RIP - Tommy McDonald

Eagles' HOF flanker Tommy McDonald passed away on September 24, 2018 at age 84.

McDonald was the Birds' #3 pick in the 1957 draft. He was the starting flanker from 1959-1963, making the Pro Bowl in 4 of those 5 seasons.

He also made the Pro Bowl in 1958, having led the NFL with 9 touchdowns while playing in 10 games, but only starting 3 times. McDonald led the NFL in yards (1144) and TDs (13) in 1961.

McDonald and Sonny Jurgensen were both traded away following the 1963 season.

McDonald was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.

NBC Sports obituary

New York Times obituary
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Tom Woodeshick - FB

Tom Woodeshick played fullback for the Eagles for 9 seasons, but (surprising to me now) he was the primary starter for only 3 of those seasons.

Woody was drafted by the Eagles in the 8th round in 1963, and played behind others for 4 seasons (Clarence Peaks in '63, Earl Gros from 1964-66). He did start 4 games in 1966, in place of Gros (who would be traded to the Steelers after the season for Gary Ballman).

Tom started 13, 14, and 12 games from 1967-69, and made the Pro Bowl in 1968. (It's amazing that ANY Eagles made the Pro Bowl in 1968, having started off the season 0-12!) He also led the Eagles in rushing each of those 3 seasons (670, 947, 831 yards).

I see now that he played only 6 games in 1970, and started all 6. So I can infer that he missed the other 8 games due to injury, and otherwise would have been the starter all season. (At least he was owed that, having led the team in rushing for 3 seasons.)

Woodeshick returned in 1971 to play 11 games, but started only 5 of them (with 1970's rookie starter Lee Bouggess starting 7 games at fullback in '71).

Tom was cut at the end of training camp in 1972, and was signed by the Cardinals in late-September. After playing 4 games, St. Louis cut him in late-October, ending his 10-year career.

In 1970, he appeared in the movie "M*A*S*H" in the football game scene.

Woodeshick had cards in the '69, '70, and '71 sets. RetroCards also makes a 1966-style card for him (shown above).

I have collected all the 1966 Eagles cards sold by RetroCards:
King Hill - QB
Tom Woodeshick - RB
Ollie Matson - RB
Jim Skaggs - G
Lane Howell - T
Don Hultz - DE
Mike Morgan - LB
Fred Whittingham - LB
Team Leaders (Norm Snead photo)

I also have 2 other King Hill cards they made ('63, '65).


Where's Waldo Tom?

Gary Pettigrew - DE/DT

Gary Pettigrew played for the Eagles for 9 seasons. He was a starter for 5 seasons and for half of 2 other seasons.

Pettigrew was the Eagles' 2nd-round pick in the 1966 draft, and joined the starting lineup immediately as the right defensive end, replacing Bob Richards, who was lost to the Falcons in the expansion draft.

Gary started 10 games in each of his first 2 seasons, then moved to right tackle to start the 1968 season, after the retirement of John Meyers, who had started almost every game there for the previous 4 seasons. (Mel Tom then began his run as the starting right end.)

After starting every game in 1968, Pettigrew missed 7 games in 1969, but returned to start every game in 1970.

This is Pettigrew's only football card. By this time (1971) his best days were behind him. 

1971 saw him moved to a backup role. He played in 13 games, but only started 6, as Ernie Calloway took over the position. The following season he also played 13 games, but this time only starting two games.

He made a comeback of sorts in 1973, playing every game (this time starting 12 games), although he was primarily the left tackle that season.

His final season was 1974. After 4 games riding the Eagles' bench he was waived, then picked up by the Giants where he started 4 of his 5 games with them before calling it a career.


Where's Waldo Gary?

Al Nelson - CB

Al Nelson played for 9 seasons (all with the Eagles), and was a starting cornerback for 7 1/2 seasons.

Nelson was the Eagles' 3rd-round pick in 1965*, and immediately joined the lineup, starting every game as a rookie. Except for missing all but 1 game in 1967, he was a fixture in the secondary, starting 14 games five times, 13 once, and 11 once.

He was also one of the team's primary kick returners, leading the Eagles in returns in '65 and '72. 

Al played on the left side in all but 1970, where he moved to the right corner for 1 season. Nelson started 8 games in his final season (1973) then was replaced by the newly-acquired John Outlaw, who filled that spot through the 1978 season.

