelphia for a rematch of the week 3 game won by the Eagles. The Eagles entered the game with two wins, while the Steelers were winless. Game 11: at Washington Redskins Philadelphia Eagles;Philadelphia Eagles;text-align:center; autocollapse Week 11: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins – Game summary December 7, 1941 2:00 p.m. EST Eagles 7 0 7 0 Redskins 0 7 0 13 Griffith Stadium, Washington Mostly Cloudy Temp: 42 F Humidty: 34% Wind: 18 mph 27,102 Pro-Football-Reference.com First quarter PHI - Jack Banta 7-yd run (Nick Basca kick), 7-0 Eagles Second quarter WAS - Al Krueger 19-yd pass from Sammy Baugh (Joe Aguirre kick), Tied 7-7 Third quarter PHI - Hank Piro 6-yd pass from Tommy Thompson (Nick Basca kick), 14-7 Eagles Fourth quarter WAS - Joe Aguirre 9-yd pass from Sammy Baugh (kick failed), 14-13 Eagles WAS - Joe Aguirre 4-yd pass from Sammy Baugh (Joe Aguirre kick), 20-14 Redskins Approximately twelve minutes before the start of the game, the attack on Pearl Harbor began in Hawaii. It was announced by the White House Press Secretary approximately twenty minutes after the start of the game, and while no official announcement was made at Griffith Stadium, many military, government and diplomatic personnel were paged to return to their offices starting midway through the first quarter. Due to this, and sheer curiosity on the part of many others of the 27,000 spectators present, the game ended with nearly no press or spectators remaining. Washington won the game, 20-14, leaving the Eagles at 2-8-1 on the season.Richman Mike Flashback: A Forgotten Washington-Philly Game https://www.commanders.com/news/flashback-a-forgotten-redskins-eagles-game Commanders.com Washington Commanders November 30, 2025 Standings Roster (All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history) The 1941 Philadelphia Eagles roster is made up of 39 players which 32 are rookies. 1941 Pro Bowl Pro All-StarPlayers are identified as a 1940 Pro All-Star. No. PlayerAgePos. GPGSWeightHeightYearsCollege33Jack Banta24HB651915–11RookieUSC13Len Barnum29B-P-PK1182006–03West Virginia Wesleyan27Sam Bartholomew24FB921885–11RookieTennessee 47Nick Basca25HB-PK1101705–8RookieVillanova55Frank Bausch33C442206–37Kansas50Bob Bjorklund23C-LB-E702256–2RookieMinnesota84Larry Cabrelli24E-DB721945–11RookieColgate 31Jim Castiglia23FB1162085–11RookieGeorgetown (DC) 61Tony Cemore24G1012106–0RookieCreighton 67Enio Conti28G982045–11RookieBucknell49Dan DeSantis23HB1141806–0RookieNiagara 26Dave DiFilippo25G522105–10RookieVillanova 76John Eibner27T1192286–2RookieKentucky Bernie Feibish22C302236–2RookieNYU 83Jack Ferrante25E-DE301976–1Rookienone36Terry Fox23FB-LB1122086–1RookieMiami (FL) 70Joe Frank26T1102176–1RookieGeorgetown (DC) 63Ralph Fritz24G1012025–9RookieMichigan 62Woody Gerber21G512236–0RookieAlabama 11Lou Ghecas23HB801755–9RookieGeorgetown (DC) 37Fred Gloden23HB601875–10RookieTulane 51Lyle Graham26C1172106–3RookieRichmond 80Gran Harrison24E102116–3RookieMississippi State 80Kirk Hershey23E602156–2RookieCarroll (WI), Cornell43Jack Hinkle24B101956–01Syracuse 81Dick Humbert*23E-DE1181796–1RookieRichmond 82Bob Krieger23E11111906–1RookieDartmouth 30Mort Landsberg22HB1171805–11RookieCornell 40Wes McAfee23HB811755–11RookieDuke 63Rupert Pate24G102056–11Wake Forest 89Hank Piro24E10 11866–0RookieSyracuse 77Phil Ragazzo26T-G10102166–03Case Western Reserve 79Vic Sears23T-DT1122236–3RookieOregon State 85John Shonk23E1001906–1RookieWest Virginia 71Cecil Sturgeon22T602546–2RookieNorth Dakota State 60Bob Suffridge25G1092056–0RookieTennessee 10Tommy Thompson25QB1151926–11Tulsa 15Lou Tomasetti25FB-HB631986–02Bucknell 39Foster Watkins24QB-HB1111635–91West Texas A&M 72Burr West23T1012206–1RookieTennessee Honors and rewards Rookie end Dick Humbert finished second in receptions with 29 (league leader had 58), fourth in receiving yards with 332 (league leader had 738) and joint-fourth in receiving touchdowns with 3 (league leader had 10). Humbert was selected for the All-Star Game. References 1941 Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles