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The Philadelphia Eagles became
Philadelphia’s
franchise in 1933 after Philadelphia's original representative
in the National Football League, the Frankford Yellow Jackets,
went bankrupt and creased all its operations. Founded by
co-owners Bert Bell and Lud Wray, the Eagles team played its
first game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago
on November 12, 1933. After repeated losing seasons, the Eagles
reached at the top of the league in the 1940s. In 1941,
following a unique swap between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the
two teams traded home cities with Alexis Thompson, who went on
to become the Eagles owner.
The Eagles' first major recruiting success took place in 1939
when they recruited Texas Christian's all-America quarterback,
Davey O'Brien. In his rookie season only, O'Brien broke several
existing single-season NFL passing records. That same season,
the Eagles the Eagles participated in the first televised
football game ever at Ebbets Field in
Brooklyn. The
Eagles lost to the Brooklyn Dodgers by 23-14. Team’s first
decade of apparent success came in 1940s. They finished second
in the NFL Eastern division in 1944, 1945 and 1946, won the
division title in 1947 and then scored consecutive shutout
victories in the 1948 and 1949 championship games. In 1943, the
non-availability of players of players due to World War II made
it impossible to fill the roster. As a result, Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh franchises temporarily combined for one season to
form a team called Phil-Pitt Steagles. Greasy Neale of the
Eagles and Walt Kiesling of the Steelers coaches and the team
and finished the season at
5-4-1.
With the turn of the decade, the Eagles stumbled in their
standings. Though the already established players of the Eagles
managed to stay competitive, the young talent showcased their
athletic skills in flashes. By 1958, the Eagles had fallen to
last place in their division. In 1960, coach Buck Shaw, Van
Brocklin and Bednarik in their last year before the retirement
led the team to its first division title since 1949 with a 10-2
record and then defeated the Green Bay Packers 17-13 for the NFL
championship. In 1961, the Eagles were just a half-game behind
the New York Giants for first place in the Eastern Conference
standings with a 10-4 record, but the recession continued for 18
years. The Eagles made the playoffs for the first time since
1960 in 1978. Young running back Wilbert Montgomery became the
first Eagle since Steve Van Buren to exceed 1,000 yards in a
single season. By 1979, the Eagles tied for first place with an
11-5 record.
In 1980,
Philadelphia won
a club-record 12 games, edged out Dallas for the Eastern
division title and then defeated the Cowboys 20-7 for the NFC
championship, but lost to the Oakland Raiders by 27-10 in Super
Bowl XV. Norman Braman joined the club in 1985. His rebuilding
team won went on to win more than 10 games for five straight
years up to 1993. In four of those years, the Eagles entered the
playoffs as a wild-card team, an accomplishment they repeated in
1995. The Eagles have remained a persistent contenders ever
since. In 2005, the Eagles made their second Super Bowl
appearance but were defeated by the New England Patriots, 24-21.
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