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For current sports news on this topic, see 2007 Philadelphia Eagles season

Philadelphia Eagles

Year founded: 1933
Helmet Logo
City	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fight song	Fly, Eagles Fly
Mascot	Swoop
Current uniform
Team colors	Midnight Green, Black, White, and Silver
Personnel
Head Coach	Andy Reid
Owner	Jeffrey Lurie
General manager	Tom Heckert (official) Andy Reid (de facto)
Home fields
Baker Bowl (1933-1935) Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (1936-1939; 1941) Connie Mack Stadium (1940; 1942-1957) a.k.a. Shibe Park (1940-1953) Franklin Field (1958-1970) Veterans Stadium (1971-2002) Lincoln Financial Field (2003-Present)
Team history
Philadelphia Eagles (1933-1942) Philadelphia-Pittsburgh "Steagles" (1943) Philadelphia Eagles (1944–present)
League/Conference affiliations
National Football League (1933–present) Eastern Division (1933-1949) American Conference (1950-1952) Eastern Conference (1953-1969) Capitol Division (1967-1969) National Football Conference (1970-present) NFC East (1970-present)
Championships
League Championships (3) NFL Championships (3) 1948, 1949, 1960
Conference Championships (3) NFL Eastern: 1960 NFC: 1980, 2004
Division Championships (11) NFL East: 1947, 1948, 1949, 1960 NFC East: 1980, 1988, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Eagles joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1933. Currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC), the team has won three NFL titles and made two Super Bowl appearances (1980 and 2004).

For more details on this topic, see History of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Midway through the 1931 season, 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 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.

In 1969 Leonard Tose bought the Philadelphia Eagles from Jerry Wolman for $16,155,000[3], then a record for a professional sports franchise. Tose's first official act was to fire Coach Joe Kuharich. He followed this by naming former Eagles receiving great Pete Retzlaff as General Manager and Jerry Williams as coach.

In 1976 he, along with General Manager Jimmy Murray, lured Dick Vermeil from UCLA to coach the Eagles, who had only one winning season from 1962-75. Vermeil's 1980 team lost to Oakland in the Super Bowl. In January 1983, Tose announced that his daughter, Susan Fletcher, the Eagles' vice president and legal counsel, would eventually succeed him as primary owner of the Eagles.

In 1985 Tose was forced to sell the Eagles to Norman Braman and Ed Leibowitz, highly successful automobile dealers from Florida, for a reported $65 million to pay off his more than $25 million in gambling debts at Atlantic City casinos.

With the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970, the Eagles were placed in the NFC East Division with their archrivals the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, and the Dallas Cowboys. 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 their first NFC East division title in 1980 and a Super Bowl XV loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Philadelphia football struggled through the Marion Campbell years of the mid 1980s 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 fan base. From 1988 to 1996, the Eagles qualified for the playoffs during 6 out of those 9 seasons, but they won the NFC East only once, in 1988. 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. From that time on the team continually improved, returning to the playoffs in 2000, then succeeding in winning the NFC East and 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 again in 2004, Super Bowl XXXIX, where they were lost narrowly to the New England Patriots, 24-21. Following a 2005 season marred by injuries and controversy among its star players, the Eagles returned to the playoffs in 2006 with an improbable run of 5 consecutive wins to end the season, bringing the team its fifth NFC East title under Coach Reid.

Philadelphia logo of an eagle in flight (1973-1995)

For several decades, the Eagles ' colors were Kelly green, silver, and white. Since the 1950s, the club's helmets have featured eagle wings, originally silver on a Kelly green helmet. In 1969, the team wore two helmet versions: Kelly green with white wings for road games, and white with Kelly green wings for home games. From 1970 to 1973, they wore the white helmets with Kelly green wings exclusively before switching back to Kelly green helmets with silver wings. By 1974 the silver wings took on a white outline, and this style on a Kelly green helmet became standard for over two decades. In 1969, the team introduced a stylized logo featuring an eagle carrying a football in its claws. This logo was redrawn several years later to be made more realistic.

