as a sort of unofficial team motto throughout the team's consistent struggles over the subsequent thirty years. Within weeks of the end of the 1941 season, America would enter World War II, which would have a huge impact on the nation, but also on the NFL and its teams. Although the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 had instituted conscription in late 1940, the NFL was not significantly impacted until after the United States joined the war following Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941. Rooney and Bell lobbied to delay the 1942 NFL Draft due to the uncertainty of the war situation, but they were overruled by their fellow owners. The Steelers had the first overall selection, due to their last-place showing the previous season. They made Virginia halfback "Bullet" Bill Dudley the first pick. They then rounded out the draft by choosing as many married players as possible with an eye toward the likelihood those players could avoid the military draft, at least for the upcoming season. The team lost several players who had filled key roles the previous year to the military, including quarterbacks Johnny Patrick and Rocco Pirro, leading runner Art Jones and budding tackle Joe Coomer. The team's first-round pick, Bill Dudley, intended as well to join the military rather than play football, but when he enlisted in September 1942 there was such a backlog of recruits that his induction was delayed by a few months. This gave him the opportunity to sign with the Steelers for $5,000 ($ today). After a slow start, in which they lost their first two games, the 1942 squad then won seven of their next eight contests. They fell to the Green Bay Packers in their final game to cap a 7–4 season. They finished in second place in the Eastern Division behind the Washington Redskins, who went on to capture the league title. It was the first winning record the club had recorded in its ten-year history. Dudley became the second Steeler to lead the league in rushing with 696 yards on 162 attempts. The "triple-threat" back also tallied 35 passes for 438 yards and 18 punts and was runner-up to Green Bay's Don Hutson for the Joe F. Carr Trophy which is awarded to the league's most valuable player. Steagles At the annual league meeting held on the weekend of the 1942 NFL Championship Game, the league's