| Team: | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Year: | 1939 |
| Record: | 1–9–1 |
| Division Place: | 4th (tied) NFL Eastern |
| Coach: | Bert Bell |
| Owner: | Bert Bell |
| Stadium: | Philadelphia Municipal Stadium |
| Radio: | WCAU |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Shortnavlink: | Eagles seasons |
The Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 7th season in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 5–6, winning only one game.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The October 22 game against Brooklyn was the first NFL game to be televised. The Eagles threw 267 passes in 1939, or 24.3 per game, the most by an NFL team in the 1930s.
The Eagle moved their training camp to St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The 1939 NFL draft had 22 rounds and was held on December 9, 1938.
The Eagles drafted in the 4th spot in the 20 rounds they had picks. They chose a total 20 players, of which 9 made the team for the 1939 season.
The Chicago Cardinals choose Charles "Ki" Aldrich as a center that went to Texas Christian. The TCU Horned Frogs had 3 players in the top 7 picks in the first round
The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick.[2] 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 [3] | = Hall of Famer |
| width=3% style="background:#006633;" | Rd | width=1% style="background:#006633;" | Pick # | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | Player | width=7% style="background:#006633;" | Position ! | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Davey O'Brien[4] | Back | Texas Christian | ||||
| 2 | 14 | Back | ||||||
| 3 | 19 | Tackle | ||||||
| 4 | 29 | Offensive End | ||||||
| 5 | 34 | Guard | Texas A&M | |||||
| 6 | 44 | Jake Schuehle | Back | Rice | ||||
| 7 | 54 | Back | Purdue | |||||
| 8 | 64 | George Somers | Tackle | |||||
| 9 | 74 | Rankin Britt | End | Texas A&M | ||||
| 10 | 84 | Tackle | Cornell | |||||
| 11 | 94 | Center | Purdue | |||||
| 12 | 104 | Back | North Carolina | |||||
| 13 | 114 | Tackle | Texas Christian | |||||
| 14 | 124 | Joe Aleskus | Tackle | Ohio State | ||||
| 15 | 134 | Back | West Texas State Teachers | |||||
| 16 | 144 | Irv Hall | Back | Brown | ||||
| 17 | 154 | Bob Riddell | End | South Dakota State | ||||
| 18 | 164 | End | North Dakota | |||||
| 19 | 174 | Morris White | Back | Tulsa | ||||
| 20 | 184 | Dick Gormley | Center | Louisiana State | ||||
| 21 | No Pick in this Round | . | ||||||
| 22 | No Pick in this Round | . |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 17 | Washington Redskins | L 0–7 | 0–1 | 33,258 | |
| 2 | September 24 | New York Giants | L 3–13 | 0–2 | 30,600 | |
| 3 | October 1 | Brooklyn Dodgers | T 0–0 | 0–2–1 | 1,880 | |
| 4 | October 15 | at New York Giants | L 10–27 | 0–3–1 | 34,471 | |
| 5 | October 22 | at Brooklyn Dodgers | L 14–23 | 0–4–1 | 13,057 | |
| 6 | November 5 | at Washington Redskins | L 6–7 | 0–5–1 | 20,444 | |
| 7 | November 12 | Green Bay Packers | L 16–23 | 0–6–1 | 23,000 | |
| 8 | November 19 | at Chicago Bears | L 14–27 | 0–7–1 | 21,398 | |
| 9 | November 23 | Pittsburgh Pirates | W 17–14 | 1–7–1 | 20,000 | |
| 10 | November 26 | at Pittsburgh Pirates | L 12–24 | 1–8–1 | 8,788 | |
| 11 | December 3 | at Cleveland Rams | L 13–35 | 1–9–1 | 9,189 |
The Eagles had a 1–9–1 record and failed to make it to the 1939 NFL Championship Game. The game was on December 10, 1939, at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was the seventh NFL championship game played. The Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants to win their fifth title. The game attendance was 32,379.
The game matched the champions of the Eastern Division, New York Giants (9–1–1) against the Western Division champion Green Bay Packers (9–2–0). The Packers won 27–0 in a rematch of the 1938 NFL Championship Game that was won by the Giants.