However, both the logo and uniforms were radically altered in 1996. The primary Kelly green color was changed to a darker shade (Hex triplet: #003b48) officially described as "midnight green"; silver was practically abandoned, as uniform pants moved to either white or the aforementioned midnight green; and the traditional helmet wings were changed to a primarily white color, with silver and black accents. The team's logo combination - the stylized eagle and club name lettering - also changed in 1996, with the eagle itself limited to a white (bald eagle) head, drawn in a less realistic, more cartoon-based style, and the lettering changing from calligraphic to block letters.

Eagles primary logo 1996-present.

Since the 1996 alterations, the team has made only minor alterations, mostly relating to jersey/pant combinations worn during specific games. For example, in 1997, against the San Francisco 49ers, the team wore midnight green jerseys and pants for the first of only 2 occasions in team history. And in the first two games of the 2003 season (both home losses to Tampa Bay and New England), the Eagles wore white jerseys with white pants. The white jerseys along with white pants are worn during their preseason games, since 2003. However, in every regular season game since the New England loss, when the team has worn the white jersey they have paired it with green pants.

Alternate Eagles logo (1996-present)

The 2003 season also saw the first (though only subtle) change to the 1996-style uniform. On both white and green jerseys, black shadows and silver trim were added to both the green and white numbering. The stripe on the pants changed from black-green-black to black-silver-green on the white pants, and from a solid black stripe to one stripe of black, another of silver, with one small white stripe in between for the midnight green pants. The 2003 season also saw the team debut black alternate jerseys, with a green (instead of black) shadow on white numbers, and silver trim. These black jerseys have been worn for two selected home games each season. In the 2003 and 2004 regular-season home finales, the team wore the green road pants with the black alternate jerseys, but lost each game. Since then, the Eagles have only worn the black jerseys with the white pants. The team also started wearing black shoes exclusively in 2004.

To celebrate the team's 75th anniversary, the 2007 uniforms feature a 75th season logo patch on the left shoulder. In addition, the team wore 'throwback' jerseys in a 2007 game against the Detroit Lions. The yellow and blue jerseys, the same colors found on Philadelphia's city flag, are based on those worn by the Philadelphia Eagles in the team's inaugural season, and were the same colors used by the former Frankford Yellowjackets franchise prior to their suspension of operations in 1931. The Eagles beat Detroit, 56-21^[1]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties

* = Current Standing

+ = Due to a strike-shortened season in 1982, all teams were ranked by conference instead of division.

For more details on this topic, see Fly, Eagles Fly.

. Fly, Eagles Fly, on The Road to Victory!

Fight, Eagles, Fight, Score a Touchdown 1-2-3!

Hit 'em low, hit 'em high,

And watch our Eagles fly!

Fly, Eagles fly, On The Road to Victory!

E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!

The Eagles begin each season with summer training camp at the football facilities of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, located about 50 miles north of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

Eagles training camp in Bethlehem is notable for routinely drawing some of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds of any NFL team's training camp,^[2] with crowds typically exceeding 10,000 and sometimes as many as 20,000 to the Eagles' twice-daily training camp practices.

Eagles training camp begins in mid-July and ends in mid-August. In addition to the twice-daily practices, Eagles players are typically available at training camp for autographs. The camp also features food, games and Eagles' merchandise for all ages.

In 1971, Kim Hill, the daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill was diagnosed with leukemia. As Hill and his family dealt with the devastating blow to the family, his teammates and owner Leonard Tose pledged their emotional support.

As Fred continued to research Kim's leukemia, the support of Leonard Tose and the Philadelphia Eagles continued to inspire him. The Eagles held fund raising dinners, the team made individual contributions, and Fred and Kim continued to bravely battle this disease.

After Kim's successful treatment, Fred realized how powerful the spirit of solidarity that his teammates displayed truly was. Fred became committed to helping other families battle pediatric cancers. From helping them identify resources, to assisting financially, Fred and his teammates continued their fight against childhood cancers. In 1972, Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose officially recognized Eagles Fly for Leukemia as the official philanthropy of the Philadelphia Eagles Football Club.

The spirit of the Eagles and Leonard Tose led to the development of the world's first Ronald McDonald House, a place for families to find shelter when their children are sick. Now, over 200 Ronald McDonald houses shelter thousands of families around the world.

The spirit continued, and over the last 30 years, "Eagles Fly for Leukemia" has raised over $10 million towards pediatric cancer research and Family Support.

