About Me
Midway through the 1931 season, Philadelphia's representative in the NFL, the Frankford Yellow Jackets, went bankrupt and ceased operations. After more than a year of searching for a suitable replacement, the NFL awarded the dormant franchise to a syndicate headed by former Yellow Jackets owners Bert Bell and Lud Wray, in exchange for an entry fee of $2,500. Drawing inspiration from the insignia of the centerpiece of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, the National Recovery Act, Bell and Wray named the new franchise the Philadelphia Eagles. (Neither the Eagles nor the NFL officially regard the two franchises as the same, citing the aforementioned period of dormancy; furthermore, almost no Yellow Jackets players were on the Eagles' first roster. Some observers, however, believe the two teams should be treated as one.) The Eagles, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the defunct Cincinnati Reds, joined the NFL as expansion teams.The Eagles struggled over the course of their first decade, enduring repeated losing seasons. In 1943, when manpower shortages stemming from World War II made it impossible to fill the roster, the team temporarily merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers to form a team known as "the Phil-Pitt Steagles." (The merger, never intended as a permanent arrangement, was dissolved at the end of the 1943 season.) By the late 1940s, head coach Earle "Greasy" Neale and running back Steve Van Buren led the team to three consecutive NFL Championship Games, winning two of them in 1948 and 1949. Those two Championships mark the Eagles as the only NFL team ever to win back to back Championships by shutouts, defeating the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 in 1948 and the Los Angeles Rams 14-0 in 1949.The Eagles won their third NFL championship in 1960 under the leadership of future Pro Football Hall of Famers Norm Van Brocklin and Chuck Bednarik; the head coach was Buck Shaw. The 1960 Eagles, by a score of 17-13, became the only team to defeat Vince Lombardi and his Packers in the playoffs.But they would not qualify for the postseason again until 1978 when head coach Dick Vermeil and quarterback Ron Jaworski led the team to four consecutive playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl XV loss to the Oakland Raiders.Philadelphia football struggled through the Marion Campbell years and was marked by a malaise in fan participation. In 1986, the arrival of head coach Buddy Ryan and his fiery attitude rejuvenated team performance and ignited the fanbase. From 1988 to 1996, the Eagles qualified for the playoffs during 6 out of those 9 seasons. Among the team's offensive stars during that period were quarterback Randall Cunningham, tight end Keith Jackson, and running back Keith Byars. But the "Gang Green" defense is what defined the team, led by Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons, Seth Joyner, Wes Hopkins, Byron Evans, Eric Allen, and Andre Waters.In 1999, the Eagles hired head coach Andy Reid and drafted quarterback Donovan McNabb. Since that time, the team continually improved and eventually succeeded in playing in four consecutive conference championship games between 2001 and 2004. After losing the conference championship in 2001 to the St. Louis Rams, in 2002 to the eventual Super Bowl Champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 2003 to the Carolina Panthers, the Eagles finally advanced to the Super Bowl, Super Bowl XXXIX, where they were defeated by the New England Patriots. The Eagles are the current champions of the NFC East.I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
1959-1968
1969-1975
1976-1984
1985-1995
Tommy McDonald
Steve Van BurenMyspace Contact Tables , hosting by Imgdump.net
