1944 Green Bay Packers season
Encyclopedia
The 1944 Green Bay Packers
season was their 24th season in the National Football League
. The club posted an 8-2 record under coach Curly Lambeau
, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season beating the Giants
14-7 in the NFL Championship Game
, their 6th NFL championship. Don Hutson led the NFL in touchdowns for a record-setting eighth time in his career.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
season was their 24th season in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. The club posted an 8-2 record under coach Curly Lambeau
Curly Lambeau
Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau was founder, player, and first coach of the Green Bay Packers professional American football team...
, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season beating the Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
14-7 in the NFL Championship Game
NFL Championship Game, 1944
The 1944 National Football League Championship Game was the 12th NFL title game. The game was played on December 17, 1944 at New York's Polo Grounds. The attendance for the game was 46,016. The game featured the Green Bay Packers , champions of the Western Division versus the Eastern Division...
, their 6th NFL championship. Don Hutson led the NFL in touchdowns for a record-setting eighth time in his career.
NFL Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Merv Pregulman Merv Pregulman Mervin Pregulman is a former All-American football tackle and center who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines and in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers , Detroit Lions , and New York Bulldogs .... |
Guard Guard (American football) In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team.... |
Michigan University of Michigan The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... |
| 3 | 22 | Tom Kuzma Tom Kuzma Tom George Kuzma was an American football player for the University of Michigan. He was the starting left halfback for Fritz Crisler's Michigan teams in 1941 and 1942.... |
Halfback Halfback (American football) A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive... |
Michigan |
| 5 | 38 | Bill McPartland | Tackle | St. Mary's (CA) |
| 6 | 49 | Mickey McCardle | Back | USC University of Southern California The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university... |
| 7 | 60 | Jack Tracy | End | Washington University of Washington University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University... |
| 8 | 71 | Alex Agase Alex Agase -External links:... |
Guard | Illinois University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system... |
| 9 | 82 | Don Whitmire Don Whitmire Donald Boone Whitmire was an American football tackle between 1941–1944 for the University of Alabama. In 1956, Whitmire was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame.... |
Tackle | Alabama University of Alabama The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States.... /Navy United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States... |
| 10 | 93 | Bob Koch | Back | Oregon University of Oregon -Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :... |
| 11 | 104 | Virgil Johnson | End | Arkansas University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in... |
| 12 | 115 | Roy Giusti | Back | St. Mary's (CA) |
| 13 | 126 | Bill Baughman | Center Center (American football) Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense... |
Alabama |
| 14 | 137 | Don Griffin Don Griffin (halfback) Don Griffin is a former professional American football halfback. He was a member of the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference.... |
Back | Illinois |
| 15 | 148 | Bert Gissler | End | Nebraska |
| 16 | 159 | Lou Shelton | Back | Oregon State Oregon State University Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the... |
| 17 | 170 | Charley Cusick | Guard | Colgate Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52... |
| 18 | 181 | Hugh Cox | Back | North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States... |
| 19 | 192 | Kermit Davis | End | Mississippi State Mississippi State University The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science commonly known as Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States, partially in the town of Starkville and partially in an unincorporated area... |
| 20 | 203 | Bob Johnson | Center | Purdue Purdue University Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and... |
| 21 | 214 | Jim Cox Jim Cox (American football) Jim Cox Jim Cox Jim Cox (born James Ellingson Cox is former professional American football guard. He was a member of the San Francisco 49ers of the All-America Football Conference.-External links:*... |
Tackle | Stanford Stanford University The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San... |
| 22 | 225 | Cliff Anderson | End | Minnesota University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557... |
| 23 | 236 | John Wesley Perry | Back | Duke Duke University Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B... |
| 24 | 247 | Pete DeMaria | Guard | Purdue |
| 25 | 258 | Len Liss | Tackle | Marquette Marquette University Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities... |
| 26 | 269 | Ray Jordan | Back | North Carolina |
| 27 | 280 | Al Grubaugh | Tackle | Nebraska |
| 28 | 291 | A. B. Howard | End | Mississippi State |
| 29 | 302 | Paul Paladino | Guard | Arkansas |
| 30 | 313 | Bob Butchofsky | Back | Texas A&M Texas A&M University Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school... |
| 31 | 319 | Russ Deal | Guard | Indiana Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana... |
| 32 | 325 | Abel Gonzales | Back | SMU Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church... |
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 17, 1944 | Brooklyn Tigers | W 14-7 |
| 2 | September 24, 1944 | Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 42-28 |
| 3 | October 1, 1944 | Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... |
W 27-6 |
| 4 | October 8, 1944 | Card-Pitt Card-Pitt Card-Pitt was the name for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals, during the 1944 season. The teams were forced to merge, because both had lost many players to World War II military service... |
W 34-7 |
