Jim Ringo - C

Jim Ringo was a Hall of Fame center who played for the Eagles from 1964-67, starting all 56 games during that 4-year span.

Ringo was the Packers' 7th-round pick in 1953, and played for the Pack from 1953-63. He was their starting center in all but his rookie season, and made the Pro Bowl in his last 7 seasons with Green Bay. He was also named 1st-team All-Pro in 6 of those 7 seasons.

As the story goes, after the 1963 season he went into Vince Lombardi's office to negotiate a pay raise. Lombardi excused himself for a few minutes, and when he returned to his office, he notified Ringo that he had just been traded - and to the lowly Eagles to boot. (Lombardi pulled a similar move on Jim Taylor 3 years later.)

The Eagles also got fullback Earl Gros in the deal, in exchange for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and a first-round pick that ended up being running back Donny Anderson.

Ringo anchored the Eagles' offensive line for the next 4 seasons, then retired. He made 3 more Pro Bowls as an Eagle. He had started EVERY game from 1955 to 1967.

Jim was the Buffalo Bills' head coach for the '76 and '77 seasons. After that he was an offensive line coach for the Patriots (1979-81) and the Bills (1984-88).

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981. He was only the 2nd center to be inducted whose career was primarily after the 1940s. (Jim Otto having been inducted in 1980.)

Ringo passed away in 2007, 2 days before his 76th birthday.

These are Ringo's only Eagles' cards ('65, '66).


Where's Waldo Jim?

Lane Howell - T

Book-ending the Eagles' O-line along with Bob Brown for the 2nd half of the 1960s was Lane Howell.

Howell was the Giants' 15th-round pick in the 1963 draft. After two seasons as a reserve, he was traded to the Eagles for guard Pete Case.

Incidentally, the Eagles' top 3 picks in 1963 were all offensive linemen: 
#1 - G Ed Budde, who signed with the Chiefs and was a 7-time Pro Bowler in his 14-year career. 
#2 - C Ray Mansfield, who after 1 year as a reserve was sold to the Steelers and was their starting center through 1976. 
#3 -  C Dave Crossan, who didn't play for the Eagles, but was the Redskins' backup center from 1965-69. 

Howell played his final 5 seasons with the Eagles, and was the starting left tackle for all those years. He played 64 games for the Eagles, starting 58 of them.

Lane was cut at the end of training camp in 1970, The record shows he was claimed by the Rams, but released 2 weeks later, not having played any games for Los Angeles. (The record also shows the Eagles re-signed him in July 1971, but he didn't make the team.)

Howell passed away in January 2018 at age 76.

He had 2 brothers who also played in the NFL: Mike was a defensive back for the Browns from 1965-72, and Delles was a cornerback for the Saints and Jets from 1970-75.

Howell did not appear on any football cards issued by Topps or Philadelphia Gum. This is a custom 1966 card made by RetroCards, which I purchased along with 8 other 1966-style Eagles cards.

Where's Waldo Lane?

Bob Brown - T

Bob Brown was an All-Pro tackle for the Eagles from 1964 to 1968. He was the Eagles' #1 pick (2nd overall) in the 1964 draft, and started every game at right tackle during his 5 seasons with the Birds, except for missing 6 games in 1967 due to injury.

Brown was also the #1 pick (4th overall) of the Broncos in the AFL draft. Denver had the #1 overall pick, but traded down to #4, sending the top pick to Boston (which turned out to be QB Jack Concannon - who also signed with the Eagles!) . So the Eagles spanked both the Broncos and the Patriots in that draft!

"The Boomer" was named 1st-team All-Pro 3 times as an Eagle (all but his rookie season and the injury-shortened 1967). At 6'4", 280 lbs, he was huge for an O-lineman at that time.
Other top tackles of the day: Forrest Gregg (250 lbs), Ron Mix (250), Dick Schafrath (253), Rayfield Wright (255), Art Shell (265).

After the 1968 season, the Eagles were sold to Leonard Tose, and a new GM (Pete Retzlaff) and new head coach (Jerry Williams) were hired. Brown made it known he would not play for a team having Retzlaff as the GM. Did he think Pete was incompetent? A racist? Maybe some bad blood from their days as teammates? Inquiring minds want to know.

Brown was traded to the Rams in May 1969 (along with cornerback Jim Nettles) for CB Irv Cross, T Joe Carollo, and G Don Chuy. All 3 ex-Rams were near the end of their careers, with Cross and Chuy only playing 1 season each for the Eagles, and Carollo playing 2 seasons before returning to the Rams.

Meanwhile, Bob was again named 1st-team All-Pro in his 2 seasons with the Rams. He finished his career with 3 seasons in Oakland, making the Pro Bowl during his first season there. Brown was the Rams' or Raiders' starting right tackle for all those seasons.

He retired after the 1973 season, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Here are his only Eagles cards ('66, '67). He also had cards as a Ram and Raider.


I looked up "Badass Mo-fo" in the dictionary, and this picture came up!

Where's Waldo Bob?