# 1946 Los Angeles Dons season

The 1946 Los Angeles Dons season was the inaugural season of the Los Angeles Dons in the All-America Football Conference. Led by head coach Dudley DeGroot, the Dons finished 7–5–2, third in the West division, and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Charlie O'Rourke with 1,250 passing yards, John Kimbrough with 473 rushing yards, Dale Gentry with 341 receiving yards, and Joe Aguirre with 55 points scored (31 extra points, four field goals, and two touchdowns).
On September 13, 1946, in the first game in team history, the Dons defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers, 20-14, before a crowd of 18,995 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Bud Nygren scored the first points on a touchdown pass from quarterback Charlie O'Rourke. With the ball at the Don's 40-yard line, Nygren caught the ball at the Brooklyn 30-yard line and ran the remaining distance to the end zone.

## Season schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance | Venue | Recap | Sources |
| 1 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 2 | September 13 | Brooklyn Dodgers | W 20–14 | 1–0 | 19,153 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| 3 | September 20 | Miami Seahawks | W 30–14 | 2–0 | 19,585 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| 4 | September 29 | at Buffalo Bisons | T 21–21 | 2–0–1 | 18,163 | Civic Stadium | Recap | |
| 5 | October 5 | at Chicago Rockets | W 21–9 | 3–0–1 | 31,076 | Soldier Field | Recap | |
| 6 | October 12 | San Francisco 49ers | L 14–23 | 3–1–1 | 11,736 | Gilmore Stadium (LA) | Recap | |
| 7 | October 20 | at Cleveland Browns | L 14–31 | 3–2–1 | 71,134 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | Recap | |
| 8 | October 27 | New York Yankees | L 17–31 | 3–3–1 | 12,123 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| 9 | November 3 | Cleveland Browns | W 17–16 | 4–3–1 | 21,576 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| 10 | November 10 | at New York Yankees | L 12–17 | 4–4–1 | 30,765 | Yankee Stadium | Recap | |
| 11 | November 17 | at Brooklyn Dodgers | W 19–14 | 5–4–1 | 7,500 | Ebbets Field | Recap | |
| 12 | November 25 | at Miami Seahawks | W 34–21 | 6–4–1 | 9,987 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap | |
| 13 | December 1 | Buffalo Bisons | W 62–14 | 7–4–1 | 22,496 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| 14 | December 8 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 7–48 | 7–5–1 | 25,000 | Kezar Stadium | Recap | |
| 15 | December 15 | Chicago Rockets | T 17–17 | 7–5–2 | 17,458 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||||

## Division standings

AAFC Western Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 4–2 | 423 | 137 | W5 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 4–2 | 307 | 189 | W3 |
| Los Angeles Dons | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 2–3–1 | 305 | 290 | T1 |
| Chicago Rockets | 5 | 6 | 3 | .455 | 1–4–1 | 263 | 315 | T1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings.
AAFC Eastern Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Yankees | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 6–0 | 270 | 192 | W2 |
| Buffalo Bisons | 3 | 10 | 1 | .231 | 1–5 | 249 | 370 | L3 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 10 | 1 | .231 | 2–4 | 226 | 339 | L6 |
| Miami Seahawks | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 3–3 | 167 | 378 | W1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings.

## Roster

Players shown in bold started at least one game at the position listed as confirmed by contemporary game coverage from the Los Angeles Times.