Highlighted Year: Joe Carter, 1934

End, Philadelphia Eagles

Age: 24

2^nd season in pro football & with Eagles

College: Southern Methodist

Height: 6’1”   Weight: 203

Prelude:

Carter, who played baseball and basketball as well as football in college, joined the first-year Eagles in 1933 and moved into the starting lineup at right end, catching five passes, good for 109 yards (21.8 avg.) and two touchdowns.

1934 Season Summary

Appeared in all 11 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Pass Receiving

Receptions – 16 [1, tied with Red Badgro]         

Yards – 238 [2]

Average gain – 14.9 [5]

TDs – 4 [2]

Scoring

TDs – 4 [11, tied with Harry Newman & Roger Grove]

Points – 24 [18]

Eagles went 4-7 to finish third in the NFL Eastern Division (tied with the Brooklyn Dodgers).

Aftermath:

Carter spent another six seasons with the Eagles. He received second-team All-NFL recognition from Collyers Eye and the Chicago Daily News in 1936 and reached the apex of his career in 1938, when he caught 27 passes for 386 yards (14.3 avg.) and 7 TDs and was named to the Pro All-Star Game (predecessor to the Pro Bowl) as well as garnering second-team All-NFL honors from the Pro Football Writers and New York Daily News. Carter had another All-Star season in 1939, with 24 receptions for 292 yards (12.2 avg.) and two touchdowns. He later saw action with Green Bay in 1942, spent ’43 in the military, and then was with Brooklyn in 1944 and the Chicago Cardinals in 1945, his final season. Overall, Carter caught 132 passes for 1989 yards (15.1 avg.) and 22 touchdowns. Of those totals, 114 receptions for 1810 yards and 21 TDs came with the Eagles. Carter twice received second-team All-NFL recognition and was chosen to two Pro/NFL All-Star Games. 

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970

1934: Eagles Roll Up 64-0 Win Over Cincinnati Reds

Two teams that had entered the NFL in 1933, the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Reds, met on November 6, 1934 on a muddy field at Philadelphia’s Temple Stadium. Neither club had been very successful thus far. The Eagles, coached by Lud Wray, had gone 3-5-1 in their inaugural season and carried a 1-5 record into the game against the Reds. Moreover, they had been shut out in each of their last three contests.

The situation was even worse with Cincinnati, which debuted at 3-6-1 in 1933 and was 0-7 thus far in ’34. Led by player/coach Algy Clark, they had scored a grand total of 10 points in the seven games. The team was on financially shaky ground and on the brink of being disbanded.

There were approximately 2000 fans present for one of only two Eagles home games played at Temple Stadium (they typically played at the Baker Bowl). It didn’t take long for the tone of the contest to be set. On the fifth play, back Ed Storm ran 36 yards for a touchdown. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles had a 26-0 lead on their way to a 64-0 shellacking of the Reds.

Star HB Swede Hanson (pictured above), an outstanding open-field runner who was provided with plenty of opportunities to show off his talent, scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one on an interception return) and gained 190 yards rushing on 18 carries. End Joe Carter also scored three TDs, all on pass receptions. Hanson, Carter, and tailback Ed Matesic each had scoring plays of over 40 yards. The Eagles were effective both running the ball and passing - of their ten touchdowns, four came on runs, five on passes, and one on an interception.

While the records are sketchy (Hanson’s rushing total may include pass receptions or kick returns, as there are discrepancies in some accounts), Philadelphia did set a league record for most points by the winner of a shutout in which both teams were NFL members (the Rochester Jeffersons defeated a non-league-affiliated Fort Porter team 66-0 in 1920). No Eagles team since has run up as many points in a game, shutout or otherwise.

The disastrous defeat marked the end for the Cincinnati franchise, which promptly folded. It was replaced by a team called the St. Louis Gunners that completed the season – and won its first game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-0. Six players from the Reds played for the Gunners, a club made up of local talent and castoffs from other NFL teams. St. Louis went 1-2; the combined Reds/Gunners record was 1-10 for a last-place finish in the Western Division. The Gunners did not return for the 1935 season.

Oddly enough, Cincinnati’s player/coach Clark joined the Eagles (as a player only) for the remainder of the season. Philadelphia returned to earth the following week, losing to Brooklyn by a 10-7 score, although they won their last two games and were 4-7 for the year, tying with the Dodgers for third in the Eastern Division. They scored a total of 63 points in their other ten contests, but all four of their wins were shutouts.

The big game against Cincinnati helped Swede Hanson put together his best of eight seasons in the NFL (five with the Eagles). He ranked second in rushing (805 yards) on a league-leading 146 carries (tied with Detroit’s Ace Gutowsky) and his 5.5 yards per attempt ranked fourth. His eight touchdowns (7 rushing, one on the INT return) put Hanson in a tie for second with Dutch Clark of the Lions (one behind leader Beattie Feathers of the Bears). The 190-yard (or so) rushing performance was one of three that he had in 1934 – the first three in franchise history – and Hanson was a 2nd-team All-NFL selection by the league and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Joe Carter also had a notable season, co-leading the NFL in pass receiving with 16 catches (along with Red Badgro of the Giants). His 238 receiving yards ranked second, as did his four receiving touchdowns.