1949 Philadelphia Eagles season
| 1949 Philadelphia Eagles season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Greasy Neale |
| Owner | Happy Hundred |
| Home field | Shibe Park |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–1 |
| Division place | 1st NFL Eastern |
| Playoff finish | Won NFL Championship |
The 1949 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 17th in the National Football League. The Eagles won their second-consecutive NFL championship.
Off season
The Eagles hold training camp for the 1st time at UM North Central Agriculture school in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
NFL Draft
The 1949 NFL draft was held on December 21, 1948. It would be 25 rounds long. The Eagles had the Lottery Bonus Pick in the draft and picked 1st. The Eagles would choose 26 players total during this draft. They had the last pick in each round as all teams picked in exery round. The All-America Football Conference was still a rival league and signing some of the NFL cast offs and draft picks. With the bonus and 1st pick overall, the Eagles took a local hero from the University of Pennsylvania, a center and linebacker, Chuck Bednarik. Along with him, the other future NFL Hall of Famers picked this year were Norm Van Brocklin, George Blanda, and Doak Walker.
Player selections
The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.
| = Pro Bowler [1] | = Hall of Famer |
| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Chuck Bednarik (Lottery bonus pick) | Center | Pennsylvania |
| 1 | 9 | Frank Tripucka | Quarterback | Notre Dame |
| 2 | 19 | Frank Burns | Back | Rutgers |
| 3 | 29 | Frank Ziegler | Back | Georgia Tech |
| 4 | 41 | Don Panciera | Back | San Francisco |
| 5 | 51 | Terry Brennan | Back | Notre Dame |
| 6 | 58 | Warren Huey | End | Michigan State |
| 7 | 71 | Frank Gillespie | Guard | Clemson |
| 8 | 81 | Bob Dean | Back | Cornell |
| 9 | 91 | Jonathan Jenkins | Tackle | Dartmouth |
| 10 | 101 | Roy Lester | End | West Virginia |
| 11 | 111 | Bobby Wilson | Back | Mississippi |
| 12 | 121 | Dale Armstrong | End | Dartmouth |
| 13 | 131 | Lyle Button | Tackle | Illinois |
| 14 | 141 | Bobby Lund | Back | Tennessee |
| 15 | 151 | Carl Copp | Tackle | Vanderbilt |
| 16 | 161 | Frank Reno | End | West Virginia |
| 17 | 171 | Leo Skladany | End | Pittsburgh |
| 18 | 181 | Russ Strait | Back | Muhlenberg |
| 19 | 191 | Paul Odom | Guard | Rollins |
| 20 | 201 | Lloyd Brinkman | Back | Missouri |
| 21 | 211 | Lou Futrell | Back | USC |
| 22 | 221 | Harvey Kingry | Back | Colorado Mines |
| 23 | 231 | Hank Kalver | Tackle | Oklahoma City |
| 24 | 241 | Fred Leon | Tackle | Nevada-Reno |
| 25 | 251 | John "Bull" Schweder[2] | Guard | Pennsylvania |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 22, 1949 | at New York Bulldogs | W 7–0 | |
| 2 | October 3, 1949 | at Detroit Lions | W 22–14 | |
| 3 | October 8, 1949 | Chicago Cardinals | W 28–3 | |
| 4 | October 16, 1949 | at Chicago Bears | L 38–21 | |
| 5 | October 23, 1949 | Washington Redskins | W 49–14 | |
| 6 | October 30, 1949 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 38–7 | |
| 7 | November 6, 1949 | Los Angeles Rams | W 38–14 | |
| 8 | November 13, 1949 | at Washington Redskins | W 44–21 | |
| 9 | November 20, 1949 | New York Bulldogs | W 42–0 | |
| 10 | November 27, 1949 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 34–17 | |
| 11 | December 4, 1949 | at New York Giants | W 24–3 | |
| 12 | December 11, 1949 | New York Giants | W 17–3 | |
Game Recaps
Week 4 at Chi Bears
The Eagles get the only loss of the season against the Chicago Bears in a game played at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The last points of the game were made by 22 years 29 days old George Blanda. Blanda would score his last points against Philadelphia in his career 22 years and 1 day later on October 17, 1971. Also a placekicker, Blanda had one of the longest pro football careers, a total of 26 years.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Bears | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
at Wrigley Field on Grass,
- Date: October 16, 1949
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: degrees, wind mph
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
NFL Championship Game
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | December 18, 1949 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 14–0 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Rams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on natural grass
- Date: December 18, 1949
- Game time: 1:30 p.m. PST
- Game weather: Heavy rain
- Game attendance: 27,980
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Standings
| NFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Philadelphia Eagles | 11 | 1 | 0 | .917 | 8–0 | 364 | 134 | W8 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 4–4 | 224 | 214 | W1 | |
| New York Giants | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 3–5 | 287 | 298 | L2 | |
| Washington Redskins | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 3–4–1 | 268 | 339 | L1 | |
| New York Bulldogs | 1 | 10 | 1 | .091 | 1–6–1 | 153 | 368 | L5 | |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
1949 Roster
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1949 Pro Bowl [3] | = Hall of Famer |
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [4] | Greasy Neale | 58 | Coach | 1949 record 11–1 | Lifetime 57–37–5 | 9th | West Virginia Wesleyan | ||
| Neill Armstrong | 23 | E-DB | 12 | 4 | 189 | 6–2 | 2 | Oklahoma State | |
| Walt Barnes | 31 | G | 12 | 0 | 238 | 6–1 | 1 | LSU | |
| 60 | Chuck Bednarik | 24 | LB-C | 10 | 7 | 233 | 6–3 | Rookie | Pennsylvania |
| Russ Craft | 30 | DB-HB | 10 | 2 | 178 | 5–9 | 3 | Alabama | |
| Otis Douglas | 38 | T | 2 | 0 | 224 | 6–1 | 3 | William & Mary | |
| Jack Ferrante | 33 | E-DE | 12 | 7 | 197 | 6–1 | 8 | none | |
| Mario Giannelli | 29 | MG-G | 10 | 1 | 265 | 6–0 | 1 | Boston College | |
| John Green | 28 | DE-E | 7 | 2 | 192 | 6–1 | 2 | Tulsa | |
| Dick Humbert | 31 | E-DE | 11 | 0 | 179 | 6–1 | 8 | Richmond | |
| Mike Jarmoluk | 27 | DT-T-MG | 9 | 0 | 232 | 6–5 | 3 | Temple | |
| Bucko Kilroy | 28 | G-MG-T-DT | 12 | 12 | 243 | 6–2 | 6 | Notre Dame, Temple | |
| Ben Kish | 32 | B | 7 | 0 | 207 | 6–0 | 9 | Pittsburgh | |
| Vic Lindskog | 35 | C | 5 | 4 | 203 | 6–1 | 5 | Stanford | |
| Jay MacDowell | 30 | T-DE | 8 | 1 | 217 | 6–2 | 3 | Washington | |
| Bill Mackrides | 24 | QB | 7 | 0 | 182 | 5–11 | 2 | Nevada-Reno | |
| John Magee | 26 | G | 12 | 3 | 220 | 5–10 | 1 | La-Lafayette, Rice | |
| Duke Maronic | 28 | G | 11 | 2 | 209 | 5–9 | 5 | none | |
| Pat McHugh | 30 | DB-HB | 12 | 0 | 166 | 5–11 | 2 | Georgia Tech | |
| Joe Muha | 28 | FB-LB | 12 | 11 | 205 | 6–1 | 3 | VMI | |
| Jack Myers | 25 | FB-QB-LB | 12 | 3 | 200 | 6–2 | 1 | UCLA | |
| Jim Parmer | 23 | FB-HB | 12 | 1 | 193 | 6–0 | 1 | Oklahoma State, Texas A&M | |
| Cliff Patton | 26 | G-LB | 12 | 7 | 243 | 6–2 | 3 | TCU | |
| Pete Pihos+ | 26 | E-DE | 11 | 9 | 210 | 6–1 | 2 | Indiana | |
| Hal Prescott | 29 | E | 3 | 0 | 199 | 6–1 | 3 | Hardin-Simmons | |
| Bosh Pritchard | 30 | HB | 8 | 7 | 164 | 5–11 | 7 | Georgia Tech, VMI | |
| Frank Reagan | 30 | B | 12 | 0 | 182 | 5–11 | 8 | Pennsylvania | |
| George Savitsky | 25 | T | 12 | 0 | 244 | 6–2 | 1 | Pennsylvania | |
| Clyde Scott | 25 | HB-DB | 8 | 2 | 174 | 6–0 | Rookie | Arkansas, Navy | |
| Vic Sears | 31 | T-DT | 11 | 11 | 223 | 6–3 | 8 | Oregon State | |
| Leo Skladany | 22 | E | 3 | 1 | 210 | 6–1 | Rookie | Pittsburgh | |
| Tommy Thompson | 33 | QB | 12 | 9 | 192 | 6–1 | 9 | Tulsa | |
| 15 | Steve Van Buren+ | 29 | HB | 12 | 10 | 200 | 6–0 | 5 | LSU |
| Al Wistert | 29 | T-G-DT | 12 | 11 | 214 | 6–1 | 6 | Michigan | |
| Alex Wojciechowicz | 34 | C-LB-E | 12 | 1 | 217 | 5–11 | 11 | Fordham | |
| Frank Ziegler | 26 | HB-DB | 10 | 4 | 175 | 5–11 | Rookie | Georgia Tech | |
| 35 Players Team Average | 28.5 | 12 | 206.3 | 6–0.6 | 3.8 |
Postseason
The NFL and the AAFC agree to form one league as the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles are scheduled to meet the AAFC 4 time Champion Cleveland Browns on the 1950 opening weekend in Philadelphia.
Awards and honors
All-Star Selections
- Pete Pihos is selected as 1st team End – Defensive End.
- Steve Van Buren is selected as 1st team Halfback
League Leaders[5]
- Eagles Lead NFL as Overall Offensive Team.
- Eagles Lead NFL as Overall Defensive Team.
- Tommy Thompson finishes 2nd in Pass Completion Pct. with a .542 (214 attempts/116 completions)
- Tommy Thompson leads in Passer Rating with an 84.4 rating
- Steve Van Buren leads Rushing Attempts with 263
- Steve Van Buren leads Rushing Yardage with 1,146 at the time a NFL record for season.
- Bosh Pritchard leads in Rushing Yards per Attempts Avg. with 6.0 (84 rushes/506 yards 3 td, )
- Steve Van Buren leads Rushing Touchdowns with 11
- Cliff Patton leads league with Field Goals with 9 (on 18 attempts)
- Cliff Patton finishes 2nd in league on Field Goal Attempts with 18
- Frank Reagan and Clyde Scott are 2nd in Punt Returns for TDs with 1 each.
- Pat Mchugh and Joe Muha finishes 2nd in Interceptions Returned for TD with 1 each.
References
- ↑ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
- ↑ This last selection is commonly referred to as Mr. Irrelevant.
- ↑ Players are identified as a 1949 All-Star.
- ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/NealGr0.htm
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-26.