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1939 Pro All Star[5] | = Hall of Famer |
As was in 1937 roster and 1938 roster, this year team is mostly rookies and players with 1 or 2 years NFL experience.
| NO. | width=15% style="background:#00cc00;" | Player | width=4% style="background:#00cc00;" | AGE | width=6% style="background:#00cc00;" | POS | width=4% style="background:#00cc00;" | GP | width=4% style="background:#00cc00;" | GS | width=4% style="background:#00cc00;" | WT | width=4% style="background:#00cc00;" | HT | width=4% style="background:#00cc00;" | YRS | width=20% style="background:#00cc00;" | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - align=left | 44 | Coach | 1939 record 1–9–1 | NFL-Eagles Lifetime 9–34–2 | 4th | - align=left | Pennsylvania | |||||||||||
| - align=left | Jay Arnold | 27 | HB-WB-DB BB-KR-PR | 10 | 9 | 210 | 6–1 | 2 | - align=left | |||||||||
| - align=left | 26 | End | 1 | 0 | 205 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | Texas A&M | |||||||||
| - align=left | 23 | Back | 11 | 1 | 216 | 6–0 | 1 | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | 24 | BB | 11 | 3 | 194 | 6–1 | Rookie | - align=left | North Carolina | |||||||||
| - align=left | Joe Carter* | 29 | E | 11 | 11 | 201 | 6–1 | 6 | - align=left | Austin College and SMU | ||||||||
| - align=left | 24 | C | 1 | 0 | 222 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | Texas A&M | |||||||||
| - align=left | Bree Cuppoletti | 29 | G | 10 | 8 | 200 | 5–10 | 5 | - align=left | |||||||||
| - align=left | 23 | BB-FB | 9 | 2 | 195 | 6–0 | 1 | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | Drew Ellis | 25 | T | 11 | 9 | 215 | 6–1 | 1 | - align=left | |||||||||
| - align=left | Maurice Harper | 29 | Cen | 11 | 8 | 227 | 6–4 | 3 | - align=left | Austin | ||||||||
| - align=left | 30 | E-DE | 11 | 2 | 190 | 5–9 | 7 | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | Bill Hughes | 24 | G-C | 11 | 6 | 226 | 6–1 | 2 | - align=left | Texas | ||||||||
| - align=left | Ray Keeling | 24 | T-G | 9 | 0 | 242 | 6–3 | 1 | - align=left | Texas | ||||||||
| - align=left | 23 | HB-E | 8 | 3 | 201 | 6–4 | Rookie | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | 23 | G | 1 | 0 | 199 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | Emmett Mortell | 23 | B | 8 | 2 | 181 | 6–1 | 2 | - align=left | Notre Dame and Wisconsin | ||||||||
| Fran Murray | 24 | B-K-P | 11 | 6 | 200 | 6–0 | Rookie | |||||||||||
| Chuck Newton | 23 | FB-HB | 9 | 7 | 204 | 6–0 | Rookie | |||||||||||
| - align=left | Davey O'Brien | 22 | QB-TB | 11 | 8 | 151 | 5–7 | Rookie | TCU | |||||||||
| - align=left | Bob Pylman | 26 | T | 10 | 2 | 214 | 6–4 | 1 | - align=left | |||||||||
| - align=left | 28 | E | 11 | 6 | 196 | 6–0 | 1 | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | Hank Reese | 30 | C-G | 5 | 3 | 214 | 5–11 | 6 | - align=left | |||||||||
| - align=left | 24 | B | 10 | 3 | 200 | 6–1 | 1 | - align=left | Albright | |||||||||
| - align=left | Theodore Schmitt | 23 | G | 11 | 8 | 219 | 5–11 | 1 | - align=left | |||||||||
| - align=left | 22 | HB | 2 | 0 | 196 | 6–0 | Rookie | - align=left | ||||||||||
| - align=left | 25 | FB-LB | 4 | 4 | 226 | 6–1 | 2 | - align=left | Missouri and Temple | |||||||||
| - align=left | 24 | T | 9 | 3 | 253 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | La Salle | |||||||||
| - align=left | 24 | G-T | 7 | 0 | 212 | 5–11 | Rookie | - align=left | Texas Christian | |||||||||
| - align=left | 24 | T | 10 | 8 | 214 | 6–1 | 1 | - align=left | ||||||||||
| 28 Players Team Average | 25.1 | 11 | 208.2 | 6–0.6 | 1.6 |