Here are 2 of his 3 cards.  In addition to 1970 and 1973, he also had a card in the 1974 set (although after his playing career.)


Where's Waldo Al?

*The Eagles also drafted WRs Otis Taylor and Gary Garrison in 1965, but both chose to sign with AFL teams!

Jim Skaggs - G

Jim Skaggs was a starting guard for the Eagles for the 2nd half of the 1960s. Skaggs was with the Eagles for 11 seasons (assuming 1962 on the taxi-squad), and was a starter at right guard for 5 of them.

Drafted in the 10th round in 1962, he made his Eagles' debut in 1963 (so maybe he was on the taxi-squad in '62?). After starting a few games in '63 and '64 (mostly at tackle), he took over the right guard position (previously manned by Pete Case and Lynn Hoyem) from 1965-1970.

Although missing the entire 1968 season due to injury, and missing 7 games in 1969, he started all 14 games in '65, '66, '67, and '70.

In 1971, Mark Nordquist (who had filled in for Skaggs in 1968) became the starting right guard, so Skaggs saw some action at left guard in '71 and '72 (the 2 seasons that position was a revolving door until Wade Key was moved there in 1973).

Jim was waived-injured in both of those seasons, and spent some time on the taxi-squad in 1971.

These are Skaggs' only 2 football cards ('67, '73). By the time the 1973 card was issued, his career was already over.

Where's Waldo Jim?

Don Hultz - DE/DT

By the way, beginning with Pete Retzlaff, I switched to posting these players in order of tenure with the Eagles (first, all players on board before 1970). Next up is defensive lineman Don Hultz.

Hultz was an Eagle for 10 seasons, 6 as a starter. He was acquired from the Vikings on 5/29/64 along with WR Ray Poage and 2 others for running back Ted Dean and the rights to Oregon QB Bob Berry.

Don was the Eagles' starting left defensive end for 3 games in 1964 and for most of 1965-67. He found a seat on the bench beginning in 1968, replaced by the Birds' #1 pick Tim Rossovich.

After 4 games in 1970, Rossovich moved to middle linebacker and Hultz regained a starting job, this time at left defensive tackle (with Ernie Calloway moving to end). Don continued in the starting lineup through the 1972 season, and played 3 games (1 start) in 1973.

Cut in May 1974, he was picked up by the Bears and finished his career with Chicago that season.

Here are Don's only football cards ('68, '73). Topps had trouble getting current photos of NFL players for their first series in 1968 (having only made AFL cards from 1964-67), so players for NFL teams are shown in 4-year-old photos. I don't know why he is listed as a DE-LB on his 1968 card, since there's no evidence he ever played linebacker.

Where's Waldo Don?

Nate Ramsey - DB

Nate Ramsey played for the Eagles for 10 seasons (1963-72) and was a regular defensive back in all but his rookie season (also starting 6 games as a rookie.)

Initially a cornerback, he was the Eagles' starting strong safety from 1965-70, then returned to cornerback for '71 and '72.

In mid-December 1970, Ramsey was shot in the chest on the streets of Philadelphia. He missed 3 games that season, but recovered in time to start all 14 games the next year.

He finished his career with the Saints in 1973.

Where's Waldo Nate?

Pete Retzlaff - WR/TE

Pete Retzlaff just barely makes the cutoff for this blog, having retired after the 1966 season.

He played 11 seasons with the Eagles, all as a starter.  Drafted by the Lions in 1953, he never played for Detroit, and after 2 years in the Army he made his NFL debut with the Eagles in 1956.

Retzlaff was the starting flanker for 3 seasons, then moved to split end (is there a difference?) for 4 years before finishing up with 4 seasons as the starting tight end.

He was selected for 5 Pro Bowls, and in 1958 led the NFL with 56 catches. The Eagles have retired his #44 jersey.

I have 3 of Pete's cards - 1964, 1965, and 1967. (He must have retired after the '67 set went to press.)

After his playing career, he broadcast the Eagles' games on local radio for a season or two, then became the team's general manager in 1969 when Leonard Tose bought the team. He was the GM for the 4 seasons of the Jerry Williams/Ed Khayat coaching era, and was replaced by Jim Murray when the Eagles hired Mike McCormick as the head coach.

Notable players drafted on Retzlaff's watch were Bill Bradley, Wade Key, Harold Carmichael, John Bunting, and Tom Sullivan.

Where's Waldo Pete?

