1945 Yanks season
Head coachHerb Kopf
Home fieldFenway Park
Yankee Stadium
Local radioWNAC
WEAF
Results
Record3–6–1
Division place3rd (tied) NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1945 Yanks season was their second in the National Football League. They merged with the Brooklyn Tigers for the season and played under the name Yanks. The team improved on their previous season's output of 2–8, winning three games.[1] They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Four home games were played in Boston and the home game against the New York Giants was played at Yankee Stadium. The result of these two teams merging for a season is similar to the Steagles and Card-Pitt teams.

Before the season

Brooklyn Tigers draftees

Main article: 1945 NFL Draft
1945 Brooklyn Tigers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 3 Joe Renfroe  Back Tulane
2 13 Wayne Williams  Back Minnesota
3 17 Cecil Gray  Center Oregon
4 30 Steve Enich  Guard Marquette
5 34 Al Kowalski  Back Tulsa
6 44 Dick Barwegen *  Guard Purdue
7 57 Louie Futrell  Back Fresno State
8 67 John Dodds  Guard California
9 77 Elting Johnson  Back Bucknell
10 90 Roy Cross  End Tennessee
11 100 Earl Haury  Tackle Kansas State
12 110 John Martin  Back East Tennessee State
13 123 George McDonald  Tackle South Carolina
14 133 Hal Self  Back Alabama
15 143 Tom Reilly  Guard Fordham
16 156 Skimp Harrison  End South Carolina
17 166 Arnie Weinmeister * †  Tackle Washington
18 176 Charley Eikenberg  Quarterback Rice
19 189 Al Kasulin  Back Villanova
20 199 Charley Lively  Tackle Arkansas
21 209 Ted Curran  Back Iowa
22 222 Don Fabling  Back Colorado
23 232 Wally Crittenden  Back USC
24 242 Jules Taddie  Center Rochester
25 255 Jerry Whitney  Back USC
26 265 Felix Trapani  Guard LSU
27 275 Hal Finney  Back USC
28 288 Don Fauble  Back Oklahoma
29 298 Nick Studen  Back Denver
30 308 LaMar Dykstra  Back Colorado
  †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Boston Yanks draftees

Main article: 1945 NFL Draft
1945 Boston Yanks draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 4 Eddie Prokop  Back Georgia Tech
2 15 Tom Dean  Tackle SMU played with Yanks in 1946
3 20 Damon Tassos  Guard Texas A&M
4 31 Don Deeks  Tackle Washington
5 36 Johnny Strzykalski  Back Marquette
6 47 Jim Mello  Back Notre Dame played with Yanks in 1947
7 58 Marty Silovich  Center Marquette
8 69 Ellis Jones  Guard Tulsa
9 80 Earl Lambert  Back Manhattan
10 91 Don Kasprzak  Back Dartmouth
11 102 Ben Jones  End Arkansas
12 113 Herb Coleman  Center Notre Dame
13 124 Joe Pezelski  Back Villanova
14 135 John DiGangi  Tackle Holy Cross
15 146 Chan Highsmith  Center North Carolina
16 157 Mike Costello  End Georgetown
17 168 Paul Dromgoole  End Manhattan
18 179 Dolph Czekala  Tackle Syracuse
19 190 Joe Drumm  Tackle Georgetown
20 201 Mario Giannelli  Guard Boston College
21 212 Eric Jamison  Tackle San Francisco
22 223 Walt Kretz  Back Cornell
23 234 Marty Grbovaz  End San Francisco
24 245 Ziggy Gory  Center Villanova
25 256 Bill Iancelli  End William & Mary
26 267 Al Kull  Tackle Fordham
27 278 Bob Mangene  Back Boston College
28 289 John Morelli  Guard Georgetown Already on Yanks roster
29 300 John Fisher  Center Harvard
30 311 Elmer Oberto  Guard Georgetown
      Made roster  

[3]

1945 season

The Yanks started well with an win at Fenway Park over Pittsburgh, played on Tuesday, September 25, as both Boston baseball teams were at home over the weekend. (As of 2021, this is the last NFL game actually scheduled to be played on a Tuesday.)[4] After a victory over eventual Eastern Division champion Washington, a tie with the Giants in Yankee Stadium and splitting two road games, the Yanks were 3–1–1, tied with the 3–1 Redskins atop the East (ties did not count in the standings then).

After that, it all came apart. After a tough 10–9 loss to Detroit at Fenway Park (Don Currivan caught a touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter only to watch the extra point attempt go awry), the Yanks were crushed in their final four contests, finding the end zone only three times while allowing a whopping 117 points. They finished 3–6–1, tied for third with New York.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue
1 September 25 Pittsburgh Steelers W 28–7 1–0 Fenway Park
2 Bye
3 October 7 Washington Redskins W 28–20 2–0 Fenway Park
4 October 14 New York Giants T 13–13 2–0–1 Yankee Stadium
5 October 21 at Green Bay Packers L 14–38 2–1–1 Wisconsin State Fair Park
6 October 28 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 10–6 3–1–1 Forbes Field
7 November 4 Detroit Lions L 9–10 3–2–1 Fenway Park
8 November 11 at Washington Redskins L 7–34 3–3–1 Griffith Stadium
9 November 18 Green Bay Packers L 0–28 3–4–1 Fenway Park
10 Bye
11 December 2 at Cleveland Rams L 7–20 3–5–1 League Park
12 December 9 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–35 3–6–1 Shibe Park
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Washington Redskins 8 2 0 .800 6–2 209 121 W2
Philadelphia Eagles 7 3 0 .700 5–2 272 133 W1
Yanks 3 6 1 .333 3–2–1 123 211 L5
New York Giants 3 6 1 .333 2–4–1 179 198 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 2 8 0 .200 1–7 79 220 L3
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  1. ^ 1945 Boston Yanks
  2. ^ "1945 Bos/Bkn Yanks/Tigers Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  3. ^ "1945 Bos/Bkn Yanks/Tigers Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Five NFL games have been since played on a Tuesday, all rescheduled from another day: the Yanks themselves had a Monday contest bumped by a rainstorm in 1946; the Eagles had a Sunday contest moved up thanks to the December 2010 North American blizzard; and the Titans and Ravens each had Sunday home games delayed in 2020 due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Rams had a Sunday home game postponed to Tuesday, also due to COVID-19 issues.
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