1944 NFL Season
The 1944 NFL season was the 25th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Each of the ten teams in the league played a ten game regular season schedule — a total of 50 contests. This culminated with a Championship Playoff played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 17, 1944 — a game won by the Green Bay Packers over the New York Giants, 14–7. In 1944 the Boston Yanks joined the NFL as an expansion team, while the floundering Brooklyn Dodgers rebranded as the Brooklyn Tigers for one final season before merging with the Boston newcomers in 1945. Both the Cleveland Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles resumed operations in 1944, while the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to combine operations again, this time with the Chicago Cardinals. This combined team, known as Card-Pitt, played three home games in Pittsburgh and two in Chicago. Draft The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944 at Philadelphia's Warwick Hotel. With the first pick, the Boston Yanks ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, established in 1919, and are the only non-profit, community-owned Major professional sports teams of the United States and Canada, major league professional sports team based in the United States. Since 1957, home games have been played at Lambeau Field. They hold the record for the most wins in NFL history. The Packers are the last of the "small-town teams" that were common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Angelo Bertelli
Angelo Bortolo Bertelli (June 18, 1921 – June 26, 1999) was an American football quarterback who played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1943. Early life Bertelli was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 18, 1921, to Italian immigrant parents. At Cathedral High School in Springfield, he won all-state honors in football, baseball, and hockey, and was senior class president. College career When Bertelli entered Notre Dame in 1940, he was 6 feet 1 inch and 173 pounds, a skinny but highly regarded tailback in the single-wing formation used by most college teams. When Coach Elmer Layden left to become commissioner of the National Football League, Notre Dame's new coach Frank Leahy immediately noticed Bertelli's passing talents. As a sophomore, Bertelli, still a single-wing tailback, led the nation with a 56.9 percent passing average, completing 70 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Dutch Bergman
Arthur J. "Dutch" Bergman (February 23, 1895 – August 18, 1972) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now New Mexico State University, from 1920 to 1922 and at The Catholic University of America from 1930 to 1940, compiling a career college football record of 71–36–5. Bergman was the head coach of the National Football League's Washington Redskins for one season in 1943, tallying a mark of 6–3–1. During his tenure, the Cardinals went 59–31–4, including a victory in the 1936 Orange Bowl and a tie in the 1940 Sun Bowl. Bergman left the university when the sport was discontinued in 1941 because of World War II, later coaching the Washington Redskins to the 1943 NFL Championship Game, which they lost to the Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. Formerly known as the Washington Redskins, the franchise was founded by George Preston Marshall as the Boston Braves in 1932 Boston Braves (NFL) season, 1932. They became the Redskins in 1933 Boston Redskins season, 1933 and National Football League franchise moves and mergers, relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1937 Washington Redskins season, 1937. The Redskins name and logo was Washington Redskins name controversy, viewed as controversial for decades before it was retired in 2020 Washington Football Team season, 2020 as part of a List of name changes due to the George Floyd protests, wave of name changes during a United States racial unrest (2020–2023), period of racial unrest in the United States. The team played as the Washin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Greasy Neale
Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Early life Neale was born on November 5, 1891, in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although writers eventually assumed that Neale got his nickname, "Greasy", from his elusiveness on the football field, it actually arose during his youth, from a name-calling joust with a friend. Playing career Baseball Neale played Major League Baseball as an outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds between 1916 and 1924 and briefly with the Philadelphia Phillies for part of the 1921 season. Neale was the starting right fielder for the championship-winning 1919 Reds. He batted .357 in the 1919 World Series and led the Reds with ten hits in their eight-game series win over the scandalous White Sox. Neale spent all but 22 games of his baseball career with the Reds. He had a career batting average of .259 with 8 home runs, 200 RBI, and 139 stolen bases, and finished in the top te ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Aldo Donelli
Aldo Teo "Buff" Donelli (July 22, 1907 – August 9, 1994) was an American football player and coach, soccer player, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Duquesne University from 1939 to 1942, Boston University from 1947 to 1956, and Columbia University from 1957 to 1967, compiling a career college football coaching record of 105–107–8. Donelli was also a head coach in the National Football League (NFL), with the Pittsburgh Steelers for part of the 1941 season and with the Cleveland Rams in 1944, tallying a career mark of 4–11 in the NFL. From 1951 to 1955 he was the athletic director at Boston University. Donelli played college football at Duquesne and was an assistant football coach at his alma mater from 1930 to 1938, before being promoted to head coach. He played soccer with a number of clubs in the 1920s and 1930s and was a member of the United States men's national soccer team during the 1934 FIFA World Cup. He is a member ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Cleveland Rams
