1961 Philadelphia Eagles season

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1961 Philadelphia Eagles season
OwnerHappy Hundred
Head coachNick Skorich
Home fieldFranklin Field
Results
Record10–4
Division place2nd NFL Eastern
Playoff finishLost NFL Playoff Bowl (vs. Lions) 10–38

The 1961 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 29th season in the National Football League.

Off-season[]

Since 1951, the Eagles have held their training camp at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

NFL Draft[]

The 1961 NFL Draft and the 1961 AFL Draft were separate drafts, and players could end up being drafted by both leagues.

The NFL Draft of 20 rounds with 14 teams picking were separate drafts for college players and took place on December 27–28, 1960, immediately after their win in the NFL Championship Game on December 26. The Eagles would picked last by going 10–2 in the 1960 season. As was the rule then, teams picked by previous season record, with that Cleveland Browns pick ahead of NFL runner-up Green Bay Packers. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dallas Cowboys as they had participated only in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft that year. The Cowboys held the worst record in the NFL the previous season, but selected second in this draft because of the entry of the Minnesota Vikings into the league. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Vikings' expansion franchise, and the Vikings were also awarded the first selection position in this draft.

The AFL draft was held on 2 dates 2 weeks apart at the end of the 1960 college season but before the bowl games. The first was a six-round draft held by phone. The second was held December 5 and 6, 1960 for rounds 7 through 30. The Denver Broncos selected New Mexico State's Bob Gaiters as the overall first draft pick.

The Philadelphia Eagles lost their first-round pick to the AFL for the second year. About half of the Eagles' 19 picks either signed with the AFL or remained in college to play their last year of eligibility.

Player selections[]

= Pro Bowler [1] = AFL All-Star[2] = Hall of Famer
Rd PICK PLAYER POS SCHOOL AFL Rd Pick Signed
1 14 Art Baker Fullback Syracuse Buffalo Bills
from New York		 3rd Buffalo
2 28 Bo Strange Center Louisiana State Denver Broncos 3rd
3 31 Jim Wright Quarterback Memphis State New York 1 Dallas Texans
3 42 Don Oakes Tackle Virginia Tech Boston Patriots 21 162 Eagles
4 53 Dan Ficca Guard USC San Diego 29 162 Oakland Raiders
4 56 Pick taken by Green Bay
5 70 Pick taken by Detroit Lions
6 84 Ben Balme Guard Yale
7 98 Irv Cross Back Northwestern New York 15 117 Eagles
8 112 Jim Beaver Guard Florida
9 126 Wayne Fontes[3] Running back Michigan State New York 22 173 New York Titans
10 140 Luther Hayes End USC San Diego 27 215 San Diego Chargers
11 154 L.E. Hicks Tackle Florida
12 168 Billy Majors [4] Back Tennessee Buffalo Bills 9 67 Buffalo
13 180 Don Jonas Quarterback Penn State Eagles
1962 season then career in CFL
14 196 Willie Fleming Running back Iowa signed with BC Lions of CFL in 1959
15 210 Bobby Richards Tackle Louisiana State Eagles
1962 season
16 224 G. W. Clapp Guard Auburn
17 238 Larry Lavery Tackle Illinois
18 252 Nick Maravich Tackle North Carolina State
19 266 Dick Wilson Center Penn State
20 280[5] Jacque MacKinnon[6] Back Colgate

Preseason[]

  • August 4, Chicago All-Star Game: Eagles 28, All-Stars 14 [7]

Regular season[]

Main article: 1961 NFL season

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 17 Cleveland Browns W 27–20 1–0 60,671
2 September 24 Washington Redskins W 14–7 2–0 50,108
3 October 1 St. Louis Cardinals L 27–30 2–1 59,399
4 October 8 Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–16 3–1 60,671
5 October 15 at St. Louis Cardinals W 20–7 4–1 20,262
6 October 22 at Dallas Cowboys W 43–7 5–1 25,000
7 October 29 at Washington Redskins W 27–24 6–1 31,066
8 November 5 Chicago Bears W 16–14 7–1 60,671
9 November 12 at New York Giants L 21–38 7–2 62,800
10 November 19 at Cleveland Browns L 24–45 7–3 68,399
11 November 26 Dallas Cowboys W 35–13 8–3 60,127
12 December 3 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 35–24 9–3 21,653
13 December 10 New York Giants L 24–28 9–4 60,671
14 December 17 at Detroit Lions W 27–24 10–4 44,231

Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings[]

NFL Eastern Conference
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 W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
New York Giants 10 3 1 .769 9–2–1 368 220 T1
Philadelphia Eagles 10 4 0 .714 8–4 361 297 W1
Cleveland Browns 8 5 1 .615 8–3–1 319 270 T1
St. Louis Cardinals 7 7 0 .500 7–5 279 267 W3
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 8 0 .429 5–7 295 287 L1
Dallas Cowboys 4 9 1 .308 2–9–1 236 380 L4
Washington Redskins 1 12 1 .077 1–10–1 174 392 W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoff Bowl[]

Main article: Playoff Bowl
Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Playoff Bowl January 6, 1962 Detroit Lions L 10–38 Orange Bowl 25,612
Source:[7][8]

Awards and honors[]

References[]

  1. ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their careers.
  2. ^ Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star team at any time in their careers.
  3. ^ Wayne Fontes signed with the New York Titans of the AFL
  4. ^ Billy Majors signed with the Buffalo Bills of the AFL
  5. ^ This last selection is commonly referred to as Mr. Irrelevant.
  6. ^ Jacque MacKinnon signed with the San Diego Chargers of the AFL
  7. ^ a b NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 369
  8. ^ "Detroit storms past Philadelphia, 38-10". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 7, 1962. p. 1B.

External links[]


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