1965 Eagles

Here are the 1965 Eagles' cards, the 2nd of 4 seasons where the NFL cards were made by the Philadelphia Gum Company. 

This is the 2nd year of the 5-year reign of incompetence by head coach/GM Joe Kuharich. (Some of the moves prior to his first season were to unload Sonny Jurgensen and Tommy McDonald (to division rivals Washington and Dallas, respectively) for lesser players, essentially exchanging quality for quantity. 

The Eagles finished with a 5-9 record in 1965, good for a 5th place tie with the Cardinals (out of 7 teams). 

The Birds had two first-team All-Pro players on the squad - tight end Pete Retzlaff and tackle Bob Brown.

 

Clarence Peaks played 1964 and 1965 with the Steelers, but is still shown in his Eagles' jersey.

The fire sale continued after the season, with Kuharich trading Maxie Baughan and Irv Cross, both Pro-Bowlers in 1965 and both in their mid-20s, to the Rams. In return, they got a big bag of beans: 

for Baughan: 

DT Frank Molden - missed '66 and '67 seasons, then a backup for 1 season 

LB Fred Brown - missed '66 season, then a backup for 3 seasons 

RB Harry Wilson (draft pick) - played in 6 games over 4 seasons 

 

for Cross: 

CB Aaron Martin - played 2 seasons, 1 as a starting CB 

FL Willie Brown - played 1 season (7 games, no starts) 

Meanwhile, Baughan, who was named to 5 Pro Bowls as an Eagle, played in 4 more as a Ram, and Cross was a 3-year starter for the Rams.

Earl Gros - FB

Earl Gros played fullback for the Eagles for 3 seasons, and was the starter for 2 1/2 seasons.

He was the Packers' 1st-round pick in 1962. After two seasons as a backup (they had Jim Taylor ahead of him), Gros was included in the May 1964 Jim Ringo trade to the Eagles (for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and a 1st-round pick, which became Donny Anderson).

Gros immediately took over the starting fullback role in Philly. He played all but 1 game from 1964-66, starting 12, 14, and 6 games in that span.

In March 1967 he was traded to the Steelers (with guard Bruce Van Dyke) for receiver Gary Ballman. He rode the bench for a year, then was their starting fullback in '68 and '69.

Earl finished up in 1970, playing 1 game for the Saints before they waived him in September.

These are Gros' 3 Eagles cards (1965-67). By 1967 he was with the Steelers.


Where's Waldo Earl?

(Sitting next to his former Packers' teammate Jim Ringo - #54).

1966 Eagles

Previously, I posted the Eagles cards for 1967, 1968, and 1969. I didn't start with the 1966 set because last year I only had a few of them, but I recently completed my Eagles' sets for 1964-66.

I didn't collect any kind of sports cards in 1966 - that all began in 1967. Prior to that, I was collecting Batman, Beatles, Combat, World War II, McHale's Navy, and Green Berets cards. A few Munsters, Superman, and Monkees cards may have also made their way onto my radar. My brother and I also made our own cards - cutting pictures of monsters out of magazines and comic books, and gluing them onto small pieces of cardboard to make "Castle of Frankenstein" cards! 

The Eagles finished in 2nd place in the 8-team East Division with a 9-5 record in 1966. It would be their last winning season until 1978. Meanwhile, they were winning 2 games in '68 and '72, and 3 games in 1970.

The Birds had ONE All-Pro player on the 1966 team - tackle Bob Brown. In addition to Brown, DT Floyd Peters also made the Pro Bowl.

Tight end Pete Retzlaff played the final season of his 11-year career, and Timmy Brown was on the last of his 5 productive seasons as the team's top running back, a string that included 3 Pro Bowl appearances.

What could also be considered a highlight is that QB Norm Snead threw an Eagles-career low 11 interceptions. That number would spike up to the 20-24 range for his last 4 seasons as an Eagle. On second thought, it's probably because he only played 10 games. 2nd-string QB King Hill and 3rd-stringer Jack Concannon each started 2 games.

After the season, the Eagles acquired All-Pro tight end Mike Ditka from the Bears. They offered Chicago their choice of either of their 3 quarterbacks, and the Bears chose 3rd-string Concannon!


