1956 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1956 Pittsburgh Steelers season
1956 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	Walt Kiesling
Home field	Forbes Field
Results
Record	5–7
Division place	T–4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1955; Steelers seasons; 1957 →;

The 1956 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 24th in the National Football League.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1956 Pittsburgh Steelers draft
1	1	Gary Glick	DB	Colorado A&M
1	5	Art Davis	DB	Mississippi State
2	17	Joe Krupa *	DT	Purdue
3	29	Jim Taylor	C	Baylor
4	39	Dick Murley	T	Purdue
5	52	Bill Murakowski	B	Purdue
6	63	Ray Taylor	B	TCU
7	76	Dick Gaspari	C	George Washington
8	87	Vere Wellmen	G	Wichita
9	100	Wayne Edmonds	G	Notre Dame
10	111	Lou Baldacci	HB	Michigan
10	118	Bob Nolan	E	Miami (FL)
12	135	Phil Tarasovic	E	Yale
13	148	Weldon Holley	B	Baylor
14	159	Jim Emmons	T	Alabama
16	183	Lionel Reed	B	Central State (OK)
17	196	Bill Schmitt	G	Pittsburgh
18	207	John Stephans	QB	Holy Cross
19	220	Jerry Jacobs	G	Florida State
20	231	Fred Glatz	E	Pittsburgh
21	244	Gene Martell	T	Notre Dame
22	255	Ray DiPasquale	B	Pittsburgh
23	268	Pete Neft	QB	Pittsburgh
24	279	Bryan Engram	E	TCU
25	292	Bill O'Dell	B	Clemson
26	303	Frank Sweeney	G	Xavier
27	316	Buddy Benson	B	Arkansas
28	327	Bill DeGraaf	B	Cornell
29	340	Wes Thompson	T	Alabama
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 17	vs. Detroit Lions	L 15–20	0–1	Glass Bowl	11,912
2	August 25	vs. Baltimore Colts	L 16–37	0–2	Nippert Stadium	12,500
3	September 8	Chicago Bears	L 10–21	0–3	Forbes Field	22,194
4	September 15	vs. Philadelphia Eagles	W 14–12	1–3	Metropolitan Stadium	14,742
5	September 22	vs. Los Angeles Rams	W 20–17	2–3	Multnomah Stadium	20,559

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 30	Washington Redskins	W 30–13	1–0	Forbes Field	27,718	Recap
2	October 6	Cleveland Browns	L 10–14	1–1	Forbes Field	35,398	Recap
3	October 14	Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–35	1–2	Forbes Field	31,375	Recap
4	October 21	at New York Giants	L 10–38	1–3	Yankee Stadium	48,108	Recap
5	October 28	at Cleveland Browns	W 24–16	2–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	50,358	Recap
6	November 4	New York Giants	L 14–17	2–4	Forbes Field	31,240	Recap
7	November 11	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–14	2–5	Connie Mack Stadium	22,652	Recap
8	November 18	Chicago Cardinals	W 14–7	3–5	Forbes Field	24,086	Recap
9	November 25	at Chicago Cardinals	L 27–38	3–6	Comiskey Park	17,724	Recap
10	December 2	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–13	4–6	Forbes Field	20,540	Recap
11	December 9	at Detroit Lions	L 7–45	4–7	Briggs Stadium	52,124	Recap
12	December 16	at Washington Redskins	W 23–0	5–7	Griffith Stadium	21,097	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 30, 1956): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	6	0	7	13
Steelers	7	7	9	7	30

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 27,718
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Chandnois 2 run (Glick kick)
Washington – FG Baker 42
Pittsburgh – Marchibroda 1 run (Glick kick)
Washington – FG Baker 41
Pittsburgh – FG Glick 27
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 17 pass from Marchibroda (kick blocked)
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 5 run (Glick kick)
Washington – Meilinger 13 pass from LeBaron (Baker kick)

Week 2 (Saturday October 6, 1956): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	7	0	7	14
Steelers	0	10	0	0	10

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 35,398
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Cleveland – Ratterman 1 run (Groza kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Glick 30
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 1 run (Glik kick)
Cleveland – Modzelewski 13 run (Groza kick)

Week 3 (Sunday October 14, 1956): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	21	0	7	35
Steelers	0	0	7	14	21

