Posted on 09/12/2008 5:38:33 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
All four New York touchdowns came either as the direct result of forwards or were set up through the air. Twice Big Ed spun tosses to Leland Shaffer for scores. One he slammed into Shaffer’s arms in a play that was stopped a step from the goal line. The fourth was carried over after Tuffy Leemans passed 42 yards to Ward Cuff for a first down on the six-inch line.
But the Giant scores did not roll in as prosaically as all that. The Pirates struck first right at the start, when the great Whizzer White, who is as good as his press notices say he is, catapulted over from the 5-yard line.
New York thus was not even warmed up when the Pirates had a 7-0 lead. But the Giants stormed 53 yards, mostly through the air, for a tally, and then sure-foot Tilly Manton, who had converted twenty-seven times without a miss, failed to kick the extra point.
So Pittsburgh still was ahead at 7-6. But the picture changed in the second quarter. The Giant B team came in and, with Danowski either running or passing for 63 of the 64 yards traversed, swept into a 13-7 advantage. Right from the next kick-off, however, the Pirates dashed 76 yards in three plays, a forward from Frank Filchok to Ed Manske spanning 23 yards for a touchdown. Again Armand Niccolai tacked on the placement and the Buccaneers had almost scuttled the Mara ship with a 14-13 lead.
But all hope was not lost. Danowski uncorked a quick kick of 75 yards and when the punt was returned the pupils of Stout Steve Owen were off to town from the 28. Big Ed flicked a pass to Hugh Wolfe, 200-pound Texas speed-demon who is going to be a backfield sensation before the season is over.
Wolfe then twisted up to the 11 in two elusive gallops on his own account and a Danowski-Shaffer pass to the left flat sent the Giants ahead once more.
The crowd was still unconvinced that it all was over. The missed extra point on the first touchdown left the Pirates still in a spot for a victory. But a 56-yard drive that carried from the third into the fourth period gave the Giants their last points and settled the issue beyond recall.
This was Danowski’s show, as he overshadowed White with the wizardry of his ground-gaining. The one-time Fordhamite completed seven of nine passes for a gain of 81 yards. That would be remarkable even in practice.
As for the Whizzer, he was a hard-running, elusive ball-carrier whose gains from every department of play totaled 165 yards, more than any other back on the field. He was as hard to catch as one of his native Rocky Mountain goats.
The Giant line was excellent defensively with but few exceptions all during the afternoon. Ray Hanken, Chuck Gelatka, Johnny Dell Isola, Orville Tuttle and Ox Parry, in particular, were outstanding. On the offense the blocking was still shoddy and the timing off, but whenever the interference did its job the gains were large.
As for the Pirates, they put up two great goal-line stands. After the Leemans-Cuff pass had given the Giants a first down on the 6-inch line it took four plays for Leemans to go over. A first down on the 5 also required a fourth-down Danowski-Shaffer pass to bring about the touchdown.
Manske, Bill Wilson, Karl McDade and George Kakasic were the Pirate line heroes.
How is it that after Week 1 the Pittsburgh Pirates are 0-2? Doesn’t seem fair.
when did they become the Steelers?
Pittsburgh’s “Whizzer White” mentioned in the article was Supreme Court Justice Byron White. Who hated the name Whizzer.
and, is Brooklyn ever going to play a game?
Wikipedia doesn't give the exact date. The following excerpt implies it was 1940 or 1941.
"The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL first took to the field as the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20, 1933, losing 23-2 to the New York Giants.[3] Through the 1930s, the Pirates never finished higher than second place in their division, or with a record better than 0.500 (1936).[4] Pittsburgh did make history in 1938 by signing Byron White, a future justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, to what was at the time the biggest contract in NFL history,[5] but he played only one year with the Pirates before signing with the Detroit Lions.
During World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises to field a team. During the 1943 season, they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles forming the "Phil-Pitt Eagles" and were known as the "Steagles." This team went 5-4-1. In 1944 they merged with the Chicago Cardinals and were known as Card-Pitt.[5] This team finished 0-10, marking the only winless team in franchise history."
Gee, I wonder why. He got a lot of press coverage, at least through his first two games.
He and Rehnquist were the two dissenters in Roe v. Wade
I see that they play games on Wednesday and Saturday. It looks like they lost another game, 16-7; that’s Detroit’s PF/PA ratio. So, I’m guessing they played Detroit earlier in the same week.
Don’t forget schedules were hard to work out in those days, the days when baseball would schedule double-headers before the start of the season, and even play triple-headers, if situations called for it.
You are correct. I posted the article about that game on Wednesday. Wow. That means they played on Tuesday and Thursday of the same week. That's something you won't see today.
This just may be a preview of the next Superbowl, though the scores are reversed.
Ping.
Granny I dint know you liked football!
LOL, I do not like football on tv.
If you want to play on a team, I will go and enjoy watching you play.
I do like history.
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