| 5 | October 22, 1944 | Cleveland Rams Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio.The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio. The NFL considers the franchise as a second incarnation of the previous Cleveland Rams team that was a charter member of the second American Football League... |
W 30-21 |
| 6 | October 29, 1944 | at Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... |
W 14-0 |
| 7 | November 5, 1944 | at Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
L 0-21 |
| 8 | November 12, 1944 | at Cleveland Rams Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio.The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio. The NFL considers the franchise as a second incarnation of the previous Cleveland Rams team that was a charter member of the second American Football League... |
W 42-7 |
| 9 | November 19, 1944 | at New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
L 0-24 |
| 10 | November 26, 1944 | at Card-Pitt Card-Pitt Card-Pitt was the name for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals, during the 1944 season. The teams were forced to merge, because both had lost many players to World War II military service... |
W 35-20 |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFL Championship | December 17, 1944 | at New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 14-7 |
Standings
| NFL Western Eastern and Western Divisions (NFL) 1933-69 The Eastern and Western Divisions of the National Football League, renamed the American and National Conferences in 1950 and then the Eastern and Western Conferences in 1953, were organized as a result of the disputed NFL championship of 1932... |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 238 | 141 | W-1 |
| Chicago Bears 1944 Chicago Bears season The 1944 Chicago Bears season was their 25th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 6-3-1 record under temporary co-coaches Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos. The club was unable to return to the NFL Championship Game to try to claim their fourth title of the... |
6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | 258 | 172 | W-2 |
| Detroit Lions 1944 Detroit Lions season The 1944 Detroit Lions season was their 15th in the league. The team improved on their previous season's output of 3-6-1, winning six games. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.-Schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | 216 | 151 | W-4 |
| Cleveland Rams 1944 Cleveland Rams season The 1944 Cleveland Rams season was the team's seventh year with the National Football League.-Schedule:-Standings:... |
4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 188 | 224 | L-2 |
| Card-Pitt Card-Pitt Card-Pitt was the name for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals, during the 1944 season. The teams were forced to merge, because both had lost many players to World War II military service... |
0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 108 | 328 | L-10 |
Roster
| Green Bay Packers roster | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
|
Offensive Linemen
Paul Berezney Paul Berezney was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League. He played 31 games for the Green Bay Packers between 1942 and 1944, starting in 23. Berezney was the starting right tackle for the Packers in the 1944 NFL Championship Game... Charley Brock Charles Jacob "Charley" Brock was an American football center and linebacker.-External links:... Mike Bucchianeri Amadeo Roger "Mike" Bucchianeri was an American football guard in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Indiana University.... Tiny Croft Milburn Russell "Tiny" Croft was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Ripon College and the University of Alabama. Croft was drafted in the 20th round of the 1942 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins.... Bob Flowers Robert C. Flowers was an American football player who played eight seasons for the Green Bay Packers.... Charles Goldenberg Charles R. "Buckets" Goldenberg was an American football player. He is often credited as the originator of the draw play.... Bill Kuusisto William E. Kuusisto was an offensive lineman in the National Football League who played for the Green Bay Packers. Kuusisto played collegiate ball for the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin before being drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 8th round of the 1941 NFL Draft. ... Forrest McPherson Forrest W. McPherson was an American football player , once considered the strongest man in pro football.McPherson was born on October 22, 1911 in Fairbury, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska and made his professional debut in the NFL in 1935 with the Chicago Bears until he was traded... Baby Ray Buford "Baby" Ray was an American football player who played ten seasons in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers from 1938 to 1948.... Ade Schwammel Adolphe "Ade" John Schwammel was an American football offensive tackle who played five seasons in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers.-High school career:... Glen Sorenson Glen Sorenson is a former guard in the National Football League. He played three seasons with the Green Bay Packers.-References:... Pete Tinsley Elijah Pope Tinsley was a professional football player, born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, who played offensive tackle for eight seasons for the Green Bay Packers. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1979.... Chuck Tollefson Charles Tollefson was an American football player. He played his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, winning one World Championship. Prior to joining the Packers, Tollefson attended the University of Iowa.... Defensive Linemen
|
Defensive Backs
Bob Kahler Robert William Kahler is a former American football player and coach. He played defensive back and halfback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers from 1942 to 1944. Kahler played college football at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and professionally in the NFL for three... Special Teams
Rookies and first-year players in italics |
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Awards, records and honors
- Don HutsonDon HutsonDonald Montgomery Hutson was the first star wide receiver in National Football League history. He is considered by many to have been the first modern receiver....
, NFL Leader, Touchdowns - Don Hutson, NFL Record, Touchdown Leader, Eighth Time