Nope! Although Retzlaff was with the Eagles in 1969, it was as their GM, not as a player. While this photo was being taken, Pete may have been in the owner's office, trying to explain why they had selected Leroy Keyes with the 3rd overall pick, instead of DT Joe Greene, who the Steelers took with the very next pick!

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?

Wade Key - T/G

#3 in my series of individual player reviews is offensive lineman Wade Key.

Key was drafted by the Eagles in the 13th round in 1969, but spent that season on the team's taxi squad, and playing for the minor-league Pottstown Firebirds.

Wade joined the Eagles on a full-time basis in 1970, becoming the team's starting left offensive tackle (replacing the retired Lane Howell).

With the team drafting tackle Jerry Sisemore in 1973, Key shifted to left guard and was a fixture there for the rest of his career, except for missing all but 2 games of the 1975 season.

Key played for some REALLY bad Eagles' teams during his career from 1970-79. Unfortunately for him, he was among the last training camp cuts in 1980, the year the team FINALLY went to the Super Bowl.

Where's Waldo Wade?

Here's Wade Key in the 1969 team photo. It was his rookie season, which he spent on the taxi squad. He is wearing #55, not the #72 he wore from 1970-79. I wonder if he was drafted as a center? Typical "tackle numbers" 73, 74, and 75 were available.

Dick Hart - G

Next up in our individual player reviews is Dick Hart - the Eagles' left guard from 1967-1970.

I can remember poring over Eagles' rosters in the late 1960s and seeing one player (Hart) listed as "No College".

"What???? How can this be? How can some Joe walk off the street directly into a starting NFL job, having no previous pro or college experience? Were the Eagles' offensive line options that bleak?"


Between their 1st-round selection of Bob Brown in 1964, and taking Jerry Sisemore and Guy Morriss with 1st and 2nd round picks in 1973, the Eagles' success at drafting offensive linemen was suspect:

1965 - Ray Rissmiller (T) - #2 pick was lost to the Saints in the 1967 expansion draft.
1966 - Randy Beisler (G) - #1 pick was a part-time player for 3 years, then traded to the 49ers.
1967 - John Brooks (G) - taken in 2nd round, then cut; no NFL playing time.
1968 - 4th-round guard Len McNeil cut; G Mark Nordquist (#5) and C Mike Evans (#9) played a few years with the Eagles.
1969 - Bob Kuechenberg (G) was taken in the 4th round, then cut during training camp. He went on to a 14-year career with the Dolphins, including SIX Pro Bowls.
1969 - Wade Key was a 13th-round pick who played for the Eagles through 1979.
1970 - Ira Gordon was a guard taken in the 8th round. He was cut that summer, and played for the Chargers for 6 seasons.
1971 - Henry Allison was a 2nd-round guard who lasted only 2 seasons.
1972 - 2nd-round tackle Dan Yochum didn't make it past his first training camp.
1972 - Guards Tom Luken (3rd) and Vern Winfield (6th) were serviceable at best.


So anyway, after spending 1966 on the Eagles' taxi squad, Hart joined the starting lineup at left guard as a 24-year-old rookie in 1967, replacing the retired Ed Blaine. He played for 4 seasons, then lost the 1971 season due to a knee injury. Traded to Buffalo, he played briefly with the Bills in 1972 until another knee injury sidelined him again.

I recently learned he also played in the WFL in 1974. Also, I learned that he wasn't just your average Joe off the street in 1967. Hart (who was on the 1955 Little League World Championship baseball team) had played minor-league baseball for the Braves from 1961-65 before switching to football.

Manning the left guard spot as a rookie in 1967:

With the WFL Charlotte Stars in 1974:

Where's Waldo Dick?

Hart was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Another blog post about Hart's high school baseball and track exploits, as well as minor-league baseball and pro football careers.

RIP - Gene Ceppetelli

Gene Ceppetelli, the Eagles' center from 1968-69, passed away on June 14, 2018 at age 78.

Ceppetelli played in the CFL from 1963-67 and again from 1970-71.

Following the retirement of Hall-of-Fame center Jim Ringo after the 1967 season, the Eagles signed centers Ceppetelli and Mike Evans. Ceppetelli was the starter in 1968, but was surpassed by Evans in 1969. Gene also played for the Giants later in the 1969 season.

After his football career, Ceppetelli worked in the construction business. My father was a carpenter, and told me he once worked on a jobsite with Ceppetelli. (I think it was in the early-1980s.)

