1939: Giants Use 3 Field Goals to Defeat College All-Stars

The New York Giants represented the NFL in the sixth installment of the College All-Star Game in Chicago on August 30, 1939. They faced an All-Star squad coached by Elmer Layden, head coach of Notre Dame and a former member of that school’s famed “Four Horsemen” backfield.

The Giants were coached by Steve Owen, who had guided the club to two NFL Championships in eight years, including the 1938 season. New York had an able passer in tailback Ed Danowski and could run the ball effectively, most notably with FB Tuffy Leemans carrying. C/LB Mel Hein was coming off of a season in which he had been named MVP by the league and the team allowed few points on defense. Returning to the club was Ken Strong (pictured above), a former star fullback and placekicker who had jumped leagues after the 1935 season but was back at age 33.

The All-Stars had won the previous two contests and this year’s roster included future pro stars in center Charley Brock from Nebraska, Pitt HB Marshall Goldberg, FB Bill Osmanski of Holy Cross, and the diminutive Heisman-winning QB Davey O’Brien from TCU.  

There were 81,456 fans in attendance for the Wednesday night game at Soldier Field. The All-Stars were in trouble early when Davey O’Brien fumbled the game’s first punt and end Jim Poole recovered for New York. However, the Giants were unable to capitalize when Ward Cuff missed a field goal from 41 yards by inches.

Following an exchange of punts, the Giants again moved into scoring territory thanks to good runs by FB John “Bull” Karcis and Cuff. Cuff kicked a 34-yard field goal late in the first quarter to put the Giants in front.

In the second quarter, New York put together a 56-yard series that led to another field goal, this time by Ken Strong from 22 yards, to take a 6-0 advantage. The All-Stars responded by driving from their 28 to the New York 39, with the big play a 15-yard run by Bill Osmanski. However, a second-down pass by Michigan State back Johnny Pingel was intercepted by LB Kayo Lunday to end the threat.

The Giants attempted to add to their advantage in the third quarter with a drive to the All-Star 13, but came up empty when O’Brien intercepted a pass. The pro champs mounted another strong possession to the All-Star two, but Cuff’s try for a field goal hit the upright and bounced away.

Following more punts which included a quick-kick by the Giants that pinned the All-Stars back at their 20, New York got another field goal, again by Strong, who connected from 41 yards.

The All-Stars finally mounted a threat in the fourth quarter with Baylor QB Bill Patterson in the game, who threw the ball effectively. But drives to the New York 11 and 17 were blunted by interceptions by DB Len Barnum and LB Doug Oldershaw, respectively. The Giants came away with a 9-0 win in which they were more dominant than the score indicated.

The Giants, who controlled the line of scrimmage and kept the collegians bottled up on their side of the field for most of the game, had the edge in total yards (199 to 166) although the All-Stars had more first downs (10 to 9). However, New York intercepted five passes. Bill Osmanski (pictured at left) and QB George Faust from Minnesota drew praise as the best of the All-Star rushers.

The win for the Giants tied the series, which was far more competitive at that point than it would be in the ensuing years of its existence, at two wins apiece, with two ties.  New York again topped the Eastern Division with a 9-1-1 record during the regular season but lost in a title rematch with the Green Bay Packers.

Bill Osmanski played seven years in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and led the league in rushing as a rookie in 1939. Davey O’Brien also had a fine first year with the Philadelphia Eagles, passing for a NFL-high 1324 yards in his first of two pro seasons before leaving to join the FBI.

1940: Isbell-to-Hutson is Highlight as Packers Win Pro All-Star Game

Predecessor to the Pro Bowl, the NFL’s all-star contest that came into being after the 1950 NFL season, was the Pro All-Star Game, which followed the 1938 thru ’42 seasons. Unlike the Pro Bowl, the Pro All-Star Game format matched the winner of the NFL Championship game against a squad of All-Stars representing the rest of the league. The second game was played on January 14, 1940 and featured the Green Bay Packers, NFL Champions of 1939, against an All-Star team coached by Steve Owen of the Giants.

The Packers, coached by Curly Lambeau, had gone 9-2 in winning the Western Division for the second straight year and handily defeated the Giants by a score of 27-0 in a Championship game rematch. Tailbacks Arnie Herber and Cecil Isbell (pictured above) were fine passers and they had the league’s best receiver in end Don Hutson as primary target. Behind an outstanding line, FB Clarke Hinkle led the running attack.

Among the players in the starting lineup for the All-Stars were center Mel Hein and end Jim Poole of the Giants, HB Parker Hall (the league MVP) and FB Johnny Drake of the Rams, Brooklyn end Perry Schwartz and guard Bruiser Kinard, and tackle Joe Stydahar of the Bears.

The game, played in Los Angeles, had been postponed a week due to rain and there was a near-capacity crowd of 18,000 in attendance under sunny skies at Gilmore Stadium. The All-Stars had worked together for three weeks and lacked coordination, neither running nor passing the ball effectively. The Packers struck first in the opening quarter with Clarke Hinkle kicking a 45-yard field goal.

