Green Bay and Pittsburgh attempted a July 20, 1938 exchange…
Green Bay and Pittsburgh attempted a July 20, 1938 exchange sending Buckets Goldenberg and Swede Johnston to Pittsburgh for the rights to Pat McCarty and Lou Midler. The arrangement was conditional on the two incoming rights players reporting. Both instead took coaching jobs, so Goldenberg and Johnston were told to return to Green Bay and the deal was called off. No lasting football value changed hands.
Green Bay Packers Received
Pittsburgh Steelers Received
- other rights to Pat McCarty
- other rights to Lou Midler / Lew Midler
Trade Analysis
The Exchange
On July 20, 1938, Green Bay and Pittsburgh revisited a player-rights relationship that had already produced confusion earlier in the year. The intended exchange sent Buckets Goldenberg and Swede Johnston to Pittsburgh while the Packers received rights to Pat McCarty and Lou Midler. The transaction was not unconditional; its football effect depended on the two rights players actually reporting.
Green Bay Packers Return
Green Bay and Pittsburgh attempted a July 20, 1938 exchange sending Buckets Goldenberg and Swede Johnston to Pittsburgh for the rights to Pat McCarty and Lou Midler. The arrangement was conditional on the two incoming rights players reporting. Both instead took coaching jobs, so Goldenberg and Johnston were told to return to Green Bay and the deal was called off. No lasting football value changed hands.
Pittsburgh Pirates Return
Pittsburgh briefly acquired Buckets Goldenberg and Swede Johnston in a conditional deal for the rights to Pat McCarty and Lou Midler, but the transaction collapsed almost immediately. Contemporary Green Bay accounts say McCarty and Midler did not report, causing Goldenberg and Johnston to return to the Packers. Because the intended exchange never became a lasting transfer, neither club deserves a meaningful edge.
Value in Hindsight
A conventional win-loss framework can be misleading for a deal that unwound. Giving either club a strong positive mark would imply that one side retained benefits created by the exchange. The historical sequence instead shows a conditional agreement that failed because the incoming rights players did not report.
Final Verdict
Even Trade is the appropriate result. C grades recognize that the transaction was real enough to be announced and processed conditionally, yet neither club secured lasting football value from it. The most important conclusion is not who “won,” but that the July arrangement effectively nullified itself.