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1933 Philadelphia Eagles season
Head Coach Lud Wray
Home Field Baker Bowl
Results
Record 3–5–1
Place 4th NFL Eastern
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season Next season
N/A 1934

The 1933 Philadelphia Eagles season was their inaugural in the league. The team went 3–5–1[1] failing to qualify for the playoffs.

Off Season[]

When Pennsylvania eased some of the Blue Laws and allowed Sunday sporting events, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh became available for NFL franchises as they could play home games on Sundays. The Frankford Yellow Jackets[2] played their games on Saturday mostly when at home.

During the off season Bert Bell and Lud Wray are granted a expansion franchise in the NFL for the rights to Philadelphia. The previous team, Frankford Yellow Jackets were inactive for 2 years so their rights were pulled by the NFL. They joined the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, for a $2500 entrance fee. The Eagles got their name from the New Deal's program called the NRA, and the symbol of the eagle that they had.

The Eagles original colors were a light blue and yellow.

The Eagles would hold their training camp in the New Jersey resort city of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Eagles scheduled their games to be played in Baker Bowl. The stadium was near a transportation hub in Philadelphia. A train tunnel was under the stadium's baseball's outfield. A train station was across the street from Baker Bowl.

They would remain playing here for 3 years before moving games to the newer Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in the south Philadelphia area. The Eagles were 4–12–1 with one game canceled on account of bad weather, in the 3 years playing their home games at Baker Bowl.

Regular Season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result
1 October 15, 1933 at New York Giants L 56–0
2 October 18, 1933 Portsmouth Spartans L 25–0
3 October 29, 1933 at Green Bay Packers L 35–9
4 November 5, 1933 at Cincinnati Reds W 6–0
5 November 12, 1933 Chicago Bears T 3–3
6 November 19, 1933 Pittsburgh Pirates W 25–6
7 November 26, 1933 Cincinnati Reds W 20–3
8 December 3, 1933 Green Bay Packers L 10–0
9 December 10, 1933 New York Giants L 20–14

Standings[]

Standing were based on winning pct. between only games won or lost. Ties had no bearing in standings. Example: At the end of the 1932 season, the Chicago Bears with 6–1–6 with a .857 winning pct, played the Portsmouth Spartans with 6–1–4 .857 in a playoff game, instead of Green Bay Packers that finnished the season at 10–3–1 .769.

NFL Eastern
W L T PCT PF PA STK
New York Giants 11 3 0 .786 244 101 W-7
Brooklyn Dodgers 5 4 1 .556 93 54 L-2
Boston Redskins 5 5 2 .500 103 97 T-1
Philadelphia Eagles 3 5 1 .375 77 158 L-2
Pittsburgh Pirates 3 6 2 .333 67 208 L-3

1933 NFL Playoffs[]

Before the 1933 season new Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall suggested the league have a Championship Game yearly. The year before, the Chicago Bears played the Portsmouth Spartans in an extra game to break the tie between them at season end. They both had 6 wins.

The 3–5–1 Eagles failed to make it to the 1933 NFL Playoffs. It was only between 2 teams. The winner of the Eastern Division, New York Giants, and the Western Division. Chicago Bears

1933 Roster[]

(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)

Being an expansion team the Eagles were mostly stocked with Rookies and cast offs. This was before the NFL Draft was started. The college draft was an idea of Bert Bell.

A List of the 1933 Philadelphia Eagles.[3] [4]

NO. Player AGE POS GP GS WT HT YRS College
Lud Wray 39 Coach 1933 record
3–5–1
As Eagles Coach
3–5–1
NFL Lifetime
7–9–3
1st Pennsylvania
Howie Auer 25 T 2 1 205 6–1 Rookie Michigan
Joe Carpe 30 T-E-C 2 1 197 6–0 7 Millikin
Joe Carter 23 E 9 8 201 6–1 Rookie Austin & SMU
Paul Cuba 25 T 9 8 212 6–0 Rookie Pittsburgh
Red Davis 26 TB 7 7 195 5–11 Rookie Geneva
Nip Felber 24 E 1 0 190 6–2 1 North Dakota
Dick Fencl 24 5 1 160 5–11 Rookie Northwestern
Bob Gonya 23 T 2 1 208 6–2 Rookie Northwestern
Swede Hanson 26 B 9 7 192 6–1 2 Temple
George Kenneally 31 E 8 8 190 6–0 7 St. Bonaventure
Red Kirkman 28 B 9 8 195 6–1 Rookie Washington & Jefferson
Art Koeninger 27 C 1 1 202 6–1 2 Tennessee-Chattanooga
Joe Kresky 27 G-T 9 9 215 6–0 1 Wisconsin
Rick Lackman 23 HB 4 0 186 5–11 Rookie none
Porter Lainhart 26 QB 1 0 180 6–0 Rookie Washington State
Milton Leathers 25 G 4 0 198 5–11 Rookie Georgia
Roy Lechthaler 25 G 4 1 198 5–10 Rookie Lebanon Valley
Tex Leyendecker 27 T-C-LB 2 0 235 6–1 Rookie Vanderbilt
John Lipski unknown C 8 6 200 5–11 Rookie Temple
Harry O'Boyle 29 B 2 0 178 5–9 5 Notre Dame
Henry Obst 27 G 1 0 192 5–11 2 Syracuse
Nick Prisco 24 TB 2 0 193 5–8 Rookie Rutgers
Jack Roberts 23 B 9 6 210 6–0 1 Georgia
Ev Rowan 31 E-B 2 1 187 6–1 1 Ohio State
Reb Russell 28 B 7 4 205 6–1 Rookie Nebraska and Northwestern
Dick Smith 21 C 3 2 225 6–2 Rookie Ohio State
Ray Smith unknown C 1 0 195 5–10 3 Missouri,Tulsa
Larry Steinbach 33 T-G 3 0 214 6–0 3 St. Thomas
Dick Thornton 25 BB 4 1 165 5–6 Rookie Michigan and Missouri-Rolla
Guy Turnbow 25 T-E-DB 9 7 217 6–2 Rookie Mississippi
Jodie Whire 23 FB-LB 2 1 185 6–1 Rookie Georgia
Diddie Willson 22 G-E-DE 7 1 196 5–10 Rookie Pennsylvania
Lee Woodruff unknown B 9 2 202 6–0 2 Mississippi
Jim Zyntell 23 G 8 7 200 6–1 Rookie Holy Cross
34 Players
Team Average
23.5 9 197.7 5–11.8 1.1

References[]

Eastern Division Western Division
Boston Chicago Bears
Brooklyn Chicago Cardinals
New York Cincinnati
Philadelphia Green Bay
Pittsburgh Portsmouth
NFL Championship
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