1975 Eagles

After finishing at 7-7 in 1974, the 1975 Eagles regressed to 4-10 (including a 5-game mid-season losing streak), costing coach Mike McCormick his job.  

 

TE Charle Young was their only Pro Bowl player. Norm Bulaich and Steve Zabel were not on the team after 1974.

   

 

These two also played for the Eagles in 1975:

 

1974 Eagles

After a never-ending string of obituaries, how about if we look at some football cards? 

 

 

The 1974 Eagles posted a 7-7 record, their only non-losing season between 1967 and 1977. The next 2 seasons, they reverted to 4-10 records. 

 

Back in the day, I collected football cards only from 1967 to 1973. I got most of these cards on eBay a few months ago. 

 

It's odd that Topps chose John Reaves as the quarterback, when in the previous season Roman Gabriel started every game and led the league in attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdowns, and made the Pro Bowl. Meanwhile, Reaves was 5 for 19 while playing part of only 1 game.

 

These players were also with the Eagles in 1974:

Harold Carmichael - WR

As we leave the 1960s-era Eagles behind, let's take a look at the key Eagles from the 1970s, starting with Harold Carmichael.

Harold was the Eagles' 7th-round pick in 1971. Yes, SEVENTH! The Birds wasted their first 6 picks on DE Richard Harris, G Henry Allison, K Happy Feller (who drafts a kicker that high?) and 3 other guys who didn't even play, before selecting Carmichael. It's no wonder the team sucked so bad in the early-1970s. 

 

Carmichael played for the Eagles for 13 years, and was a starting wide receiver in all but his first 2 seasons. He started 6 games as a rookie, but it was as a tight end, filling in for the injured Gary Ballman. He also started 2 games in 1972. 

 

Why all the time on the bench? The Birds already had Harold Jackson and Ben Hawkins as wideouts. Jackson led the NFL in receiving yards in his first (1969) and last (1972) seasons with the Eagles. He also led in receptions in '72. 

 

After the 1972 season, Jackson was traded to the Rams for quarterback Roman Gabriel. Did they miss the league's top WR? No! Carmichael took Jackson's place, not only in the Eagles' lineup, but as the NFL's leader in catches and receiving yards! 

 

Carmichael made the Pro Bowl 4 times (1973, 1978-80), and started all but one game from 1973 to 1981. He missed 7 games 1982, but returned for 15 games in '83, his final season in Philly. 

 

He finished his career with 2 games for the Cowboys in 1984. 

 

The Receivers

Here are the Eagles’ top receivers from 1966-75. Unless otherwise mentioned in the text below, all the other significant pass catchers were running backs.

The Eagles starting receivers in 1966 were Pete Retzlaff (TE), Fred Hill (SE) and Ron Goodwin (FL). Retzlaff’s entire career (1956-66) was as a starter for the Eagles, first as a split end before moving to tight end in 1963. Hill played his entire career (1965-71) with the Eagles, and in 1966 filled in at SE for Ray Poage, the Eagles split end in ’64 and ’65 who missed the ’66 season with a knee injury. Goodwin also played his entire career (1963-68) with the Eagles, and was their starting flanker from 1963-66. Rookie Ben Hawkins was the #4 receiver, almost equaling Goodwin’s catches.

A new group of receivers took over in 1967. Hawkins led the team in receptions from his flanker spot, and was joined by newly-acquired veterans Gary Ballman (SE) and Mike Ditka (TE). Hawkins played for the Eagles from 1966-74, and was a starting wideout every season except his first and last. He led the NFL in receiving yards in 1967. Ballman played for the Eagles from 1967-72, and was a starter every season but his last. After 2 years as a split end, he moved to TE in 1969. Ditka sandwiched his 2 seasons with the Eagles (’67-’68) between stints with the Bears and Cowboys. He was the starting TE in ’67 (although missing 5 games), but was 2nd-team in 1968.

Fred Hill replaced Ditka at tight end in 1968, joining Hawkins and Ballman in the starting lineup.

In 1969, Harold Jackson joined the Eagles (acquired from the Rams in the Bob Brown trade) and immediately became their best player. Jackson played 4 seasons with the Eagles before returning to the Rams in the Roman Gabriel trade. He led the NFL in receiving yards in ’69 and ’72. With the addition of Jackson, Ballman moved to tight end.

All 3 starters (Jackson, Hawkins, Ballman) returned for 1970, although curiously, Ballman led the team in receptions.

With Ballman injured for much of 1971, rookie Harold Carmichael joined the starting group, as the tight end. Carmichael played for the Eagles from 1971-83, and was a starting WR in all but his first 2 seasons.

Jackson, Hawkins, and Carmichael were the top 3 receivers in 1972, although Carmichael split his time between TE and WR. Kent Kramer (an Eagle from 1971-74) was the nominal #1 tight end, although a distant 6th in receptions.

After leading the NFL in receptions and receiving yards in 1972, Jackson was traded back to the Rams. No big loss – Carmichael stepped in as the Eagles’ #1 wide receiver and led the NFL in receiving yards in 1973.

He was joined by #1 draft pick Charlie Young at TE and rookie Don Zimmerman at WR. Young was the Birds’ starting tight end for his first 4 seasons, then was traded to the Rams (see a pattern?) for QB Ron Jaworski. Replacing Hawkins in the lineup, Zimmerman was a serviceable starter for 2 seasons, and a backup for 2 more.

The Eagles used the same 3 receivers in 1974, then 2nd-year man Charlie Smith replaced Zimmerman as the #2 wide receiver in 1975. Smith was a starter from 1975-81.


1969 Receivers:

WR: 29 - Harold Jackson, 18 - Ben Hawkins, 13 - Chuck Hughes, 12 - Kent Lawrence
TE: 85 - Gary Ballman, 86 - Fred Hill, 87 - Fred Brown

Jersey and Helmet Styles

Here are the various styles of jerseys and helmets used by the Eagles during this blog's time period.

 Jerseys:

For most of the 1960s, the Eagles wore a plain green jersey, with small numbers on the sleeves.


At some point prior to 1966, narrow and wide stripes were added to the sleeves.


From 1966 to 1969, the jerseys had double striping around the shoulders. Topps showed this jersey as late as 1973 on some cards.


In 1970 the team went back to the early-1960s look. Just solid green, with no striping.

In 1972 they added a black outline to the numbers.

A major change occurred in 1974, adding lots of stripes to the sleeves and moving the numbers up on top of the shoulders. As time went on, these jerseys became see-through.


 Helmets: The Eagles wore green helmets with silver wings prior to the 1969 season.

For 1969 home games, and all games in 1970 to 1973, they wore white helmets with green wings. The colors were reversed for away games in 1969 - green helmets with white wings.

They went back to green helmets in 1974, this time with two-tone wings.