In the second quarter, Green Bay drove to the All-Star 11 and Ernie Smith booted an 18-yard field goal that made the score 6-0. The All-Stars threatened later in the period when Washington tailback Frank Filchock threw to end Bill Smith of the Cardinals for a 62-yard gain to the Green Bay 12, where he was knocked out of bounds by Cecil Isbell. The Packers held for three downs and a fourth down pass by Filchock was intercepted by LB Ed Jankowski to end the threat.

With the ball at their eight yard line and the clock down to 38 seconds in the first half, the Packers pulled off the most spectacular play of the game. The All-Stars were anticipating a punt, but Isbell instead faded back into his end zone and threw long for Don Hutson (pictured at left). The pass went over 60 yards in the air before being gathered in by the streaking Hutson, who went the distance for a 92-yard touchdown. Smith kicked the extra point and the NFL champs took a 13-0 lead into halftime.

Early in the third quarter, the All-Stars got moving on offense, under the direction of diminutive QB Davey O’Brien of the Eagles. First, O’Brien gave the All-Stars good field position as he returned a punt 28 yards to the Green Bay 17. Two runs by Johnny Drake gave the All-Stars a first down at the six, and two plays later O’Brien threw to end Joe Carter, an Eagles teammate, in the end zone for a touchdown. Ward Cuff of the Giants added the extra point and the All-Stars were back in the game at 13-7.

Later in the period, runs of 24 yards by Hinkle and 19 yards by HB Andy Uram helped the Packers to reach the All-Star 16. The drive stalled, but Smith added a seven-yard field goal to put Green Bay ahead by nine.

That was it for the scoring, although late in the contest the Packers reached the All-Star three yard line thanks to passes by Arnie Herber to Hutson and end Carl “Moose” Mulleneaux. On fourth down, and having lost a yard, Ernie Smith lined up for a field goal attempt, but with the crowd shouting for a touchdown, the Packers tried a pass instead that fell incomplete. It was of no consequence as Green Bay came away the winner by a final score of 16-7. The game ended with the ball near midfield after O’Brien fired a pass to Bill Smith for a 25-yard gain.

The Packers easily outgained the All-Stars (330 yards to 130) and had the edge in first downs (11 to 8). Each team gave up two interceptions apiece. Davey O’Brien (pictured at right), Johnny Drake, and Parker Hall were the best of the backs for the All-Stars.

The win for the Packers gave the NFL champs a second win over the All-Stars in as many games. It would reach four straight before the All-Stars would win the fifth, and final, contest of the series. 

1939: Dodgers Defeat Eagles in First Televised NFL Game

Today, pro football on television is big business and a very big draw. Bringing the game to the viewing public had a huge effect on its growth, especially from the 1960s on. It got its start at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York on October 22, 1939 in a game between the host Brooklyn Dodgers and visiting Philadelphia Eagles. While there were 13,051 fans in attendance at the stadium, there were also two cameras and a crew of eight for the first televised pro football game (as opposed to a minimum of six cameras and a crew of some 200 for a telecast today).

Station W2XBS, forerunner of the NBC network, televised the contest with Allen “Skip” Walz handling the broadcasting. The production was largely an experiment and followed up the first college football telecast, between Fordham and Waynesburg, three weeks earlier. There were only about 1000 television sets in New York City (the telecast could also be seen on monitors at the RCA Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair) and the resolution of the small black-and-white picture was grainy. When clouds rolled in and decreased the available light, the quality suffered accordingly – to the point that the crew had to revert to a radio broadcast when it became too dark.

The matchup of teams was nothing special. The Dodgers, under Head Coach George “Potsy” Clark, were 2-2-1, including 0-2-1 in their last three games (there was a scoreless tie at Philadelphia). The Eagles, with owner Bert Bell also acting as head coach, had yet to win a contest and were 0-3-1.

In the first quarter, HB Ralph Kercheval intercepted a pass and returned it to the Philadelphia 30 yard line. The Dodgers gained two first downs thanks to the running of FB Pug Manders and tailback Ace Parker. Parker threw to end Perry Schwartz, who reached the eight. Two plays later, Manders bulled in for a touchdown.

The Eagles came back to tie the score thanks to a 44-yard drive in the second quarter. Diminutive rookie tailback Davey O’Brien (5’7”, 150), newly inserted into the lineup following the opening period, threw three completions and was helped by two penalties on the Dodgers. Rookie HB Fran Murray ran around end for a one-yard touchdown and Hank Reese converted.

In the third quarter, Kercheval put the Dodgers back in front with a 44-yard field goal. Shortly thereafter, Parker connected with Schwartz again for a 47-yard touchdown. Kercheval kicked two more field goals in short order in the fourth quarter, from 38 and 44 yards.


O’Brien provided some excitement in the final period as he threw to end Bill Hewitt (pictured at left) for a 22-yard TD to close out the scoring, but the result was a 23-14 win for Brooklyn.

