1971 Eagles

The 1971 Eagles finished with a 6-7-1 record. On the surface that seems like a great improvement from the previous season's 3-10-1 last place finish, but it mattered little because in 1972 they returned to last place with a 2-11-1 record. What a roller coaster! 

These are the cards for the 1971 Eagles. You may be wondering why there is no quarterback card. Long-time veteran Norm Snead was traded to the Vikings in the off-season, and appears on a Vikings card (but in an Eagles' jersey). Snead was replaced by CFL quarterback Pete Liske, but not until just before training camp. 

Aside from not including a quarterback, the position allocation seems a little strange here: 3 running backs, 2 wide receivers (including kick returner Billy Walik instead of veteran starter Ben Hawkins), no offensive linemen, and no middle linebacker.

Except for Tom Woodeshick, Harold Jackson, and Tim Rossovich, all of the cards here are the player's rookie card. The 1970 rookies (Lee Bouggess, Walik, Mark Moseley) appear in the team's current jerseys. Others are shown in the late-1960s' Eagles jersey with stripes around the shoulders.

The 10th Eagles' card in this set is for linebacker Adrian Young, but this is not a photo of Young. It is Rick Duncan, who punted for ONE game in 1968. Why would Topps even have a photo of such a short-short-short timer, but they had trouble finding recent photos for baseball players that were in their 2nd or 3rd full year with a new team? *SMDH*

Details on the individual players can be found in this blog post. 

 

Here are some custom cards I found on the internet:

Pete Liske was the Eagles' #1 QB in 1971 and part of 1972.

Rick Arrington was the 2nd-stringer in 1970 and 1971, then relegated to 3rd string in 1972.

Ron Bull was acquired from the Bears before the 1971 season.

Ron Porter was a starting outside linebacker from 1969-72.

Adrian Young is actually pictured on this card.  The photo is distorted because of enlargement.

Bill Bradley played for the Eagles from 1969-76, and was the starting free safety from 1971-76.

 

The Kickers and Punters

This is the 2nd post in a series where I will review the 1966-75 Eagles by position. Normally I won't be listing every player during this time span, but there aren't that many kickers, so here they are.


KICKERS:

#38 Sam Baker - Baker joined the Eagles (from the Cowboys!) in 1964, and was their placekicker for the rest of the 1960s. He was also the punter through the 1968 season.

#3 Mark Moseley - The "Last of the Straight-on Kickers" was a 14th-round pick in 1970. He kicked only one year for the Eagles, partly because after the punter was lost for the season with injuries, Mark doubled up on the punting as well, and it messed him up. Regrettably, the Eagles lost patience after just 1 season, and Moseley was sent packing. He later went on to a long career with the Redskins from 1974-86.

#52 Dave Lloyd - I recall that after long-time middle linebacker Dave Lloyd lost his job to converted defensive end Tim Rossovich midway through the 1970 season, Lloyd kept himself busy for the rest of the year by kicking off (no FG or XP), thus lightening Moseley's load (after Mark was called upon to be the replacement punter).

#1 Happy Feller - The Eagles burned a 4th-round draft pick on Happy Feller in 1971. His stay was shorter than Moseley's. By mid-season the Eagles signed Tom Dempsey, and activated him for the final 5 games, replacing Feller. (I have his 1973 card as shown in the link, but can't find my 1973 binder right now.)

#19 Tom Dempsey - Dempsey previously kicked for the Saints, including a record 63-yard field goal in 1970. In a classic "What have you done for me lately?" move, the Saints cut him before the following season. The Birds picked him up during 1971, and he played the final 5 games in 1971 and every game through the end of 1974.

#16 Horst Muhlmann - The former Bengals kicker played for the Eagles for 2 1/2 seasons, beginning in 1975.


PUNTERS:

#10 King Hill - Hill joined the Eagles in 1961, and in addition to being the #2 QB through 1968, he was also the team's punter through the 1963 season. With the arrival of Sam Baker in 1964, they shared the punting chores for 3 seasons, roughly 65/35 in favor of Baker.

#38 Sam Baker - Baker shared the punting chores with Hill from 1964-66, and was the only punter from 1967-68. He relinquished the punting to rookie Bill Bradley in 1969.

#32 Rick Duncan - Duncan (pictured here on Adrian Young's 1971 card) punted in 1 game in 1968. He was also in Eagles' camp in 1971, but did not make the team.

#28 Bill Bradley - "Super Bill" was the team's free safety and punt returner from 1969-75. He was also the punter in '69, '70, '72, and for 4 games in '73.

#36, #12 Tom McNeill - McNeill was the team's punter in '71 and '73, and for 2 games in 1972. (In summary, Bradley and/or McNeill handled the punting from 1969-73, with some punting by Moseley late in 1970.)

#37 Merritt Kersey - Kersey assumed the punting job for 1974 and 2 games in 1975. It was his only NFL experience.

#6 Spike Jones - Jones took over the punting in game #3 in 1975, and stuck around through the 1977 season.


1969 Kickers:

38 - Sam Baker (K), 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.