Joe Scarpati - S

Today's player review features Eagles' free safety Joe Scarpati.

Scarpati was drafted in the 13th round of the 1964 draft by the AFL's Boston Patriots, but chose to play for the Eagles, who signed him as an undrafted free agent.

He was a 6-year starter for the Eagles - at strong safety during his rookie season, then moving to free safety for his last 5 with the Eagles. In 1966 he had 8 interceptions - good for a league-leading 182 yards.

Joe also served as the holder for extra points and field goals (although I don't know how far back that task went - at least as early as 1969).  When he was traded to the Saints for the 1970 season, he was the holder for Tom Dempsey's record 63-yard field goal that season.

Scarpati only played one season for the Saints. He returned to the Eagles before the 1971 season but was injured in training camp, which ended his career.

These are Joe's only football cards. Prior to the 1973 set, there were less than a dozen player cards per team, so (other than the starting quarterbacks, who were pretty much guaranteed a card every year) many veterans were left out of the sets.

His 1970 card shows him as a Saint, but still wearing his Eagles' jersey. His 1971 card shows him in Saints' attire, but he was back with the Eagles that year, although missing the season due to a training camp injury.

When I unearth my 1971 Eagles yearbook, I will check for Joe Scarpati's page (which I'm sure I have seen.) I previously had a reason to scan this cover and the Adrian Young and Rick Duncan pages.

Where's Waldo Joe?

1969 Eagles

The 1969 Eagles had a new owner (Leonard Tose), a new GM (Pete Retzlaff), a new coach (Jerry Williams), and a new star wide receiver (Harold Jackson), but still finished in last place in their division. They did manage to improve their record from 2-12 to 4-9-1 though.

(By the way, the photo in this blog's header is the 1969 team.)

What they gained by adding Jackson to their receiving corps was offset by trading offensive tackle Bob Brown to the Rams. The Birds returned 12 starters from the 1968 lineup, and also got guard Jim Skaggs and DT Floyd Peters back from injuries. Still, they weren't going to be a good team for quite awhile.

The 1969 Topps set was issued in 2 series. Cards in the 2nd series (Woodeshick, Baker, Lloyd, Scarpati) had white borders. The first series is incorrectly referred to as "borderless", as I noticed the photos are cropped on the sides, essentially having a "border" of the same color as the background.

Like most quarterbacks, Norm Snead had a card in every year's set. That's where his similarities to  "most quarterbacks" ends.

Izzy Lang was the starting halfback in '67 and '68, but didn't play for the Eagles in 1969. He was sent to the Rams in the Harold Jackson trade, and replaced in the lineup by #1 draft pick Leroy Keyes (you remember... the guy they selected just before the Steelers picked Joe Greene!)  

Tom Woodeshick returns for his 3rd and final season as the starting fullback.

With the arrival of Harold Jackson, Gary Ballman moved from split end to tight end in 1969. He was with the Eagles for all of  '67 and '68, but Topps still showed him in his Steelers' jersey. 

Fred Hill was primarily a backup during his Eagles' career, but had replaced Mike Ditka as the primary tight end in 1968. In '69, he was back on special teams.  

Sam Baker was the Eagles' kicker and punter since 1964.  1969 was his last season with the team, and he gave up his punting duties to rookie Bill Bradley.

No Eagles' defensive linemen in the 1969 set, but here are 3 veterans:

Middle linebacker Dave Lloyd played for the Eagles from 1963-70, and was a starter until midway through his last season, He made the Pro Bowl in 1969.

Nate Ramsey was a starter from 1964 to 1972, all at strong safety until moving to cornerback for his last 2 seasons.

Joe Scarpati was the team's starting free safety from 1964-69. He also was the holder for placekicks. Traded to the Saints for 1970, he was the holder for Tom Dempsey's record 63-yard field goal.

Alvin Haymond was primarily a punt and kick returner throughout his career. His only year as a starting DB was in 1968, his only season with the Eagles. By the time this card was issued, he was with the Rams.
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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 Defensive Backs

Here are the primary defensive backs from 1966 to 1975:

Al Nelson played his entire career with the Eagles (1965-73).  He was a starting cornerback from 1965 to mid-1973, except for missing all but 1 game in 1967.

Jim Nettles played for the Eagles from 1965-68, and was the starting right corner in '66 and '67,

Nate Ramsey was an Eagle from 1963 to 1972, and was a starter from 1964-72.  After the 1970 season, he moved from strong safety to right cornerback.

Joe Scarpati was the Eagles' free safety from 1964-69.  After 1 season with the Saints he returned to Philly, but a '71 training camp injury ended his career.

Alvin Haymond spent 1 season with the Eagles (1968), as their starting right corner.

Irv Cross was the starting right corner from 1962-65, then after 3 seasons with the Rams he ended his career as the Birds' RCB in 1969.

Steve Preece played parts of 3 seasons with the Eagles (1970-72), and was the primary free safety in 1970, pressed into service due to the trade of Scarpati and an injury to Bill Bradley.

Leroy Keyes was the Eagles' #1 pick in 1969.  After 2 disappointing seasons at halfback, he moved to strong safety for '71 and '72, where he was marginally better.

John Outlaw joined the Eagles in 1973 and was the starting left corner from mid-1973 through 1978.

Joe Lavender and Randy Logan were both rookies in 1973, and immediately became the Eagles' starting right corner and strong safety respectively (Lavender for 3 seasons, and Logan for 11).

Bill Bradley played for the Eagles from 1969 to 1976.  Injured for most of 1970, he was the starting free safety from 1971 to 1976,  He was also the team's punter and punt returner.

1969 Defensive backs:

26 - Al Nelson (CB), 27 - Irv Cross (CB), 24 - Nate Ramsey (SS), 21 - Joe Scarpati (FS),
45 - Ron Medved (S), 28 - Bill Bradley (S/P)

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.