BOSTON REDSKINS

1936 BOSTON REDSKINS,
AN NFL CHAMPION AT FENWAY ...
 The Boston Redskins most productive year in Boston came in 1936.  It started with the first annual NFL Draft on February 8, 1936, where the Redskins had the second overall pick. Their first selection as an NFL team was Riley Smith a blocking back from Alabama. The first player selected in the draft, Heisman Trophy winner Jay Barwanger, chose not to play pro football. Because of this, Smith holds the distinction of being the first drafted player to play in the NFL. 

Also in that draft, the Redskins chose Wayne Millner,  who became a large part of their offense.  Millner was a local who played football at Salem High School and went on to star at Notre Dame.  Milner and Riley Smith joined stars Cliff Battles and Turk Edwards for the 1936 season.  The next big addition that came in 1936, when Marshall hired future Hall-of-Famer Ray Flaherty as head coach.  In the following decade, Flaherty led the team to two NFL championships and four divisional titles.  Among his innovations, Flaherty is credited with inventing the screen pass.

 

GEORGE PRESTON
MARSHALL

After playing mediocre football most of the season, the Redskins won their final three games to capture the Eastern Division Championship with a 7-5 record. The stars of the three game Division winning streak were the defense who allowed only six points while the Skins out scored their opponents 74-6.  However, a big disappointment came in their 30-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the next to last game of the season, when only 4,813 fans showed up to watch them at Fenway Park. Owner George Preston Marshall was so enraged he gave up home field for the NFL Championship Game, choosing to face the Packers at New York's Polo Grounds. The Redskins were never really in the game as the Packers won the Championship with a 21-6 victory. The team would never play another game in Boston.

One of the reasons the Redskins didn’t draw, is because ownership got in wrong with the fans at the very beginning of the season.  The fans found the entire grandstand reserved and the price of admission raised for the first home game.  Those fans, who sat in the unreserved section in 1935, were forced to sit out on the field in 1936 for the general admission price.  Also, their competition that year was the Boston Shamrocks of the new American Football League.  The Shamrocks were a winning team, who won the league championship, outdrawing the Redskins with a lower ticket price.

The Redskins would go on to move to Washington following the season.  Before leaving Boston, however, the Redskins made one more big addition that helped their franchise for years to come. The addition came after the 1937 NFL Draft on December 12, 1936, when they signed an innovative rookie quarterback from Texas Christian University, Sammy Baugh.
 

 
PRE-SEASON DIARY
08/24/1936 First practice in Framingham
08/29/1936 First scrimmage
08/31/1936 First intra squad scrimmage in Chelsea
 
 
GAME LOG
DATE RECORD GB OPPONENT   SCORE
09/13/1936 0-1 - at Pittsburgh Pirates L 10-0
09/20/1936 1-1 - at Philadelphia Eagles W 26-3
09/27/1936 2-1 - at Brooklyn Dodgers W 14-3
10/04/1936 2-2 -1 New York Giants L 7-0
10/11/1936 2-3 -1 1/2 at Green Bay Packers L 21-3
10/18/1936 3-3 -1 Philadelphia Eagles W 17-7
11/01/1936 4-3 -1 Chicago Cardinals W 13-10
11/08/1936 4-4 -1 Green Bay Packers L 7-3
11/15/1936 4-5 -1 Chicago Bears L 26-0
11/22/1936 5-5 -1/2 Brooklyn Dodgers W 30-6
11/29/1936 6-5 - Pittsburgh Pirates W 30-0
12/06/1936 7-5 1 at New York Giants W 14-0
12/08/1936 George Preston Marshall gets permission to move
the NFL Championship Game to New York
 
 
THE NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
DATE OPPONENT   SCORE
12/13/1936 Green Bay Packers L 21-0
12/12/1936

Redskins draft Sammy Baugh
12/16/1936

Redskins leave Boston and move to Washington D.C.