In 1991, Eagles Fly for Leukemia soared higher, and established itself as a free-standing non-profit organization, outside of the Philadelphia Eagles Football Club. However, the spirit remains, with the Eagles continuing to support and encourage Eagles Fly for Leukemia initiatives.

In 1995, in an effort to better give back to the community, Eagles Youth Partnership (EYP) was formed as a 501(c)(3) public charity in the emerging field of sports philanthropy.

Eagles Youth Partnership (EYP) serves over 50,000 low income children in the Greater Philadelphia region every year via two mobile units, the Eagles Eye Mobile, which gives eye examinations, and the Eagles Book Mobile, a literacy program. EYP is also known for annual playground builds in underserved neighborhoods, an annual chess tournament, and a variety of other programs and events.

The Philadelphia Eagles Football Club is the EYP's largest funder. The Eagles also donate free office space, staff support and other resources in support of the organization. Corporate, foundation and individual donors join to support Eagles Youth Partnership's efforts.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been widely referenced in movies, books, music and other contemporary culture. Examples include:

• This fictional tale is similar to the true story of Vince Papale, dramatized in the 2006 film Invincible. In the movie, Papale is a 30-year-old bartender who enters an open tryout with the Eagles and, against the odds, actually makes the team. Papale is played by Mark Wahlberg who later shows up in the film Shooter wearing an Eagles jacket and ball cap. In reality, while at the time he was in fact a bartender, Papale had previously played for the World Football League's Philadelphia Bell, and did well enough to earn a private workout with then Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil. Papale played three seasons with the Eagles, playing as both a wide receiver on offense and on special teams.

• The 2003 Adam Sandler film Anger Management features Jonathan Loughran portraying a Philadelphia sports fan who is a member of an anger management group, poking fun at Philadelphia's unfortunate penchant for losses and irate fans. Loughran is seen in the film wearing a #5 Donovan McNabb Eagles jersey, as well as a #6 Julius Erving Philadelphia 76ers jersey.^[3]

• The 1998 film The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon stars Tony Danza as a Philadelphia sanitation worker. Because his garbage truck fails to close its payload properly, he is forced to kick it shut. As a result, his leg becomes so strong that he can kick field goals beyond 50 yards, and the Eagles sign him as their kicker.

• If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? Philadelphia, Its Faithful, and the Eternal Quest for Sports Salvation, by Jere Longman (2006).
• The Great Book of Philadelphia Sports Lists, by Macnow and Big Daddy Graham, Philadelphia sports talk radio hosts on WIP (2006).
• Philly Sports Challenge Eagles Edition, by Eli Kowalski (2006).
• The Eagles Encyclopedia, by Ray Didinger and Robert Lyons (2005).
• A Sunday Pilgrimage: Six Days, Several Prayers and the Super Bowl, by Anthony Gargano (2005).
• The Great Philadelphia Sports Debate, by Macnow and Angelo Cataldi, another WIP host (2004).
• The Great Philadelphia Fan Book, by Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano, both of the authors host a Philadelphia sports-talk radio show on Philadelphia's WIP, one of the city's all-sports radio stations (2003).
• Bringing The Heat by Mark Bowden (1994).
• Eagles by the Number: Jersey Numbers and the Players Who Wore Them, by John Maxymuk.
• In John Irving's novel The World According to Garp the protagonist's sidekick is a transsexual former Eagles tight end, played in the film adaptation by John Lithgow.

The Philadelphia Eagles have a number of celebrity fans, predominantly including celebrities who once, or currently, live in Philadelphia, including:

• Angelo Cataldi, Philadelphia morning sports radio commentator, WIP radio, Philadelphia.^[4]
• Jim Cramer, CNBC television host, former hedge fund manager.^[5]
• Ray Didinger, author, Comcast SportsNet professional football television analyst.^[6]
• Kevin Eubanks, jazz fusion musician, guitarist for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.^[7]
• Matthew Fox, actor, ABC's Lost, former male model.^[8]
• Michael Johns, health care executive, author, former White House Presidential speechwriter.^[9]
• Ryan Phillippe, actor, Crash, I Know What You Did Last Summer.^[10]
• Merrill Reese, Philadelphia Eagles play by play radio announcer, WYSP radio.^[11]
• Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania, former Mayor of Philadelphia, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia Philadelphia Eagles post-game analyst.^[12]
• Will Smith, rap artist, "Gettin' Jiggy wit It," "Wild Wild West," actor, Men in Black, Ali.^[13]
• Arlen Specter, U.S. Senator.^[14]

