Welcome to part three of our six part series examining the NFL All-Decade teams. Today, we look at the 1940s NFL All-Decade Team.

Position	Player Name:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Quarterback	Sammy Baugh	Washington Redskins	Texas Christian	Yes
	Sid Luckman	Chicago Bears	Columbia	Yes
	Bob Waterfield	Cleveland Rams Los Angeles Rams	UCLA	Yes
Running back	Tony Canadeo	Green Bay Packers	Gonzaga	Yes
	Bill Dudley	Pittsburgh Steelers Detroit Lions	Virginia	Yes
	George McAfee	Chicago Bears	Duke	Yes
	Steve Van Buren	Philadelphia Eagles	Louisiana State	Yes
	Charley Trippi	Chicago Cardinals	Georgia	Yes
	Byron White	Detroit Lions	Colorado	No
Fullback	Marion Motley	Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers	Nevada	Yes
	Pat Harder	Chicago Cardinals Detroit Lions	Wisconsin	No
	Bill Osmanski	Chicago Bears	Holy Cross	No
End	Mac Speedie	Cleveland Browns	Utah	No
	Pete Pihos	Philadelphia Eagles	Indiana	Yes
	Ed Sprinkle	Chicago Bears	Hardin-Simmons University Navy	No
	Dante Lavelli	Cleveland Browns	Ohio State	Yes
	Ken Kavanaugh	Chicago Bears	Louisiana State	No
	Jim Benton	Cleveland Rams Chicago Bears Los Angeles Rams	University of Arkansas	No
	Jack Ferrante	Philadelphia Eagles	none	No
Tackle	Al Blozis	New York Giants	Georgetown	No
	George Connor	Chicago Bears	Notre Dame	Yes
	Frank “Bucko” Kilroy	Philadelphia Eagles	Temple	No
	Buford “Baby” Ray	Green Bay Packers	Vanderbilt	No
	Vic Sears	Philadelphia Eagles	Oregon State	No
	Al Wistert	Philadelphia Eagles	Michigan	No
Guard	Bruno Banducci	Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers	Stanford	No
	Bill Edwards	New York Giants	Baylor	No
	Garrard “Buster” Ramsey	Chicago Cardinals	William and Mary	No
	Bill Willis	Cleveland Browns	Ohio State	Yes
	Len Younce	New York Giants	Oregon State	No
Center	Charley Brock	Green Bay Packers	Nebraska	No
	Clyde “Bulldog” Turner	Chicago Bears	Hardin-Simmons	Yes
	Alex Wojciechowicz	Detroit Lions Philadelphia Eagles	Fordham	Yes

The 1940s NFL All-Decade team was highly affected by World War II. Some teams stopped playing while others merged so that they could still field a team of experienced players. Many teams contributed players to the All-Decade team, but two produced twice as many as the best of the rest of the NFL. The 1950s Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles each contributed eight players to the All-Decade team. The Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns were next in line, each contributing four players.

From a standpoint of colleges represented, the 1940s NFL All-Decade Team is starting to look a little more modern in terms of having players from what are considered classic football schools included. There are still a few smaller colleges that contributed players, colleges that today are not considered to be classic football schools. One of the more interesting facts is that the 1940s NFL All-Decade Team includes two players that attended Hardin-Simmons University, a small Baptist college in Abilene, Texas.

As we stated before, what prompted this look at the NFL’s All-Decade Team was the question as to how many players have made the All-Decade Team, meaning they’ve been a great player for roughly a decade if not more, but failed to make it into the Hall-of-Fame.

1940s All Decade Team Players Who Didn’t Make It Into The Hall Of Fame:
Byron White – Running Back – Detroit Lions
Pat Harder – Fullback – Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions
Bill Osmanski – Fullback – Chicago Bears
Mac Speedie – End – Cleveland Browns
Ed Sprinkle – End – Chicago Bears
Ken Kavanaugh – End – Chicago Bears
Jim Benton – End – Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears
Jack Ferrante – End – Philadelphia Eagles
Al Blozis – Tackle – New York Giants
Frank Kilroy – Tackle – Philadelphia Eagles
Buford Ray – Tackle – Green Bay Packers
Vic Sears – Tackle – Philadelphia Eagles
Al Wistert – Tackle Philadelphia Eagles
Bruno Banducci – Guard – Philadelphia Eagles/San Francisco 49ers
Bill Edwards – Guard – New York Giants
Garrard Ramsey – Guard – Chicago Cardinals
Len Younce – Guard – New York Giants
Charley Brock – Center – Green Bay Packers

Players selected: 33
Players not in Hall of Fame: 18
54% of 1940s All Decade Team Players are not in the Hall of Fame

The next chapter will cover the 1950s NFL All-Decade Team.

Other chapters in this study:
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1920s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1930s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1940s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1950s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1960s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1970s