| Team: | Brooklyn Tigers |
| Year: | 1944 |
| Record: | 0–10 |
| Division Place: | 5th NFL Eastern |
| Owner: | Dan Topping |
| General Manager: | Tom Gallery |
| Coach: | Frank Bridges, Pete Cawthon, and Ed Kubale |
| Stadium: | Ebbets Field |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Previous: | 1943 |
| Next: | 1945 (Yanks) |
| Alternatenav: |
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The 1944 Brooklyn Tigers season was their 15th and final season in the league before merging with the Boston Yanks. The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 2–8, losing all ten games.[1] They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season.
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 17 | at Green Bay Packers | L 7–14 | 0–1 | Wisconsin State Fair Park | Recap | ||
| 2 | October 8 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–19 | 0–2 | Briggs Stadium | Recap | ||
| 3 | October 15 | New York Giants | L 7–14 | 0–3 | Ebbets Field | Recap | ||
| 4 | October 22 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–17 | 0–4 | Griffith Stadium | Recap | ||
| 5 | October 29 | Boston Yanks | L 14–17 | 0–5 | Ebbets Field | Recap | ||
| 6 | November 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–21 | 0–6 | Ebbets Field | Recap | ||
| 7 | November 12 | Washington Redskins | L 0–10 | 0–7 | Ebbets Field | Recap | ||
| 8 | November 19 | at Boston Yanks | L 6–13 | 0–8 | Fenway Park | Recap | ||
| 9 | November 26 | at New York Giants | L 0–7 | 0–9 | Polo Grounds | Recap | ||
| 10 | December 3 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 0–34 | 0–10 | Shibe Park | Recap | ||
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||
The NFL used an active roster of just 28 players during the wartime seasons of 1943 and 1944. According to the league's preseason roster guide,[2] the 28-man roster for the 1944 Brooklyn Tigers consisted of the following:
Quarterbacks
• 26 - Bill Brown
Halfbacks
• 10 - Frank Martin
• 11 - Charles "Dub" McGibbony
• 12 - Kenny Fryer
• 15 - Bill Reynolds
• 19 - John McMichael
• 27 - Cecil Johnson (halfback)
• 30 - Frank "Butch" Sachse
• 42 - Ray Hare
Fullbacks
• 9 - Clarence "Pug" Manders
• 32 - Tony Falkenstein
Ends
• 22 - Andy Kowalski
• 28 - Bob Masterson
• 31 - W. S. Lafitte
• 34 - Flip McDonald
• 35 - Enrico Eguccioni
• 55 - Joe Carter
Tackles
• 25 - Frank "Bruiser" Kinard
• 36 - Frank Strom
• 38 - George Doherty (Drafted rookie)
• 43 - Charlie Ware
• 44 - George Sergienko
Guards
• 16 - John Ellis
• 17 - Tony Leon
• 21 - Charles Taylor
• 24 - Floyd Rhea
Centers
• 33 - Vaughn Stewart
• 57 - George Smith
The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. By agreement of league owners, the new Boston Yanks franchise received the first pick of the first round and then were subsequently assigned 11th in the order of draft selection.[3]
Although there were 32 rounds in the 1944 draft, each of the league's 11 teams selected 30 players, for a total of 330 players picked.[4] The five worst-finishing teams of the 1943 season picked alone in rounds 2 and 4, while the five best-finishing teams plus the expansion Yanks picked alone in rounds 31 and 32.
The complete list of players drafted by the Brooklyn Tigers in 1944 follows.[5] Due to the demands of World War II, only one of these players actually played for the Tigers during the 1944 season. Two others played for the merged franchise operating as the Yanks from 1945.