by 1935 19‑year‑old wellington had become the team's secretary, and he started to exert influence over personnel decisions. wellington was a fan of george washington university's alphonse "tuffy" leemans, and he selected the obscure running back in the second round of the nfl's first draft in 1936. leemans led the league in rushing with 830 yards, and posted 118 in the second half of a come-from-behind victory against the chicago cardinals. hubbard came out of retirement to help the team's line towards the end of the season, but despite his solid performance, the giants finished 5–6–1, losing out on a chance to win the eastern division when they lost to eventual division champion boston in the final game of the season.