Here are all the 1966 Eagles' cards. From 1964-67, Philadelphia Gum (not Topps) made the NFL cards. (Each team had 11 player cards, plus a team photo card and a play card.)

Split end Ray Poage missed the entire season with injuries, and was replaced in the starting lineup by Fred Hill. Poage was traded to the expansion Saints after the season.

Maxie Baughan and cornerback Irv Cross were both traded to the Rams in separate deals prior to the 1966 season.

Earl Gros is tackled before crossing the goal line.

1967 Eagles

1967 is when I started collecting football cards (although I didn't start watching the games until 1970).

After finishing in 2nd place in the 8-team East Division with a 9-5 record in 1966, the Eagles slid back to 6-7-1 in 1967, still in 2nd place, but in a 4-team Capitol Division (NFL realigned to 4 divisions).

There weren't too many highlights in '67. Their 2 biggest wins came against the expansion Saints (48-21) and 2nd-year Falcons (38-7), but the Eagles got roughed up pretty good by the Cardinals (48-14), Giants (44-7), and Colts (38-6).

2nd-year split end Ben Hawkins caught 59 passes for 1265 yards, but their leading rusher (Tom Woodeshick) only had 391 yards. Pete Retzlaff retired before the season, and Timmy Brown missed half the season with injuries.  The Eagles acquired 2 good receivers before the season - Mike Ditka (for 3rd-string QB Jack Concannon) and Gary Ballman (for FB Earl Gros).


Here are all the 1967 Eagles' cards. From 1964-67, Philadelphia Gum (not Topps) made the NFL cards. (Each team had 10 player cards, plus a team card and logo card.) I accumulated all these cards in 1967 except Timmy Brown, Earl Gros, and Gary Ballman.

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The Running Backs

Here are the Eagles' 12 primary running backs from 1966 to 1975. There were quite a few others (such as 1967 #1 draft pick/bust Harry Jones), but these below are all the starters.

We start off with the tandem of Timmy Brown and Earl Gros. Brown played for the Eagles from 1960-67, and was their starting halfback from '62 to '66. Gros was the starting fullback for his 3 seasons with the Eagles (1964-66).

After backing up Brown and Gros in 1966, Izzy Lang and Tom Woodeshick took over as the starting backfield for '67 and '68. Woodeshick led the team in rushing from 1967 to 1969.

Leroy Keyes was the Eagles' #1 pick in 1969. [After an 0-12 start, the Birds won their last 2 games, thus blowing the chance to draft O.J. Simpson.] After a serviceable rookie season, Keyes had an awful 2nd year, then was moved to strong safety for his final 2 seasons with the Eagles. Leroy was 2nd in rushing behind Woodeshick in 1969.

After 2 seasons as the #3 back, Cyril Pinder led the Eagles in rushing in 1970, teaming with rookie fullback Lee Bouggess. Woodeshick and rookie Larry Watkins rounded out the top 4.

Pinder was traded away after the 1970 season, leaving Bouggess as the team's top rusher in 1971. He was joined by halfback Ron Bull, who played his final season with the Eagles after playing for the Bears from 1962-70. As in 1970, Woodeshick and Watkins were the 3rd and 4th backs.

With Bouggess lost for the season due to injury, Bull retired, and Woodeshick traded, the Eagles featured a new set of backs in 1972. Rookie Ron "Po" James led the team in rushing, with Larry Watkins sharing the fullback job with ex-Saint Tony Baker.

James' time at the top was short, with rookie Tom Sullivan taking over the starting halfback job for the next 3 seasons. Sullivan would lead the team in rushing from 1973-75. Norm Bulaich joined the team in 1973, and was the starting fullback for his 2 seasons in Philly ('73-'74). James was the #3 back for the '73 and '74 seasons.

In 1975, Sullivan had a new running mate: Art Malone was brought in from Atlanta as the fullback. Rookie James McAlister was #3 with Po James at #4.

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When Dick Vermeil was hired for the 1976 season, he cleaned house at several positions, including running back. The only holdovers from 1975 were Sullivan and McAllister. Rookies Mike Hogan and Herb Lusk were in the mix, plus newly-acquired veterans Dave Hampton and Bill Olds.

1969 Running backs:

37 - Tom Woodeshick, 20 - Leroy Keyes, 22 - Cyril Pinder, 33 - Ronny Blye, 23 - Harry Jones