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:

1973 Eagles

After a 2-11-1 season in 1972, the Eagles fired their GM (Pete Retzlaff) and Head Coach (Ed Khayat). 

 

In 1973 the Eagles had a new coach (Mike McCormick) a new QB (Roman Gabriel) and the best draft they had in a long time: T Jerry Sisemore (3rd overall) and TE Charlie Young (6th overall) in the 1st round,  Guy Morriss (C) in the 2nd round, and Randy Logan (S) in the 3rd round.  They also picked up Joe Lavender (CB) in the 12th round. 

 

Harold Jackson was traded away for Gabriel, but Harold Carmichael stepped up and led the NFL in receiving. Rookie Charlie Young also had 6 TDs, and 2nd-year running back Tom Sullivan gained 968 yards in his first year as a starter.

 

All this created a buzz among Eagles' fans, and led to a 5-8-1 record and a third place finish, behind the Cowboys and Redskins who were both 10-4.

 

In 1973, Topps greatly expanded their set.  Previously, only about 8 to 10 cards per team were printed. 5 of the 19 Eagles issued by Topps were not with the team in 1973.

 

 

Offense:

Pete Liske was the Eagles' starting QB in 1971 and part of 1972, but with the acquisition of Roman Gabriel, he was released.

Norm Bulaich gained 436 yards in his first of two seasons with the Eagles.

Harold Jackson played 4 seasons for the Eagles (leading the NFL in receiving in '69 and '72), but was traded to the Rams for Roman Gabriel.

Ben Hawkins started the first 4 games, then was traded to the Browns for DE Joe Jones.

Mark Nordquist is once again designated as a center by Topps, but he was the starting right guard.

Jim Skaggs was a reserve, after many years as the starting right guard.

Wade Key was the starting left tackle for 2 seasons, but moved to left guard in 1973.

Steve Smith moved from right tackle in '72 to left tackle in '73 to accommodate rookie Jerry Sisemore.

Tom Dempsey was the Birds' kicker from midway through the '71 season through the '74 season. 

Defense:

Mel Tom was the starting right end from 1968-72.  After 4 games in '73 he was traded to the Bears.

Ernie Calloway was a starter in his first 3 seasons ('69, '70, '71) but only played 5 games in 1972. He and Leroy Keyes were shipped off to the Chiefs before the 1973 season.

Don Hultz was the starter at left end for 3 seasons (65-67) and left tackle for 3 more (70-72), but only played 3 games in 1973.

Steve Zabel was the Eagles' #1 pick in the 1970 draft.  After 1 season as a tight end he was moved to linebacker. He played some middle linebacker one season, but was mostly the starting left LB from '71 to '74.

Ron Porter was a starting outside linebacker from 1969-72, but was traded to the Vikings before the 1973 season.

Al Nelson was the starting left cornerback for the Eagles from 1965 to midway through 1973.

Nate Ramsey played for the Eagles from 1963-72.  He was a starting safety from 65-70, and starting right corner in '64, '71, and '72.

Leroy Keyes was the Eagles' #1 pick in 1969.  After 2 years at HB and 2 at SS, he was traded to the Chiefs before the 1973 season.

Bill Bradley joined the Eagles in 1969, and was their starting free safety (and sometimes punter) from 1971-76. He was their best defensive player until the arrival of Bill Bergey in 1974.

John Reaves was the Eagles' #1 pick in 1972.  He started half the games as a rookie, then backed up Roman Gabriel in 1973.

 

Here are some custom cards I found on the internet:

Roman Gabriel was acquired in the off-season for Harold Jackson. He was the starting QB for 3 seasons (73-75), then backed up Mike Boryla ('76) and Ron Jaworski ('77).

Rick Arrington was the Eagles' backup QB from 1970-72, but was not on the team in '73.

Tom Sullivan was a rookie in 1972.  He was the starting halfback from 1973 to 1977, before giving way to Wilbert Montgomery.  He led the NFL with 11 rushing TDs in 1974.

Larry Watkins played for the Eagles from 1970-72, and was their starting fullback for 8 games in 1972.

Harold Carmichael was a rookie in 1971.  After 2 seasons as the 3rd WR and sometimes-starting tight end, he replaced the departed Harold Jackson as a starting wideout, and led the NFL in receptions and receiving yards in 1973. He played in every game from 1973-81, starting all but 1 of them.

Charle Young was a 1st-round pick for the Eagles in 1973, scoring 6 TDs as a rookie.

7/29 EDIT: Added starting lineup list below (to 1967 - 1972 Eagles posts too)

All players are not listed in the labels below.  Blogger has a max of 200 characters for the labels.  :(

RIP - John Reaves

John Reaves - the Eagles' #1 draft pick in 1972, passed away on August 1, 2017 at age 67.

A 3-year starter at the University of Florida, Reaves was the NCAA all-time leading passer upon graduation.

He was the Eagles' #1 pick in the '72 draft, and started 7 games in his rookie season (while relieving Pete Liske in 4 other games). The following season the team acquired Roman Gabriel, so Reaves rode the bench for 2 seasons.