Main article: List of Philadelphia Eagles players

• Chuck Bednarik (1967) - 1949-1962
• Bert Bell (1963) - 1933-1940
• Bob Brown (2004) - 1964-1968
• Mike Ditka (1988) - 1967-1968
• Bill Hewitt (1971) - 1937-1939
• Sonny Jurgensen (1983) - 1957-1963
• James Lofton (2003) - 1993
• John Madden (2007) - Drafted in 1958, never played in a game due to training camp injury
• Ollie Matson (1972) - 1964-1966
• Tommy McDonald (1998) - 1957-1963
• Earle "Greasy" Neale (1969) - 1941-1950
• Pete Pihos (1970) - 1947-1955
• Jim Ringo (1981) - 1964-1967
• Norm Van Brocklin (1971) - 1958-1960
• Steve Van Buren (1965) - 1944-1951
• Reggie White (2006) - 1985-1992
• Alex Wojciechowicz (1968) - 1946-1950

• 15 Steve Van Buren, HB/S, 1944-51
• 40 Tom Brookshier, DB, 1953-61
• 44 Pete Retzlaff, RB/WR/TE, 1956-66
• 60 Chuck Bednarik, C/LB, 1949-62
• 70 Al Wistert, OT, 1943-51
• 92 Reggie White, DE, 1985-92
• 99 Jerome Brown, DT, 1986-92

In 1987, the Eagles Honor Roll was established. Each Eagle player who had by then been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was among the inaugural induction class.

Current Eagles Honor Roll members include:

• 60 Chuck Bednarik, C-LB, 1949-62, inducted 1987
• Bert Bell, founder-owner, 1933-40, inducted 1987
• 17 Harold Carmichael, WR, 1971-83, inducted 1987
• 56 Bill Hewitt, TE-DE, 1936-39 and 1943, inducted 1987
• 9 Sonny Jurgensen, QB, 1957-63, inducted 1987
• 31 Wilbert Montgomery, RB, 1977-84, inducted 1987
• Earle "Greasy" Neale, Head Coach, 1941-50, inducted 1987
• 35 Pete Pihos, TE-DE, 1947-55, inducted 1987
• 33 Ollie Matson, RB, 1964-66, inducted 1987
• 54 Jim Ringo, C, 1964-67, inducted 1987
• 11 Norm Van Brocklin, QB, 1958-60, inducted 1987
• 15 Steve Van Buren, RB-S, 1944-51, inducted 1987
• 53 Alex Wojciechowicz, C-DT, 1946-50, inducted 1987
• 66 Bill Bergey, LB, 1974-80, inducted 1988
• 25 Tommy McDonald, WR, 1957-63, inducted 1988
• 40 Tom Brookshier, CB, 1954-61, inducted 1989
• 44 Pete Retzlaff, TE, 1956-66, inducted 1989
• 22 Timmy Brown, RB, 1960-67, inducted 1990
• 76 Jerry Sisemore, OT, 1973-84, inducted 1991
• 75 Stan Walters, OT, 1975-83, inducted 1991
• 7 Ron Jaworski, QB, 1977-86, inducted 1992
• 28 Bill Bradley, S-P, 1969-76, inducted 1993
• Dick Vermeil, Head Coach, 1976-82, inducted 1994
• Jim Gallagher, team executive, 1949-95, inducted 1995
• 82 Mike Quick, WR, 1982-90, inducted 1995
• 99 Jerome Brown, DT, 1987-91, inducted 1996
• Otho Davis, head trainer, 1973-95, inducted 1999
• 92 Reggie White, DE, 1987-92, inducted 2006

Despite having his number 70 retired, Al Wistert has not yet been inducted into the Eagles Honor Roll.

