1945 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1945 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 13th in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 7–1–2, losing three games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season.
| 1945 Philadelphia Eagles season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Greasy Neale |
| Home field | Shibe Park |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–3 |
| Division place | 2nd NFL Eastern |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
Offseason
NFL Draft
The 1945 NFL Draft was held on April 8, 1945. It was the last draft held in Chicago; later in the year the league moved its offices to Philadelphia. It would be 32 rounds with the Eagles getting picks in 30 of them. The Eagles would pick 9th in the rounds.
The teams with the 5 worse records in 1944 season would be the only teams picking in rounds 2 and 4.
Future Hall of Famers in this draft included Charley Trippi, Halfback from Georgia taken 1st round 1st overall by the Chicago Cardinals. Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, Wide receiver from Michigan taken 5th overall by the Cleveland Rams. Pete Pihos, Defensive end from Indiana University, Tom Fears, End from UCLA, and Arnie Weinmeister, Defensive tackle from Washington
Player Selections
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.
| = Pro Bowler[2] | = Hall of Famer |
| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School | Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | John Yonakor | Defensive end | Notre Dame | 2 | No PICK | ||||
| 3 | 25 | Alvin Dark | Back | LSU | 4 | No PICK | ||||
| 5 | 41 | Pete Pihos | Wide receiver | Indiana | 6 | 52 | Chuck Dellago | Guard | Minnesota | |
| 7 | 63 | Gonzalo Morales | Back | St. Mary's (CA) | 8 | 41 | Sam Robinson | Back | Washington | |
| 9 | 85 | Forrest Hall | Back | San Francisco | 10 | 96 | Joe Sadonis | Tackle | Fordham | |
| 11 | 107 | Rudy Mobley | Back | Hardin–Simmons | 12 | 118 | Jim Newmeyer | Tackle | St. Vincent | |
| 13 | 129 | Bill Chambers | Tackle | UCLA | 14 | 140 | John Duda | Back | Virginia | |
| 15 | 151 | Bill Montgomery | Back | Louisiana State | 16 | 162 | Howard Werner | End | Syracuse | |
| 17 | 173 | Jim Austin | Back | Missouri | 18 | 184 | Quentin Klenk | Tackle | USC | |
| 19 | 195 | Joe Spencer | Tackle | Oklahoma A & M | 20 | 206 | Leo Pratt | Tackle | Oklahoma A & M | |
| 21 | 217 | Phil Teschner | Tackle | Brown | 22 | 2228 | John Magee | Guard | Rice | |
| 23 | 239 | Norm "Monk" Mosley | Back | Alabama | 24 | 250 | Blair Brown | Guard | Oklahoma A & M | |
| 25 | 261 | Bob Hall | End | Stanford | 26 | 272 | Dan Talcott | Tackle | Nevada-Reno | |
| 27 | 283 | Bill Thompson | Tackle | New Mexico | 28 | 294 | Al Fleming | Center | Wichita State | |
| 29 | 305 | Leo Benjamin | Center | West Virginia | 30 | 316 | Jim Dougherty | Back | University of Miami (OH) | |
| 31 | 292 | Ken Reese | Back | Alabama | 32 | 298 | Loren Braner | Center | Pittsburgh | |
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 7, 1945 | Chicago Cardinals | W 21–6 | |
| 2 | October 14, 1945 | at Detroit Lions | L 28–24 | |
| 3 | October 21, 1945 | at Washington Redskins | L 24–14 | |
| 4 | October 28, 1945 | Cleveland Rams | W 28–14 | |
| 5 | November 4, 1945 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 45–3 | |
| 6 | November 11, 1945 | New York Giants | W 38–17 | |
| 7 | November 18, 1945 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 30–6 | |
| 8 | November 25, 1945 | Washington Redskins | W 16–0 | |
| 9 | December 2, 1945 | at New York Giants | L 28–21 | |
| 10 | December 9, 1945 | Boston Yanks | W 35–7 |
Game Recaps
Week 2 @ Detroit Lions