Three players (Parker, end Waddy Young, and tackle Bruiser Kinard) played a full 60 minutes for the Dodgers. Brooklyn outgained the Eagles, 268 yards to 170, while each team had 10 first downs. Ralph Kercheval kicked three field goals in five attempts and added two extra points for Brooklyn. Pug Manders, moving from blocking back to fullback for the Dodgers, ran for 113 yards on 29 carries. Ace Parker was successful on 8 of his 19 throws for 116 yards and a touchdown. For the Eagles, Davey O’Brien completed 11 of 25 passes for 140 yards with a TD and one intercepted.

All of this occurred with broadcaster Walz adding his commentary (and often correctly forecasting Coach Clark’s calls) while sitting in a mezzanine seat along the railing with an iconoscope camera over his shoulder (the other camera, placed at field-level at the 50 didn’t work well and was little-used in the telecast).

“I did my own spotting, and when the play moved up and down the field on punts and kickoffs, I’d point to tell the cameraman what I’d be talking about,” said Walz later. “We also used hand signals for communication. Producer Burke Crotty was in the mobile unit truck, and he’d tell me over the headphones which camera he was using.”

For the most part, the players were unaware that they were being televised (Brooklyn FB Sam Francis said he noticed “a big trailer thing” parked outside the stadium), and the newspaper accounts didn’t mention it at all. The significance would come in retrospect, once television became a far more important medium and its role in the development of the sport more apparent.

Brooklyn went on to finish third in the Eastern Division with a 4-6-1 record. The Eagles ended up tied with Pittsburgh at the bottom at 1-9-1. And from the modest beginning broadcasting in obscurity to some 1000 people, pro football on television was watched by nearly 208 million viewers in 2010, with an average of almost 18 million per game and some 162.9 million for Super Bowl XLV.

1940: Davey O’Brien Sets Passing Records in Career Finale at Washington

Quarterback Davey O’Brien of the Philadelphia Eagles proved to be one of the most prolific passers in pro football during his brief NFL career. Chosen by the Eagles in the first round of the 1939 draft out of Texas Christian, where he had won the Heisman Trophy, the diminutive (5’7”, 150 pounds) O’Brien received a $10,000 contract. Eagles Owner/Head Coach Bert Bell also took out a $1500 per game insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London and many sportswriters questioned whether he would hold up as a pro player.

Playing for a bad team (the Eagles went 2-19-1 in his two seasons), O’Brien proved to be both durable and a record-setting thrower. He twice set the league record for pass completions in a game in ’39, and finished with an NFL-record 1324 passing yards. With few other offensive weapons, and little protection from the line, the Eagles with O’Brien were the most prolific passing team in the league.

While his TCU teammate, end Don Looney, was brought in to provide him with a familiar target for the 1940 season, overall the situation was the same. Prior to the season finale, on December 1 at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, the player known as Slingshot Davey announced that he would retire to become an FBI agent.

The matchup was an appropriate one, because O’Brien’s predecessor as a passing tailback at TCU had been Sammy Baugh, the star passer for the Redskins. Prior to the game, Bell presented O’Brien with a plaque that read “Davey O’Brien, the greatest player of all time; retiring from pro football to serve his country. Small in stature with the heart of a lion. A living inspiration to the youth of America”.

The matchup against Baugh and the plaque inscription were a lot to live up to, but O’Brien certainly gave it his best shot. Passing on almost every down, he set single-game NFL records for pass attempts (60), completions (33), and yards (316). Looney was the primary recipient of his throws, also setting a new standard with 14 receptions (still the Eagles team record, since tied by RB Brian Westbrook in 2007). None of O’Brien’s passes were intercepted, establishing a record for most throws in a game without a pickoff that lasted until 1991.

Meanwhile, Washington scored on a 23-yard run by wingback Wilbur Moore in the second quarter (the extra point failed) and another run, by HB Dick Todd, of 6 yards in the third quarter to take a 13-0 lead. O’Brien led the Eagles on a 98-yard drive in the fourth quarter that culminated in a 19-yard TD pass to FB Frank Emmons that made the score 13-6 (the PAT attempt by Fran Murray was blocked). That ended up being the final tally; the Eagles drove from their own 31 yard line to the Redskins 22 as time ran out.

For the year, the Eagles finished at the bottom of the Eastern Division with a 1-10 record. Washington finished on top of the division at 9-2, although they were routed in the NFL Championship game, 73-0, by the Chicago Bears.

Davey O’Brien ranked second in the league (behind Baugh) with 1290 yards passing. Don Looney set a record with 58 pass receptions and also led the NFL with 707 yards.

O’Brien’s records from the game against the Redskins eventually were surpassed – some earlier (passing yards in 1942, pass completions in 1948) than others (pass attempts by George Blanda of the AFL in 1964). Don Looney’s pass receiving record was tied by Green Bay’s Don Hutson the very next year, 1941, and broken by Hutson in ’42; he played two more seasons and caught a total of just 17 more passes.