1947 Washington Redskins season

The 1947 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 16th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 10th in Washington, D.C. The team failed to improve on their 5–5–1 record from 1946 and finished 4–8. The 1947 Washington Redskins' 416 passing attempts (34.7 per game) are the most by an NFL team in the 1940s.

1947 Washington Redskins season
Owner	George Preston Marshall
General manager	Dick McCann
Head coach	Turk Edwards
Home stadium	Griffith Stadium
Results
Record	4–8
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1946 Redskins seasons 1948 →

Although the NFL formally desegregated in 1946, many teams were slow to allow black athletes to compete even after the formal barrier had fallen. None were less willing to desegregate than the Washington Redskins, who sought to be the "home team" for a vast Southern market. The Redskins would remain the last bastion of racial segregation in the NFL, refusing to include a single black player on their roster until 1962.^[1]

Before the season

NFL draft

Main article: 1947 NFL draft

1947 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	4	Cal Rossi	B	UCLA	Also drafted in 1946
3	17	Gene (Red) Knight	B	LSU
5	28	Hank Foldberg	E	Army
6	39	Mike Garzoni	G	USC
7	48	Bill Gray	G	Oregon State
8	59	Hank Harris	G	Texas
9	68	Roy Kurrasch	E	UCLA	played with New York Yankees (AAFC)
10	79	Ernie Williamson	T	North Carolina
11	88	L. G. Carmody	B	Central Washington
12	99	U.S. Savage	E	Richmond
13	108	Bob Steckroth	E	William & Mary
14	119	Weldon Edwards	T	TCU
15	128	Earl Wheeler	C	Arkansas
16	139	Bill Gold	B	Tennessee
17	148	Jack Hart	T	Detroit
18	159	Tom Nichols	B	Richmond
19	168	Harry Dowda	DB	Wake Forest
20	179	Charlie Webb	E	LSU
21	188	Elmo Bond	T	Washington State
22	199	Jim Hefti	B	St. Lawrence
23	208	Tom Dudley	E	Virginia
24	219	Bob Smith *	DB	Iowa
25	228	Hal Mullins	T	Duke
26	239	Francis Bocoka	E	Washington State
27	248	Otis Sacrinty	B	Wake Forest
28	259	Milt Dropo	C	Connecticut
29	268	Lynn Brownson	B	Stanford
30	279	Joe Colone	B	Penn State
31	286	Herb Shoener	E	Iowa
32	295	Bo Pievo	T	Purdue
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Preseason

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Source
0	August 29	East–West Intra-Squad	W. 36, E. 35	—	Santa Ana, California		[3]
1	September 5	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–20	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	80,889	[4]
2	September 10	vs. Detroit Lions	W 23–14	1–1	University of Denver Stadium (Denver, CO)	17,000	[5]
3	September 17	at Chicago Bears	L 7–28	1–2	Soldier Field	54,723	[6]
4	September 21	vs. Green Bay Packers	L 21–31	1–3	Municipal Stadium (Baltimore, MD)	18,186[7]	[8]

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Source
1	September 28	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 42–45	0–1	Shibe Park	35,406	Recap
2	October 2	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–26	1–1	Forbes Field	36,585	Recap
3	October 12	New York Giants	W 28–20	2–1	Griffith Stadium	36,533	Recap
4	October 19	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–27	2–2	Wisconsin State Fair Park	28,572	Recap
5	October 26	Chicago Bears	L 20–56	2–3	Griffith Park	36,591	Recap
6	November 2	Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–38	2–4	Griffith Park	36,591	Recap
7	November 9	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–21	2–5	Forbes Field	36,257	Recap
8	November 16	at Detroit Lions	L 21–38	2–6	Briggs Stadium	17,003	Recap
9	November 23	Chicago Cardinals	W 45–21	3–6	Griffith Stadium	35,362	Recap
10	November 30	at Boston Yanks	L 24–27	3–7	Fenway Park	24,800	Recap
11	December 7	at New York Giants	L 10–35	3–8	Polo Grounds	25,594	Recap
12	December 14	Boston Yanks	W 40–13	4–8	Griffith Stadium	33,226	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Philadelphia Eagles	8	4	0	.667	6–2	308	242	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	8	4	0	.667	6–2	240	259	W1
Boston Yanks	4	7	1	.364	3–4–1	168	256	L2
Washington Redskins	4	8	0	.333	3–5	295	367	W1
New York Giants	2	8	2	.200	1–6–1	190	309	L1

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

NFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Cardinals	9	3	0	.750	7–1	306	231	W2
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	4–4	363	241	L2
Green Bay Packers	6	5	1	.545	5–3	274	210	L1
Los Angeles Rams	6	6	0	.500	4–4	259	214	W2
Detroit Lions	3	9	0	.250	0–8	231	305	L3

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