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 31,375
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Philadelphia – Schaefer 1 run (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Walston 51 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Bell 28 interception (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Bredice 40 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Pittsburgh – Perry 15 pass from Marchibroda (Glick kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 64 pass from Marchibroda (Glick kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 20 pass from Marchibroda (Glick kick)
Philadelphia – Keller 51 run (Walston kick)

Week 4 (Sunday October 21, 1956): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	3	0	0	7	10
Giants	0	17	14	7	38

at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 48,108
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Glick 35
New York Giants – MacAfee 14 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)
New York Giants – Webster 21 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)
New York Giants – FG Agajanian 14
New York Giants – Gifford 1 run (Agajanian kick)
New York Giants – Rote 19 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 14 pass from Marchibroda (Glick kick)
New York Giants – Filpski 35 run (Agajanian kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 28, 1956): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	21	0	3	24
Browns	13	0	0	3	16

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 50,358
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Cleveland – Lavelli 68 pass from Parilli (kick failed)
Cleveland – Paul 35 interception (Groza kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 10 pass from Marchibroda (Glick kick)
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 1 run (Glick kick)
Pittsburgh – Perry 75 pass from Marchibroda (Glick kick)
Cleveland – FG Groza 28
Pittsburgh – FG Glick 11

Week 6 (Sunday November 4, 1956): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	7	3	7	0	17
Steelers	0	0	7	7	14

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 31,240
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

New York Giants – Webster 1 run (Agajanian kick)
New York Giants – FG Agajanian 32
Pittsburgh – Watson 1 run (Glick kick)
New York Giants – Rote 3 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)
Pittsburgh – Watson 6 run (Glick kick)

Week 7 (Sunday November 11, 1956): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	0	0	0	7
Eagles	7	0	7	0	14

at Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 22,652
Referee: Jack Glascott
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Marchibroda 1 run (Glick kick)
Philadelphia – Burnine 35 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Keller 1 run (Walston kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 18, 1956): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	0	7	7
Steelers	7	0	7	0	14

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 24,086
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Rogel 13 run (Glick kick)
Pittsburgh – Butler 6 fumble run (Glick kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Matson 45 pass from McHan (Summerall kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 25, 1956): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	0	0	20	27
Cardinals	7	17	7	7	38

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 17,724
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Chicago Cardinals – Root 3 run (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 29 pass from Marchibroda (Watson kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Matson 1 run (Summerall kick)
Chicago Cardinals – FG Summerall 27
Chicago Cardinals – Matson 79 run (Summerall kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Childress 34 pass from Root (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Ford 3 run (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 4 pass from Marchibroda (kick failed)
Chicago Cardinals – McHan 1 run (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Ford 4 run (Watson kick)

Week 10 (Sunday December 2, 1956): Los Angeles Rams

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	6	0	7	0	13
Steelers	7	7	0	7	21

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 20,540
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Los Angeles – McFadin 21 fumble run (kick failed)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 22 pass from Scarbath (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Watson 16
Los Angeles – Boyd 61 pass from Wade (Richter kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 6 pass from Marchibroda (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 47 pass from Scarbath (kick failed)

Week 11 (Sunday December 9, 1956): Detroit Lions

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	7	0	0	7
Lions	14	24	7	0	45

at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 52,124
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Detroit – Hart 20 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
Detroit – Gedman 5 run (Layne kick)
Pittsburgh – Watson 1 run (Watson kick)
Detroit – Lary 73 interception (Layne kick)
Detroit – Christiansen 66 punt return (Layne kick)
Detroit – Christiansen 66 punt return (Layne kick)
Detroit – FG Layne 13
Detroit – Reichow 41 pass from Gilmer (Layne kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 16, 1956): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	7	0	16	23
Redskins	0	0	0	0	0

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 49,086
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Pittsburgh – Watson 1 run (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 48 pass from Marchibroda (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – Butler 10 pass from Marchibroda (Watson kick)
Pittsburgh – Safety, Dorow tackled by McPeak in end zone

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	8	3	1	.727	7–3	264	197	W1
Chicago Cardinals	7	5	0	.583	7–3	240	182	W1
Washington Redskins	6	6	0	.500	5–5	183	225	L2
Cleveland Browns	5	7	0	.417	4–6	167	177	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	7	0	.417	4–6	217	250	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	3	8	1	.273	3–7	143	215	L3

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

References

^ "1956 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives.

[1] "1956 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives.

[1]