| 1949 Philadelphia Eagles season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Happy Hundred |
| Head coach | Greasy Neale |
| Home field | Shibe Park |
| Local radio | WCAU |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–1 |
| Division place | 1st NFL Eastern |
| Playoff finish | Won NFL Championship (at Rams) 14–0 |
The 1949 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Football League. The Eagles won their second-consecutive NFL championship.
Off season
The Eagles hold training camp for the first time at UM North Central Agriculture school in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
NFL Draft
The 1949 NFL draft was held on December 21, 1948. It was 25 rounds long. The Eagles had the Lottery Bonus Pick in the draft and picked 1st. The Eagles chose 26 players total during this draft. They had the last pick in each round as all teams picked in every round. The All-America Football Conference, a rival league signed 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.
| 1949 Philadelphia Eagles draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Chuck Bednarik * † | C | Pennsylvania | Lottery bonus pick |
| 1 | 9 | Frank Tripucka | QB | Notre Dame | |
| 2 | 19 | Frank Burns | B | Rutgers | |
| 3 | 29 | Frank Ziegler * | B | Georgia Tech | |
| 4 | 41 | Don Panciera | B | San Francisco | Played with New York Yankees (AAFC) |
| 5 | 51 | Terry Brennan | B | Notre Dame | |
| 6 | 58 | Warren Huey | E | Michigan State | |
| 7 | 71 | Frank Gillespie | G | Clemson | |
| 8 | 81 | Bob Dean | B | Cornell | |
| 9 | 91 | Jonathan Jenkins | T | Dartmouth | Played with Baltimore Colts (AAFC) |
| 10 | 101 | Roy Lester | E | West Virginia | Returned to West Virginia |
| 11 | 111 | Bobby Wilson | B | Ole Miss | |
| 12 | 121 | Dale Armstrong | E | Dartmouth | |
| 13 | 131 | Lyle Button | T | Illinois | |
| 14 | 141 | Bobby Lund | B | Tennessee | |
| 15 | 151 | Carl Copp | T | Vanderbilt | |
| 16 | 161 | Frank Reno | E | West Virginia | |
| 17 | 171 | Leo Skladany | E | Pittsburgh | |
| 18 | 181 | Russ Strait | B | Muhlenberg | |
| 19 | 191 | Paul Odom | G | Rollins | |
| 20 | 201 | Lloyd Brinkman | B | Missouri | |
| 21 | 211 | Lou Futrell | B | USC | |
| 22 | 221 | Harvey Kingry | B | Colorado Mines | |
| 23 | 231 | Hank Kalver | T | Oklahoma City | |
| 24 | 241 | Fred Leon | T | Nevada | |
| 25 | 251 | John Schweder | G | Pennsylvania | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 22 | at New York Bulldogs | W 7–0 | 1–0 | Polo Grounds | 4,355 | Recap |
| 2 | October 3 | at Detroit Lions | W 22–14 | 2–0 | Briggs Stadium | 20,163 | Recap |
| 3 | October 8 | Chicago Cardinals | W 28–3 | 3–0 | Shibe Park | 33,716 | Recap |
| 4 | October 16 | at Chicago Bears | L 21–38 | 3–1 | Wrigley Field | 47,248 | Recap |
| 5 | October 23 | Washington Redskins | W 49–14 | 4–1 | Shibe Park | 28,602 | Recap |
| 6 | October 30 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 38–7 | 5–1 | Forbes Field | 37,840 | Recap |
| 7 | November 6 | Los Angeles Rams | W 38–14 | 6–1 | Shibe Park | 38,230 | Recap |
| 8 | November 13 | at Washington Redskins | W 44–21 | 7–1 | Griffith Stadium | 31,170 | Recap |
| 9 | November 20 | New York Bulldogs | W 42–0 | 8–1 | Shibe Park | 22,165 | Recap |
| 10 | November 27 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 34–17 | 9–1 | Shibe Park | 22,191 | Recap |
| 11 | December 4 | at New York Giants | W 24–3 | 10–1 | Polo Grounds | 25,446 | Recap |
| 12 | December 11 | New York Giants | W 17–3 | 11–1 | Shibe Park | 21,022 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
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.
| Period | 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
| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | December 18 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 14–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 22,245 | Recap |
| Period | 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.
Roster
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1949 Pro Bowl[2] | = Hall of Famer |
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [3] | 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[4]
- 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 an 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
- ↑ "1949 Philadelphia Eagles Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
- ↑ Players are identified as a 1949 All-Star.
- ↑ "Greasy Neale Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks".
- ↑ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More". Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.