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1934 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

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Official team photo of the 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates.
1934 Pittsburgh Pirates season
OwnerArt Rooney
Head coachLuby DiMeolo
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record2–10
Division place5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the second season of the Pirates after formation the previous year. The 1934 Pirates (later renamed in 1940) began the season with a new coach, Luby DiMeolo, but once again found themselves finishing in 5th place in the Eastern Division. The Pirates suffered a miserable 2–10 season, in which they were shut out in 6 games and only scored more than 10 points in 2 games.

One point of interest of the season was the arrival of All-Pro and future Hall of Famer John McNally for one season from the Green Bay Packers. However, he did not have much of an impact for the Pirates before returning to the Packers the next season.

This Pirates team also introduced their "jailbird" uniforms. While these uniforms were worn by the Steelers as throwbacks from 2012 to 2016 (albeit with the current colors, making them "bumblebee" uniforms), this was the only year they were used as the team was constantly made fun of for looking like convicts.

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record
1 September 9 Cincinnati Reds W 13–0 1–0
2 September 16 Boston Redskins L 0–7 1–1
3 September 26 Philadelphia Eagles L 0–17 1–2
4 October 3 New York Giants L 12–14 1–3
5 October 7 at Philadelphia Eagles W 9–7 2–3
6 October 10 Chicago Bears L 0–28 2–4
7 October 14 at Boston Redskins L 0–39 2–5
8 October 21 at New York Giants L 7–17 2–6
9 October 28 at Brooklyn Dodgers L 3–21 2–7
10 November 4 at Detroit Lions L 7–40 2–8
11 November 11 at St. Louis Gunners L 0–6 2–9
12 November 18 Brooklyn Dodgers L 0–10 2–10

Standings

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NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
New York Giants 8 5 0 .615 7–1 147 107 L1
Boston Redskins 6 6 0 .500 5–3 107 94 W1
Brooklyn Dodgers 4 7 0 .364 4–4 61 153 L3
Philadelphia Eagles 4 7 0 .364 3–5 127 85 W2
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 10 0 .167 1–7 51 206 L7
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Chicago Bears 13 0 0 1.000 8–0 286 86 W13
Detroit Lions 10 3 0 .769 5–3 238 59 L3
Green Bay Packers 7 6 0 .538 4–5 156 112 W1
Chicago Cardinals 5 6 0 .455 4–5 80 84 W1
St. Louis Gunners 1 2 0 .333 0–2 27 61 L2
Cincinnati Reds 0 8 0 .000 0–6 10 243 L8
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Game summaries

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Week 1 (Sunday September 9, 1934): Cincinnati Reds

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1 2 3 4 Total
Reds 0 0 0 0 0
Pirates 0 7 0 6 13

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 14,164
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Clark 27 lateral from Sorlet after pass from Heller (Kelsch kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Kelsch 13
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 13

Week 2 (Sunday September 16, 1934): Boston Redskins

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 17,171
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Boston – Malone 16 pass from Hokuf (Battles kick)

Week 4 (Wednesday September 26, 1934): Philadelphia Eagles

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 7 7 3 17
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 11,559
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Philadelphia – Hanson 16 run (Hanson kick)
  • Philadelphia – Hanson 34 pass from Kirkman (Hajek kick)
  • Philadelphia – FG Wiener 17

Week 5 (Wednesday October 3, 1934): New York Giants

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1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 7 0 7 0 14
Pirates 6 6 0 0 12

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 13,020
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • New York – Badgro 25 pass from Newman (Newman kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Skladany 28 pass from Heller (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Heller 2 run (kick failed)
  • New York – Strong 7 run (Newman kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 7, 1934): Philadelphia Eagles

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1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 3 0 0 6 9
Eagles 0 0 0 7 7

at Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 9,000
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 28
  • Pittsburgh – Brovelli 5 run (kick blocked)
  • Philadelphia – Gonya 4 pass from Barnhardt (Kirkman kick)

Week 6 (Wednesday October 10, 1934): Chicago Bears

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 7 7 0 14 28
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 19,386
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Chicago – Ronzani 6 pass from Burmbaugh (Manders kick)
  • Chicago – Feathers 82 run (Manders kick)
  • Chicago – Molesworth 2 run (Manders kick)
  • Chicago – Johnsos 3 pass from Molesworth (Manders kick)

Week 6 (Sunday October 14, 1934): Boston Redskins

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
Redskins 13 6 20 0 39

at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 15,515
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Boston – Malone pass from Hokuf (kick failed)
  • Boston – Battles run (Wright kick)
  • Boston – Battles 19 run (kick failed)
  • Boston – Wright 59 run (Wright kick)
  • Boston – Pinckert run (kick failed)
  • Boston – McPhail 14 fumble return (McPhail kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 21, 1934): New York Giants

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 7 7
Giants 3 0 7 7 17

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 11,000
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • New York – FG Strong 44
  • New York – Strong 2 run (Strong kick)
  • New York – Smith 3 run (Molenda kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Sortet 21 pass from Vaughn (Kelsck kick)

Week 8 (Sunday October 28, 1934): Brooklyn Dodgers

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1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 3 0 0 0 3
Dodgers 7 0 0 14 21

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 8,000
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Brooklyn – Grossman 72 punt return (Kercheval kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 50
  • Brooklyn – Grossman 26 pass from Cagle (Kercheval kick)
  • Brooklyn – Kercheval 15 pass from Montgomery (Kercheval kick)

The game is the first in NFL history to not feature any penalties by either team.[1]

Week 9 (Sunday November 4, 1934): Detroit Lions

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1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 7 0 0 6 13
Lions 7 13 13 7 40

at University of Detroit Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 6,000
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Skladany 62 pass from Vaughn (Niccolai kick)
  • Detroit – F. Christensen 1 run (Clark kick)
  • Detroit – Clark 45 run (kick failed)
  • Detroit – Ebding 37 pass from Caddel (Clark kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 11, 1934): St. Louis Gunners

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1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
Gunners 0 6 0 0 6

at Sportsman's Park, St. Louis, Missouri

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 13,678
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • St. Louis – FG Senn 35
  • St. Louis – FG Alford 12

Week 11 (Sunday November 18, 1934): Brooklyn Dodgers

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Dodgers 0 0 10 0 10
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 9,087
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Brooklyn – Kercheval 23 pass from Cagle (Kercheval kick)
  • Brooklyn – FG Kercheval 22

References

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  1. ^ "Fact or Fiction? There's never been a NFL game without any penalties". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 27, 2013.

Roster

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Player Age Pos G GS Wt Ht College/Univ Birth Date Yrs
Angelo Brovelli 24 B 5 5 193 6’0 St. Mary's (CA) August 21, 1910 1
Ben Ciccone 25 C 11 0 197 5’10 Duquesne October 10, 1909 R
James Clark – B 9 3 170 5’9 Pittsburgh unknown 1
Jack Dempsey 22 T 1 1 225 6’2 Bucknell March 12, 1912 R
Jap Douds 29 T-G-C 11 8 216 5’10 Washington & Jefferson April 21, 1905 4
Norm Greeney 24 G 11 3 212 5’11 Notre Dame May 7, 1910 1
Warren Heller 24 HB-TB 12 12 195 5’11 Pittsburgh November 24, 1910 R
George Kavel 24 HB 1 1 170 5’11 Carnegie Mellon March 3, 1910 R
Mose Kelsch 37 FB-HB 8 0 223 5’10 none January 31, 1897 1
Zvonimir Kvaternik 23 G 1 0 210 5’11 Kansas October 18, 1911 R
Jim Levey 28 B 1 1 156 5’10 none September 13, 1906 R
Basilio Marchi 25 G-C 5 4 220 6’2 NYU July 14, 1909 R
Harry Marker 24 B 1 0 155 5’6 West Virginia September 17, 1910 R
Johnny McNally 31 TB-HB-WB-BB-DB 5 1 188 6’1 N.D., St. John's (MN), Wis-River Falls November 27, 1903 9
Buster Mott 25 B 1 0 193 5’8 Georgia June 21, 1909 1
Armand Niccolai 23 T-G 12 12 226 6’2 Duquesne November 8, 1911 R
Cap Oehler 24 C-LB 12 12 204 6’0 Purdue August 5, 1910 1
Bill Potts – HB 1 0 200 Villanova unknown R
Jess Quatse 26 T 12 12 226 5’11 Pittsburgh April 4, 1908 1
Alex Rado 23 HB-DB 8 4 200 6’1 West Virginia Tech July 19, 1911 R
Peter Rajkovich 23 FB-LB 3 3 190 5’10 Detroit Mercy January 17, 1911 R
Dave Ribble 27 G-T 10 8 225 6’1 Hardin-Simmons March 28, 1907 2
Jack Roberts 24 B 6 0 210 6’0 Georgia September 27, 1910 2
Pete Saumer 24 B 3 0 195 6’1 St. Olaf April 30, 1910 R
Joe Skladany 23 E 12 12 210 5’10 Pittsburgh May 25, 1911 R
Ben Smith 23 E-BB-DE 11 10 208 6’3 Alabama June 16, 1911 1
Bull Snyder 23 G 5 0 230 6’2 Ohio October 29, 1911 R
Bill Sortet 22 E 12 1 187 6’1 West Virginia June 25, 1912 1
Ray Tesser 22 E-DE 12 1 204 6’2 Carnegie Mellon June 2, 1912 1
Harp Vaughan 31 B 11 7 150 5’7 none November 19, 1903 1
Henry Weinberg 24 G-T 8 1 190 5’7 Duquesne March 4, 1910 R
Silvio Zaninelli 21 B 11 11 207 5’10 Duquesne December 9, 1913 R
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