# 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

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 | Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Choice | Overall | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 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 |
| 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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

NFL Eastern Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Boston Redskins | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–2 | 149 | 110 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 6–1 | 98 | 187 | L3 |
| New York Giants | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 3–3–1 | 115 | 163 | L1 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 8 | 1 | .273 | 2–5–1 | 92 | 161 | L1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 1 | 11 | 0 | .083 | 1–7 | 51 | 206 | L11 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 10 | 1 | 1 | .909 | 5–1–1 | 248 | 118 | T1 |
| Chicago Bears | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 3–3 | 222 | 94 | L2 |
| Detroit Lions | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 3–3 | 235 | 102 | W1 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 3 | 8 | 1 | .273 | 1–5–1 | 74 | 143 | T1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Game summaries
### Game 1 (Sunday September 13, 1936): Boston Redskins

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redskins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 27 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Bears | 6 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 26 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Packers | 3 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 38 |
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 – McNally 28 interception (Hinkle kick)
* Green Bay – P. Miller 7 pass from McNally (McNally run)
* Green Bay – Hutson 11 pass from Herber (Schwammel kick)
* Pittsburgh – Karcis 1 run (Karcis run)

### Game 8 (Sunday November 1, 1936): Brooklyn Dodgers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Pirates | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lions | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
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 – Peterson 84 run (Presnell kick)

### Game 11 (Sunday November 15, 1936): Chicago Cardinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Redskins | 7 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
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)