Obituary

 

 

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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1968 Eagles

1968 is a low point in Eagles' history. (Well, one of them anyway.) After going 9-5 in 1966 and 6-7-1 in 1967, the Birds plummeted to 2-12 in 1968. The team lost their first ELEVEN games, then foolishly won 2 of the final 3 games, thereby blowing their shot at the #1 draft pick (O.J. Simpson).

After that fiasco, not only did the team get a new head coach and new GM, but a new owner as well (Leonard Tose).

The Eagles ended up with the 3rd overall pick, and those knuckleheads chose Purdue running back Leroy Keyes, who was less than adequate in his 4-year Eagles' career. Not only was he no O.J. Simpson, he wasn't even a Tom Woodeshick!

By the way, after the Eagles picked Keyes at #3, THE STEELERS PICKED JOE GREENE AT #4, then the Bengals picked QB Greg Cook at #5.

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Here are the Eagles cards for 1968. After a 4-year hiatus, in 1968 the NFL cards were once again issued by Topps. (From 1964-67, NFL cards were produced by Philadelphia Gum Company, while the AFL cards were produced by Topps.)  Now Topps issued a combined NFL/AFL set beginning in 1968.

The downside for collectors is that while there were 12 cards per NFL team in 1967, now there were only 8 (and AFL teams only had 7 cards each).

The 1968 cards were split into 2 series. In Series 1, the NFL players appeared in the uniform of whatever team they were playing for in 1963, the last year Topps had taken NFL player photos.

Topps used new photos for most of the 2nd series cards:

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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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RIP - Ben Hawkins

I found out yesterday on this blog about the passing of Ben Hawkins, one of the Eagles' top 2 wide receivers from 1967 to 1972.  "Hawk" passed away on October 9th, 2017 at age 73.

Hawkins was the Eagles' 3rd-round pick in 1966, and played in every game from 1966 to 1972. He also played 4 games in 1973, and finished his career with the Browns in 1974.

In 1967 (his first year as a starter) Ben had a career-high 10 touchdowns, and led the NFL with 1265 receiving yards.

In 1968, he scored a touchdown on a 92-yard pass play from King Hill, the 4th longest in team history.

The next year, he scored 4 touchdowns in 1 game, a team record that was tied by Irving Fryar more than 25 years later.

Philly.com obituary

In this blog's sidebar, I have added a memorial gallery of Eagles players from 1966 to 1975.

Norm Snead - QB

This is the first post reviewing a specific player, and what better place to start than with the quarterback?

Norm Snead was acquired from the Redskins before the 1964 season for quarterback Sonny Jurgensen (ouch!)

While Jurgensen passed his way in to the "all-time greats" category (at least in the pre-1970s era), Snead plodded along with the Eagles for 7 years, before he was run out of town on a rail just before the 1971 season.

Here are all my Norm Snead cards (1964-72). Although the first 2 are prior to this blog's scope, I included them to get full picture of Snead's Eagles career.

1964 - The first of 4 years where the NFL football cards were issued by Philadelphia Gum (instead of Topps). Norm is still in his Redskins' jersey. (I think Jurgensen's '64 card shows him in Eagle green.)

1965 - Snead's first card in an Eagles' jersey.

1966 - I don't have Snead's 1966 Philly Gum card, but this "Team Leaders" card from the RetroCards company features Norm (either about to hand-off or about to fumble).

1967 - The last of the Philly Gum sets, this was the first football card set I collected (in 1967). I like how the nameplate color matches the Eagles' Kelly Green (that wasn't so for all the teams).

1968 - Topps is back in the NFL card business, issuing combined NFL/AFL sets beginning this year. After a 4-year layoff, they had a hard time getting current photos for the NFL players, so many of the 1st series cards show veterans with their pre-1964 teams.

1969 - I always thought the 1969 cards looked weird - no borders in the first series, and the players are (sometimes poorly) superimposed on a colored background.

1970 - This is Snead's final card as an Eagle. I didn't collect 1970 cards that year, and only acquired the Eagles (and a few others) in recent years.

1971 - Snead was traded to the Vikings late in the off-season, too late for Topps to include a quarterback for the Eagles, but the Vikings got 2 QB cards - Snead and Gary Cuozzo.

1972 - Ok, we're out of the Eagles' scope here, but it's my last Snead card, and I needed a 9th card for my Hollywood Squares presentation.


Where's Waldo Norm?

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)