Bednarik, Bell, Pihos, Van Buren, McDonald and broadcaster Bill Campbell have all been inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

Name	Nat	From	To	Record			Titles[15]
				W	L	T
Lud Wray		1933	1935	9	21	1
Bert Bell		1936	1940	10	44	2
Earle "Greasy" Neale		1941	1950	66	44	5	2
Bo McMillin		1951	1951	2	0	0
Wayne Millner		1951	1951	2	8	0
Jim Trimble		1952	1955	25	20	3
Hugh Devore		1956	1957	7	16	1
Buck Shaw		1958	1960	19	16	1	1
Nick Skorich		1961	1963	15	24	3
Joe Kuharich		1964	1968	28	42	1
Jerry Williams		1969	1971	7	22	2
Ed Khayat		1971	1972	8	15	2
Mike McCormack		1973	1975	16	25	1
Dick Vermeil		1976	1982	57	51	0
Marion Campbell		1983	December 16, 1985	17	29	1
Fred Bruney		December 16, 1985	1985	1	0	0
Buddy Ryan		January 29, 1986	January 8, 1991	43	35	1
Rich Kotite		January 8, 1991	December 24, 1994	36	28	0
Ray Rhodes		February 2, 1995	December 28, 1998	29	34	1
Andy Reid		January 11, 1999	Present	90	56	0

As of 2007, the Eagles' flagship radio station is WYSP 94.1 FM. Merrill Reese, who joined the Eagles in the mid-1970s, is the play-by-play announcer, and former Eagles wide receiver Mike Quick is the color analyst. Former Eagles linebacker Bill Bergey is among several Eagles post-game commentators on WYSP.

Most preseason games are televised on WPVI, the local ABC owned and operated station. Television announcers for these preseason games are Gus Johnson and former Eagles linebacker Ike Reese.

The Eagles also helped to usher in the television as a national phenomenon in the United States, when a contest between the Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first NFL game broadcast on a major television network (NBC) on October 22, 1939.

1. ^ http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/homeNewsDetail.jsp?id=67623
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ The Great Philadelphia Fan Book, page 144.
5. ^ "Mad Money Recap," September 12, 2007.
6. ^ "The Eagles Encyclopedia," Temple University Press.
7. ^ Kevin Eubanks at IMDB.
8. ^ Matthew Fox trivia section at IMDB.
9. ^ "Giving Kevin Kolb the Benefit of the Doubt," by Michael Johns, Michael Johns blog, April 28, 2007.
10. ^ "Quote of the Day: For Philly Fans," The Trouble with Spikol blog, June 16, 2006.
11. ^ Merrill Reese at JerseyIntern.com.
12. ^ ["Pennsylvania Governor: Rendell-Swann a Toss-up," Rasmussen Reports, January 19, 2006.
13. ^ [http://www.popstarsplus.com/actors_willsmith.htm "PopStarsPlus.com.
14. ^ "Defending Philly," The New York Times, November 3, 2002.
15. ^ NFL Championships and Super Bowl Championships collected during a coaching tenure

• Philadelphia Eagles official web site

v • d • e Sports teams based in and around Philadelphia
Baseball	MLB: Philadelphia Phillies, ALPB: Camden Riversharks, CL: Wilmington Blue Rocks, EL: Reading Phillies • Trenton Thunder, IL: Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Basketball	NBA: Philadelphia 76ers, EBA: Delaware Destroyers • New Jersey Bullets, PBL: Reading Railers
Football	NFL: Philadelphia Eagles, AFL: Philadelphia Soul, AIFA: Reading Express, CIFL: Lehigh Valley Outlawz
Hockey	NHL: Philadelphia Flyers, AHL: Philadelphia Phantoms, ECHL: Reading Royals • Trenton Devils, MAHL: Valley Forge Freedom
Lacrosse	NLL: Philadelphia Wings, MLL: Philadelphia Barrage
Rugby league	AMNRL: Aston DSC Bulls • New Jersey Sharks • Philadelphia Fight
Rugby union	RSL: Philadelphia Whitemarsh RFC
Soccer	MISL: Philadelphia KiXX, USLPDL: Delaware Dynasty • Reading Rage
Softball	NPF: Philadelphia Force
Tennis	WTT: Philadelphia Freedom • Delaware Smash
College athletics (NCAA Div. I)	Drexel University • La Salle University • Saint Joseph's University • Temple University • University of Delaware • University of Pennsylvania • Villanova University • See also: Philadelphia Big 5
Main Article: Sports in Philadelphia