The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 1945, winning the NFL championship in 1945, before moving to Los Angeles in 1946 to become the first of only two professional football champions to play the following season in another city. The move of the team to Los Angeles helped to jump-start the reintegration of pro football by African American players and opened up the West Coast to professional sports. After being based in Los Angeles for 49 years, the Rams franchise moved again after the 1994 NFL season to St. Louis where the franchise stayed for 21 seasons before moving back to Los Angeles after the 2015 NFL season. Early days 1936: Founding in the AFL The Rams franchise, founded in 1936 by attorney/businessman Homer Marshman and player-coach Damon "Buzz" Wetzel, was name ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Walt Kiesling
Walter Andrew Kiesling (May 27, 1903 – March 2, 1962) was an American professional football guard and coach who spent 36 years in the National Football League (NFL). He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team in 1969. A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Kiesling played college football at the University of St. Thomas where he was selected as an all-state player from 1923 to 1925. He then played 13 years as a guard (and his first season as a tackle) in the NFL with the Duluth Eskimos (1926–1927), Pottsville Maroons (1928), Chicago Cardinals (1929–1933), Chicago Bears (1934), Green Bay Packers (1935–1936), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1937–1938). He was a first-team All-Pro in 1929, 1930, and 1932, a second-team All-Pro in 1931, and played for the Packers 1936 NFL championship team. Kiesling also spent 25 years as a coach or aide for NFL teams, including seven years as head coach of the Pitts ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Phil Handler
Philip Jacob Handler (July 21, 1908 – December 8, 1968) was an American football player and coach who spent his entire professional career in the city of Chicago. He had a seven-year, 53-game NFL playing career, during which he was named All-Pro four times. On three separate occasions, Handler served as head coach of the Chicago Cardinals, and later as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bears. He served as an assistant coach for the Cardinals when they won the 1947 NFL Championship; and with the Bears when they won the 1963 NFL Championship. Early life Handler was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and was Jewish. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Lithuania. He was nicknamed "Motsy." College career Prior to his professional debut, Handler played college football at Texas Christian University. He played at TCU for three years beginning in 1927 under head coach Francis Schmidt. During his college career, Handler earned All-SWC honors as an offensive guard, and wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Chicago Cardinals
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots can be traced to 1898, when Chris O'Brien (American football), Chris O'Brien established an amateur Chicago-based athletic team, the Morgan Athletic Club. O'Brien later moved them to Chicago's Normal Park and renamed them the Racine Normals, then adopting the maroon color from the Chicago Maroons, University of Chicago uniforms. In the 1900s the Cardinals became part of a professional circuit in Chicago. The Cardinals, along with the Chicago Bears, were founding members of the National Football League in 1920. Both teams are the only two surviving teams from that era. The Bears and the Cardinals also developed a Bears-Cardinals rivalry, rivalry during those NFL first years. After some irregular campaigns during the 1950s, the Cardinals were ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Herb Kopf
Herbert M. Kopf (June 25, 1901 – March 22, 1996) was an American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Manhattan College from 1938 to 1942 and the head coach for the Boston Yanks of the National Football League (NFL) from 1944 to 1946. Playing career A star baseball player at New Britain High School in New Britain, Connecticut, Kopf switched to football when Washington & Jefferson College dropped its baseball program before his freshman season. A star offensive and defensive end, Kopf was a member of the 10-0 Presidents team that played in the 1922 Rose Bowl, the first freshman to play in a Rose Bowl. As a sophomore, Kopf was selected by coach John W. Heisman to call the offensive plays and was a Walter Camp All-America selection. Coaching career While attending Georgetown Law School, Kopf was hired as an offensive assistant by Lou Little in 1925. Kopf followed Little to Columbia University in 1930 where he coached the ends and backfield for eight s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Frank Bridges
Frank Bogart Bridges Sr. (July 4, 1890 – June 10, 1970) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Baylor University from 1920 to 1925, Simmons University—now known as Hardin–Simmons University—from 1927 to 1929, and St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas from 1935 to 1939. Bridges was also the head basketball coach at Baylor from 1920 to 1926, at Simmons from 1927 to 1929, and at St. Mary's from 1935 to 1939, tallying a career college basketball mark of 102–137. In addition, he was Baylor's head baseball coach from 1920 to 1927, amassing a record of 95–73, and the head baseball coach at St. Mary's in 1938. 1944, Bridges served as the co-head coach with Pete Cawthon and Ed Kubale for the Brooklyn Tigers of the National Football League (NFL). He graduated from Harvard University. Coaching career From 1911 to 1916, Bridges coached the YMCA basketball team in Columbus, Georgia, then "the cradle of basketball i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |