1959 Washington Redskins season

1959 Washington Redskins season
1959 Washington Redskins season
Owner	George Preston Marshall
General manager	Dick McCann
Head coach	Mike Nixon
Home field	Griffith Stadium
Results
Record	3–9
Division place	5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1958; Redskins seasons; 1960 →;

The 1959 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their 4–7–1 record from 1958 and finished 3–9.

The Redskins continued their ongoing strategy of establishing themselves as dominant NFL franchise for the Southern United States, licensing television broadcast of their games to a network of 40 stations spread across Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.^[1]

The team also continued their "Days for Dixie" halftime shows, which highlighted two Southern states each year, marking "Georgia Day" on October 18 and "North Carolina Day" on December 6.^[1] Each of these dates featured a guest marching band from the featured state which provided halftime entertainment.^[1]

Related to this regional marketing appeal, the Redskins remained the last bastion of racial segregation in the NFL in 1959, with the team standing alone in not including a black player on its roster from 1955 until 1962.^[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 27	at Chicago Cardinals	L 21–49	0–1	Soldier Field	21,892	Recap
2	October 4	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–17	1–1	Forbes Field	26,570	Recap
3	October 11	Chicago Cardinals	W 23–14	2–1	Griffith Stadium	25,937	Recap
4	October 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 6–27	2–2	Griffith Stadium	28,218	Recap
5	October 25	at Cleveland Browns	L 7–34	2–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	42,732	Recap
6	November 1	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 23–30	2–4	Franklin Field	39,854	Recap
7	November 8	Baltimore Colts	W 27–24	3–4	Griffith Stadium	32,773	Recap
8	November 15	Cleveland Browns	L 17–31	3–5	Griffith Stadium	32,266	Recap
9	November 22	at Green Bay Packers	L 0–21	3–6	New City Stadium	31,853	Recap
10	November 29	at New York Giants	L 14–45	3–7	Yankee Stadium	60,982	Recap
11	December 6	Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–34	3–8	Griffith Stadium	24,325	Recap
12	December 13	New York Giants	L 10–24	3–9	Griffith Stadium	26,198	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	8–2	284	170	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	5	0	.583	6–4	268	278	L1
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583	6–4	270	214	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	5	1	.545	6–4	257	216	W1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	185	350	L5
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	234	324	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	9	3	0	.750	9–1	374	251	W5
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	6–4	252	196	W7
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583	5–5	255	237	L2
Green Bay Packers	7	5	0	.583	6–4	248	246	W4
Detroit Lions	3	8	1	.273	2–8	203	275	L1
Los Angeles Rams	2	10	0	.167	2–8	242	315	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Personnel

Staff

**1959 Washington Redskins staff**
	Front office President - George Preston Marshall Head coaches Head coach - Mike Nixon Assistant/Backfield - Bill McPeak Offensive coaches Offensive Line - Ernie Hefferle Ends - Joe Tereshinski Sr.			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator - LaVern Torgeson

Roster

**1959 Washington Redskins roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Eddie LeBaron 3 Ralph Guglielmi 10 Eagle Day Running backs (RB) 47 Dick James 31 Don Bosseler FB 30 Ed Sutton 0 Johnny Olszewski 27 Mike Sommer Wide receivers (WR) 81 Joe Walton 24 Jim Podoley Tight ends (TE) 42 Bill Anderson 82 Johnny Carson 82 Ken MacAfee		Offensive linemen (OL) 62 Don Boll G 41 Bob Hudson (offensive lineman) 78 Don Lawrence 70 Ray Lemek 73 John Miller 71 Will Renfro T 51 Jim Schrader 67 Red Stephens G Defensive linemen (DL) 83 Ed Meadows DE 72 Donnis Churchwell DT 79 Bob Toneff DT 89 Art Gob DE 88 Chet Ostrowski DE 86 John Paluck DE		Linebackers (LB) 45 Ralph Felton 85 Tom Braatz 36 Chuck Drazenovich 63 Emil Karas 56 Frank Kuchta Defensive backs (DB) 43 Dick Haley 40 Gene Cichowski 21 Gary Glick S 25 Richie McCabe 20 Doyle Nix 48 Ben Scotti 26 Bill Stits Special teams 49 Sam Baker				Rookies in italics

Statistics

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rate
Eddie LeBaron	77	173	44.5%	1,077	8	11	61.4

Rushing

Player	Attempts	Yards	Average	Long	Touchdowns
Don Bosseler	119	644	5.4	41	3

Receiving

Player	Number	Yards	Average	Long	Touchdowns
Bill Anderson	35	734	66.7	70	6
Joe Walton	21	317	35.2	41	3

Awards and records

Milestones

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Redskins: 1959 Facts Book and History for Press, Radio and Television. Washington, DC: The Redskins, 1959; p. 3.
^ Ryan Basen, "Fifty Years Ago, Last Outpost of Segregation in NFL Fell," New York Times, Oct. 6, 2012.

External links

1959 Washington Redskins at Pro-Football-Reference.com
1959 Washington Redskins season statistics, Pro Football Archives.com
1959 Washington Redskins Highlight Film at youtube.com

[MG59-1] The Redskins: 1959 Facts Book and History for Press, Radio and Television. Washington, DC: The Redskins, 1959; p. 3.

[2] Ryan Basen, "Fifty Years Ago, Last Outpost of Segregation in NFL Fell," New York Times, Oct. 6, 2012.

[1]

[2]

v t e Washington Commanders
Formerly the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), and Washington Football Team (2020–2021) Based in Landover, Maryland Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia
Franchise	History Seasons All-time roster (A–Ke, Kh–Z) Head coaches Draft first-round picks Starting quarterbacks Records Broadcasters
Stadiums	Braves Field Fenway Park Griffith Stadium RFK Stadium Northwest Stadium
Key personnel	Managing partner: Josh Harris Prominent limited partners: Mitchell Rales, Magic Johnson, Mark Ein General manager: Adam Peters Head coach: Dan Quinn
Culture and lore	"Hail to the Commanders" Marching Band Major Tuddy Hogettes Chief Zee Redskins name controversy Name change advocates Opinion polls Trademark dispute Original Americans Foundation "Go Fund Yourself" The Replacements Everybody's All-American Redskins Rule Operation Flagship The Hogs The Fun Bunch The Over-the-Hill Gang Bears 73, Redskins 0 Body Bag Game Madhouse in Maryland Ricky Williams trade
Rivalries	Dallas Cowboys New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles
Division championships (15)	1936 1937 1940 1942 1943 1945 1972 1983 1984 1987 1991 1999 2012 2015 2020
Conference championships (5)	1972 1982 1983 1987 1991
League championships (2)	1937 1942
Super Bowl championships (3)	1982 (XVII) 1987 (XXII) 1991 (XXVI)
Retired numbers	9 21 28 33 49
Hall of Famers	Cliff Battles Sammy Baugh Bill Dudley Turk Edwards Joe Gibbs Darrell Green Russ Grimm Chris Hanburger Ken Houston Sam Huff Deacon Jones Stan Jones Sonny Jurgensen Paul Krause Vince Lombardi Wayne Millner Bobby Mitchell Art Monk John Riggins Bruce Smith Charley Taylor
Affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division
Category Commons

v t e Washington Commanders seasons
Formerly the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), and Washington Football Team (2020–2021)
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