The 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fourth season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The team welcomed back head coach, Joe Bach who served his last year at the position (until returning in 1952). His team finished the season with the franchise's best record yet, at 6–6.
The Pirates played all of their home games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, except for one that was played at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Offseason
1936 NFL draft
+ Pittsburgh Pirates 1936 NFL Draft selections Draft order Player name Position College Notes Round Choice Overall 1 3 3 Bill Shakespeare Halfback Notre Dame Did not play professional football 2 3 12 Len Barnum Quarterback West Virginia Wesleyan Never played for Pirates 3 3 21 Bobby Grayson Fullback Stanford Did not play professional football 4 3 30 Truman Spain Tackle Southern Methodist University 5 3 39 Wayne Sandefur Fullback Purdue University 6 3 48 Maurice Orr Tackle Southern Methodist University 7 3 57 Marty Peters Defensive end Notre Dame 8 3 66 Ed Karpowich Tackle Catholic University 9 3 75 Joe Meglen Back Georgetown University
Regular season
Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 13 Boston Redskins W 10–0 1–0 Forbes Field 15,622 Recap 2 September 23 at Brooklyn Dodgers W 10–6 2–0 Ebbets Field 10,000 Recap 3 September 27 New York Giants W 10–7 3–0 Forbes Field 25,800 Recap 4 October 4 Chicago Bears L 9–27 3–1 Forbes Field 29,000 Recap 5 October 14 Philadelphia Eagles W 17–0 4–1 Forbes Field 10,042 Recap 6 October 18 at Chicago Bears L 7–26 4–2 Wrigley Field 20,000 Recap 7 October 25 at Green Bay Packers L 10–38 4–3 Wisconsin State Fair Park 10,000 Recap 8 November 1 Brooklyn Dodgers W 10–7 5–3 Forbes Field 10,000 Recap 9 November 5 at Philadelphia Eagles W 6–0 6–3 Point Stadium 7,891 Recap 10 November 8 at Detroit Lions L 3–28 6–4 University of Detroit Stadium 20,000 Recap 11 November 15 at Chicago Cardinals L 6–14 6–5 Wrigley Field 3,856 Recap — Bye 12 November 29 at Boston Redskins L 0–30 6–6 Fenway Park 7,000 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Game summaries Game 1 (Sunday September 13, 1936): Boston Redskins
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 15,622 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Kakasic 26 fumble run (Niccolai kick) Pittsburgh – FG Kakasic 30
Game 2 (Wednesday September 23, 1936): Brooklyn Dodgers
at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 10,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Strutt 3 run (Niccolai kick) Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 26 Brooklyn – Franklin 19 run (kick failed)
Game 3 (Sunday September 27, 1936): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 25,800 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Sortet 11 pass from Matesic (Niccolai kick) New York – Richards 59 lateral from Burnett after pass from Danowski (Sarausky kick) Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 11
Game 4 (Sunday October 4, 1936): Chicago Bears
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 29,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Chicago – Karr 8 pass from Nagurski (Manders kick) Chicago – Brumbaugh 14 pass from Molesworth (Nagurski kick) Chicago – Karr 40 pass from Ronzani (kick failed) Chicago – Johnsos 36 pass from Molesworth (Stydahar kick) Pittsburgh – Heller 4 pass from Gildea (Kakasic kick) Pittsburgh – Safety, Feathers tackled in end zone by Brett
Game 5 (Wednesday October 14, 1936): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 10,042 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Heller 16 pass from Matesic (Niccolai kick) Pittsburgh – Skoronski 19 pass from Matesic (Niccolai kick) Pittsburgh – FG Kakasic 36
Game 6 (Sunday October 18, 1936): Chicago Bears
at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 20,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Chicago – Feathers 2 run (kick blocked) Chicago – Ronzani 38 pass from Brumbaugh (kick failed) Pittsburgh – Zaninelli 2 run (Niccolai kick) Chicago – Nagurski 1 run (Manders kick) Chicago – Feathers 8 run (Manders kick)
Game 7 (Sunday October 25, 1936): Green Bay Packers
at Wisconsin State Fair Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 10,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 30 Green Bay – Laws 12 pass from Monnett (Engebretsen kick) Green Bay – Hutson 21 pass from Herber (Schwammel kick) Green Bay – P. Miller 2 run (Smith kick) Green Bay – Blood 28 interception (Hinkle kick) Green Bay – P. Miller 7 pass from Blood (Blood run) Green Bay – Hutson 11 pass from Herber (Schwammel kick) Pittsburgh – Karcis 1 run (Karcis run)
Game 8 (Sunday November 1, 1936): Brooklyn Dodgers
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 10,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 21 Pittsburgh – Karcis 1 run (Niccolai kick) Brooklyn – Crayne 2 run (Kercheval kick)
Game 9 (Thursday November 5, 1936): Philadelphia Eagles
at Point Stadium, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 7,891 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 41 Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 31
Game 10 (Sunday November 8, 1936): Detroit Lions
at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 20,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 25 Detroit – Caddel run (Clark kick) Detroit – Ebding pass from Clark (Clark kick) Detroit – Gutowsky run (Clark kick) Detroit – Petersen 84 run (Presnell kick)
Game 11 (Sunday November 15, 1936): Chicago Cardinals
at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 3,856 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Chicago – Grosvenor 9 run (Kellogg kick) Chicago – Smith 38 pass from Vaughan (Kellogg kick) Pittsburgh – Heller 48 pass from Matesic (kick failed)
Game 12 (Sunday November 29, 1936): Boston Redskins
at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 7,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Boston – Battles 2 run (Smith kick) Boston – FG Busich 14 Boston – Carroll 35 interception (Busich kick) Boston – Tosi recovered fumble in end zone (Smith kick) Boston – Irwin 24 run (kick failed) Roster 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates final roster Backs Max Fiske RB/CB/S Johnny Gildea RB/CB/S Warren Heller RB/CB Bull Karcis FB/LB Ed Matesic RB/CB Jim McDonald RB/CB Dick Sandefur FB/LB Art Strutt RB/CB Silvio Zaninelli RB/S
Ends/Receivers Jeep Brett Vinnie Sites Ed Skoronski Bill Sortet Linemen/Linebackers Maury Bray T/DT Win Croft G/DG George Kakasic G/DG/K Ed Karpowich T/DT Bill Lajousky G/DG Lindy Mayhew T/DT Lee Mulleneaux C/LB Armand Niccolai T/DT/K Buster Raborn C/LB George Rado G/DG Sandy Sandberg T/DT
Rookies in italics
References