He later played for the Bengals (1975-78), Vikings (1979-80), Oilers (1981) and Buccaneers (in 1987 as a strike replacement). Reaves also played for Tampa Bay in the USFL from 1983-85.

In the 1990s, he was an assistant coach at the University of Florida under Steve Spurrier.

Miami Herald obituary

ESPN obituary

The Quarterbacks

This is the first post in a series where I will review the 1966-75 Eagles by position. I'm starting off with the quarterbacks, because (as Warren Beatty says in the movie "Heaven Can Wait"), "Well, I AM the quarterback". Normally I won't be listing every player during this time span, but I am for the QBs because there are so few of them.

#16 Norm Snead – After the 1963 season, the Eagles traded popular QB Sonny Jurgensen to the Redskins for Norm Snead. Even to this day the trade makes no sense. Sonny made the Pro Bowl in 1961 (his 4th season, but 1st as a full-time starter), and led the NFL in passing yardage in ’61 and ’62. Sonny made 4 more Pro Bowls during his time with the Redskins, and led the NFL in completions and passing yards 3 times. He played for Washington through the 1974 season.

Meanwhile, Snead (a 2-time Pro-Bowler in his 3 seasons with the ‘Skins) made 1 Pro Bowl with the Eagles, but threw 20+ interceptions 4 times, leading the NFL in that category twice. He also became the focus of the fans’ dissatisfaction, and as I recall, was run out of town on a rail after the 1970 season.


#10 King Hill – As kids, we thought “King Hill” was a funny name for someone. After 3 seasons with the Cardinals, this #1 overall pick in the 1958 draft was acquired by the Eagles, and was their backup QB from 1961 until he was traded midway through the 1968 season. Hill only started more than 4 games once (6 in 1963), and was used primarily as the punter for his first 3 seasons in Philly.


#3 Jack Concannon – Jack was the #1 overall pick in the 1964 AFL draft, but he chose to sign with the Eagles, who drafted him in the 2nd round. He played sparingly in his 3 seasons with the Eagles, and was traded to the Bears before the 1967 season for veteran tight end Mike Ditka.


#4 Benjy Dial – Dial attempted 3 passes in 1 game in 1967 as the #3 QB. It was his only NFL experience.


#7 John Huarte – Huarte was the Birds’ #3 quarterback in 1968, and played in 2 games (starting 1) in his only season with the Eagles.


#10 George Mira – With Hill and Huarte both gone by 1969, the Eagles acquired ex-49ers backup George Mira to back up Snead. George started 1 game, and his 32% completion percentage showed why he was a backup.


#11 Rick Arrington – Rick was a free-agent rookie in 1970, and was with the Eagles for 3 seasons. He started 1 game in ’70 and 4 games in ’71. He made no starts in ’72, having dropped to #3 on the depth chart behind Pete Liske and rookie John Reaves. I recall there was some talk in 1972 of converting him to a tight end, but that never materialized.


#14 Pete Liske – After Snead was sent packing, the Eagles thought they had their next starting QB in Lions’ taxi-squadder Greg Barton. Barton’s NFL resume up to that time (and to this day!) was 1 attempt and 0 completions in a game in 1969. Way to set the bar high, Eagles! No matter, after the Eagles had traded for his rights, Barton shunned the idea of starting for the Eagles and went off to play in the CFL.

Plan B was a hastily-arranged trade with the Broncos to get Pete Liske. Pete had started 9 games for Denver in the previous season, but the Broncos were going with ex-Packer Don Horn and draft pick Steve Ramsey. Liske played 2 seasons in Philly – starting 10 games in ’71 and 7 games in ’72. He then returned to the Canadian League, where he had played from 1965-68.


#6, 7 John Reaves – The Eagles made Reaves their #1 pick in 1972, and he started half the games for them, all losses. He hung on for 2 more seasons as Roman Gabriel’s backup.


#5 Roman Gabriel – Enough of the Pete Liske/John Reaves show!!! In June 1973 the Eagles made a bold move and traded All-Pro wide receiver Harold Jackson, running back Tony Baker, two #1 picks, and a #3 pick to the Rams for 11-year veteran and 3-time Pro-Bowler Roman Gabriel.

Gabe brought competence to the team’s QB department, something they lacked since 1963. Roman made the Pro-Bowl team again, and sparked the Eagles’ improvement from 2-11-1 to 5-8-1. He started every game, and led the NFL in passing yards (3219) and TDs (23). Gabriel rained 6 TD passes down on rookie TE Charlie Young, and 9 to WR Harold Carmichael, who had replaced Jackson in the starting lineup. Roman was the starter for three seasons, and the #2 man for another two.


#10 Mike Boryla – Rookie Mike Boryla was the team’s #2 QB in 1974 (with Reaves at #3) and also in 1975. He started 3 and 5 games in his first two seasons. In 1976 (Dick Vermeil’s 1st season) Boryla started the first 10 games, with Gabriel starting the final 4 games. In 1977 the Eagles acquired Ron Jaworski and Boryla was let go.

1969 Quarterbacks:

16 - Norm Snead, 10 - George Mira