1945 Yanks season

The 1945 Yanks season was their second in the National Football League. They merged with the Brooklyn Tigers for the season and played under the name Yanks. The team improved on their previous season's output of 2–8, winning three games. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Four home games were played in Boston and the home game against the New York Giants was played at Yankee Stadium. The result of these two teams merging for a season is similar to the Steagles and Card-Pitt teams.

1945 Yanks season
Head coach	Herb Kopf
Home field	Fenway Park Yankee Stadium
Local radio	WNAC WEAF
Results
Record	3–6–1
Division place	3rd (tied) NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Before the season

Brooklyn Tigers draftees

Main article: 1945 NFL Draft

1945 Brooklyn Tigers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Joe Renfroe	Back	Tulane
2	13	Wayne Williams	Back	Minnesota
3	17	Cecil Gray	Center	Oregon
4	30	Steve Enich	Guard	Marquette
5	34	Al Kowalski	Back	Tulsa
6	44	Dick Barwegen *	Guard	Purdue
7	57	Louie Futrell	Back	Fresno State
8	67	John Dodds	Guard	California
9	77	Elting Johnson	Back	Bucknell
10	90	Roy Cross	End	Tennessee
11	100	Earl Haury	Tackle	Kansas State
12	110	John Martin	Back	East Tennessee State
13	123	George McDonald	Tackle	South Carolina
14	133	Hal Self	Back	Alabama
15	143	Tom Reilly	Guard	Fordham
16	156	Skimp Harrison	End	South Carolina
17	166	Arnie Weinmeister * †	Tackle	Washington
18	176	Charley Eikenberg	Quarterback	Rice
19	189	Al Kasulin	Back	Villanova
20	199	Charley Lively	Tackle	Arkansas
21	209	Ted Curran	Back	Iowa
22	222	Don Fabling	Back	Colorado
23	232	Wally Crittenden	Back	USC
24	242	Jules Taddie	Center	Rochester
25	255	Jerry Whitney	Back	USC
26	265	Felix Trapani	Guard	LSU
27	275	Hal Finney	Back	USC
28	288	Don Fauble	Back	Oklahoma
29	298	Nick Studen	Back	Denver
30	308	LaMar Dykstra	Back	Colorado
†   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Boston Yanks draftees

Main article: 1945 NFL Draft

1945 Boston Yanks draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	4	Eddie Prokop	Back	Georgia Tech
2	15	Tom Dean	Tackle	SMU	played with Yanks in 1946
3	20	Damon Tassos	Guard	Texas A&M
4	31	Don Deeks	Tackle	Washington
5	36	Johnny Strzykalski	Back	Marquette
6	47	Jim Mello	Back	Notre Dame	played with Yanks in 1947
7	58	Marty Silovich	Center	Marquette
8	69	Ellis Jones	Guard	Tulsa
9	80	Earl Lambert	Back	Manhattan
10	91	Don Kasprzak	Back	Dartmouth
11	102	Ben Jones	End	Arkansas
12	113	Herb Coleman	Center	Notre Dame
13	124	Joe Pezelski	Back	Villanova
14	135	John DiGangi	Tackle	Holy Cross
15	146	Chan Highsmith	Center	North Carolina
16	157	Mike Costello	End	Georgetown
17	168	Paul Dromgoole	End	Manhattan
18	179	Dolph Czekala	Tackle	Syracuse
19	190	Joe Drumm	Tackle	Georgetown
20	201	Mario Giannelli	Guard	Boston College
21	212	Eric Jamison	Tackle	San Francisco
22	223	Walt Kretz	Back	Cornell
23	234	Marty Grbovaz	End	San Francisco
24	245	Ziggy Gory	Center	Villanova
25	256	Bill Iancelli	End	William & Mary
26	267	Al Kull	Tackle	Fordham
27	278	Bob Mangene	Back	Boston College
28	289	John Morelli	Guard	Georgetown	Already on Yanks roster
29	300	John Fisher	Center	Harvard
30	311	Elmer Oberto	Guard	Georgetown
Made roster

1945 season

The Yanks started well with an win at Fenway Park over Pittsburgh, played on Tuesday, September 25, as both Boston baseball teams were at home over the weekend. (As of 2024, this is the last NFL game actually scheduled to be played on a Tuesday.) After a victory over eventual Eastern Division champion Washington, a tie with the Giants in Yankee Stadium and splitting two road games, the Yanks were 3–1–1, tied with the 3–1 Redskins atop the East (ties did not count in the standings then).

After that, it all came apart. After a tough 10–9 loss to Detroit at Fenway Park (Don Currivan caught a touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter only to watch the extra point attempt go awry), the Yanks were crushed in their final four contests, finding the end zone only three times while allowing a whopping 117 points. They finished 3–6–1, tied for third with New York.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	September 25	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 28–7	1–0	Fenway Park
2	Bye
3	October 7	Washington Redskins	W 28–20	2–0	Fenway Park
4	October 14	New York Giants	T 13–13	2–0–1	Yankee Stadium
5	October 21	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–38	2–1–1	Wisconsin State Fair Park
6	October 28	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 10–6	3–1–1	Forbes Field
7	November 4	Detroit Lions	L 9–10	3–2–1	Fenway Park
8	November 11	at Washington Redskins	L 7–34	3–3–1	Griffith Stadium
9	November 18	Green Bay Packers	L 0–28	3–4–1	Fenway Park
10	Bye
11	December 2	at Cleveland Rams	L 7–20	3–5–1	League Park
12	December 9	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–35	3–6–1	Shibe Park
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	8	2	0	.800	6–2	209	121	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	7	3	0	.700	5–2	272	133	W1
Yanks	3	6	1	.333	3–2–1	123	211	L5
New York Giants	3	6	1	.333	2–4–1	179	198	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	8	0	.200	1–7	79	220	L3

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