Standings
| NFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 6–2 | 209 | 121 | W2 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 5–2 | 272 | 133 | W1 | |
| Yanks | 3 | 6 | 1 | .333 | 3–2–1 | 123 | 211 | L5 | |
| New York Giants | 3 | 6 | 1 | .333 | 2–4–1 | 179 | 198 | L1 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 1–7 | 79 | 220 | L3 | |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
1945 Roster
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1945 Pro All-Star[3] |
|
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greasy Neale | 53 | Coach | 1945 record 7–3–0 | NFL-Eagles Lifetime 23–25–4 | 5th | West Virginia Wesleyan | |||
| Ben Agajanian | 26 | K | 1 | 1 | 215 | 6–0 | Rookie | New Mexico | |
| Bruno Banducci | 25 | G | 9 | 8 | 216 | 5–11 | 1 | Stanford | |
| Jack Banta | 28 | HB | 5 | 1 | 191 | 5–11 | 4 | USC | |
| Mel Bleeker | 25 | HB | 4 | 4 | 189 | 5–11 | 1 | USC | |
| Johnny Butler | 27 | HB-TB | 7 | 0 | 185 | 5–10 | 2 | Tennessee | |
| Larry Cabrelli | 28 | E-DB | 10 | 8 | 194 | 5–11 | 4 | Colgate | |
| Rocco Canale | 28 | T-G | 3 | 0 | 240 | 5–11 | 2 | Boston College | |
| Jim Castiglia | 27 | FB | 1 | 1 | 208 | 5–11 | 4 | Georgetown (DC) | |
| Enio Conti | 32 | G | 2 | 1 | 204 | 5–11 | 4 | Arkansas, and Bucknell | |
| Dick Erdlitz | 25 | HB | 7 | 0 | 181 | 5–10 | 3 | Northwestern | |
| Jack Ferrante | 29 | E-DE | 10 | 8 | 197 | 6–1 | 4 | none | |
| Terry Fox | 27 | FB-LB | 2 | 0 | 208 | 6–1 | 4 | Miami (FL) | |
| George Fritts | 26 | T | 10 | 1 | 205 | 5–11 | 4 | Clemson Tigers football | |
| Charlie Gauer | 24 | FB-E | 7 | 0 | 213 | 6–2 | 2 | Colgate | |
| Jack Hinkle | 28 | B | 3 | 2 | 195 | 6–0 | 5 | Syracuse | |
| Dick Humbert | 27 | E-DE | 4 | 2 | 179 | 6–1 | 4 | Richmond | |
| Abe Karnofsky | 23 | QB-HB-DB | 8 | 2 | 175 | 5–10 | Rookie | Arizona | |
| Bucko Kilroy | 24 | G-MG-T-DT | 9 | 0 | 243 | 6–2 | 2 | Notre Dame, and Temple | |
| Ben Kish | 28 | B | 9 | 5 | 207 | 6–0 | 5 | Pittsburgh | |
| Vic Lindskog | 31 | C | 10 | 6 | 203 | 6–1 | 1 | Stanford | |
| Mike Mandarino | 24 | T-C-G | 5 | 0 | 240 | 5–11 | 1 | La Salle | |
| Bap Manzini | 25 | C | 9 | 4 | 195 | 5–11 | 1 | St. Vincent | |
| Duke Maronic | 24 | G | 8 | 2 | 209 | 5–9 | 1 | none | |
| Flip McDonald | 24 | E | 9 | 2 | 200 | 6–2 | 1 | Oklahoma | |
| Fred Meyer | 26 | E-DE | 8 | 0 | 190 | 6–2 | 3 | Stanford | |
| Eddie Michaels | 31 | G | 9 | 8 | 205 | 5–11 | 9 | Villanova | |
| Red Ramsey | 34 | E | 2 | 0 | 196 | 6–0 | 7 | Texas Tech | |
| John Rogalla | 28 | FB | 8 | 4 | 215 | 6–0 | Rookie | Scranton | |
| Jack Sanders | 28 | G | 3 | 0 | 219 | 6–0 | 5 | SMU | |
| Vic Sears | 27 | T-DT | 10 | 9 | 223 | 6–3 | 4 | Oregon State | |
| Allie Sherman | 22 | QB | 10 | 1 | 170 | 5–11 | 2 | Brooklyn | |
| Abe Shires | 28 | T | 7 | 0 | 220 | 6–2 | Rookie | Tennessee | |
| John G. Smith | T | 1 | 0 | 200 | 6–2 | Rookie | Florida | ||
| Milt Smith | 26 | DB-QB | 5 | 0 | 185 | 6–3 | Rookie | UCLA | |
| Ernie Steele | 28 | HB-DB | 7 | 1 | 187 | 6–0 | 3 | Washington | |
| Gil Steinke | 26 | HB | 7 | 1 | 175 | 6–0 | Rookie | Texas A&M-Kingsville | |
| Bob Suffridge | 29 | G | 10 | 1 | 205 | 6–0 | 4 | Tennessee | |
| Tommy Thompson | 29 | QB | 8 | 0 | 192 | 6–1 | 5 | Tulsa | |
| Steve Van Buren+ | 25 | HB | 10 | 9 | 200 | 6–0 | 1 | LSU | |
| Buzz Warren | 29 | TB-HB | 1 | 0 | 175 | 5–11 | Rookie | Tennessee | |
| Al Wistert+ | 25 | T-G-DT | 10 | 10 | 214 | 6–1 | 2 | Michigan | |
| Roy Zimmerman | 27 | QB-WB-K | 10 | 8 | 201 | 6–2 | 5 | San Jose State | |
| 41 Players Team Average | 26.3 | 10 | 201.5 | 6–0.1 | 2.5 |
References
- 1945 Philadelphia Eagles
- Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
- Players are identified as a 1945 Pro All-Star.