Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles is a professional franchise from Philadelphia. It became the replacement of the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1933. Now, they compete in the NFC East division. The team’s home arena is Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia Sports Complex.

Franchise history

The team’s predecessor is the Frankford Athletic Association, established in 1899. It was a non-profit organization supporting different charitable programs. It also allowed young people to participate in sports competitions under the name of Frankford Yellow Jackets. However, the original union of local businesses disbanded ten years later. The players introduced the Loyola Athletic Club. They returned the previous name in 1912 and kept it till bankruptcy in 1931.

Yellow Jackets were the successful team in their first NFL seasons. They even won the 1926 season under Guy Chamberlain’s management. Later, the team struggled between the top and middle parts of the table. For example, they finished seventh out of 12 clubs next season. In 1928, the team needed more than one win to repeat the success. Despite the Jackets winning 11 times and Providence Steam Roller succeeding 8 times, Frankford played 15 games, which affected their percentage. They were third in 1929.

In 1930, they started to decline due to the Great Depression effect. That made it difficult to finance the team, so the Frankford Yellow Jackets had to stop existence. But the activists immediately started the campaign to return big professional football to their city. A group of activists headed by Bert Bell and Lud Wray took control under the assets of the defunct club and got the franchise award from the NFL. The group of Bell and Wray covered the Jackets’ debts owed to other franchises. The new franchise got the name Philadelphia Eagles, inspired by the bird on the National Recovery Administration.

The franchise renamed only once. In the 1943 season, the team needed help with filling the roster. Thus, they asked another team from Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Steelers, to merge. Steelers accepted the proposal, so they competed as Steagles that season. The United team finished with a record of 5-4-1. Steagles disappeared the next season. However, both teams still have friendly relations outside the field.

The Eagles regularly appear in the playoffs. They triumphed trice in the pre-merger championship games. The team competed for the third champion’s title as the NFL Eastern Division champion. However, the team didn’t succeed after the Super Bowl’s introduction. The Eagles qualified for the decisive final but won only once in 2017.

Rivalries

The Eagles have three major opponents in the Division. Opposition with the Giants is the oldest among intradivisional battles, coming down to 1933. Both teams remained in the same division or conference, which guaranteed the annual matchup. The New York Giants were their first opponents in 1933. That game was a shame for the inexperienced franchise – 56-0 in favor of the Big Apple team. It’s also a part of the NY-Philadelphia sports rivalry with NHL’s Flyers-Rangers and MLB’s Mets-Phillies opposition.

Later that year, the Eagles launched the Pennsylvania rivalry with neighbouring Steelers from Pittsburgh. That was a major rivalry until 1967, with friendly notes as these teams merged in 1943 to provide the full roster as Steagles. However, the teams went to different conferences after the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, causing a decrease in the frequency. These teams can meet once in four years in the regular season. But every game heats the interest in the local rivalry.

In 1934, the Eagles started the rivalry with Washington Commanders (earlier Redskins). The capital players won the first game 6-0. However, they presented Boston at that time. One of the famous episodes in the rivalry was the Body Bag game in 1990 at Philadelphia when nine players from Washington were injured during the match. Philadelphia Eagles won it 28-14. Commanders had to play without quarterbacks for several weeks in the season.

The rivalry with the Cowboys was launched in 1960. It’s rich in scandals and incidents like the Bounty Bowl 1989 when the Philadelphia team swept both regular season matches. The Cowboys accused them of a $200 bounty on the opponent’s kicker. Or Draft Weekends of 2017 and 2018 when the legends of the opponents insulted each other during that day.

Intraconference rivalry with the Atlanta Falcons started in 1966 but intensified in 1978 and kept intrigued till the 2000s, thanking the rivalry of dual-threat quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick. The Eagles passed the Falcons on their way to the Super Bowl LII in 2017.

The team also has a rivalry with the San Francisco 49ers. It has less historical importance, but it has famous moments. For example, the team swept the 49ers in the 2022 playoff as the final stop to the Super Bowl LVII but lost the title to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Players of note

Despite the absence of titles compared to other teams, the Eagles delegated 25 members to the Hall of Fame, including 22 players and 3 executives led by founder Bert Bell. All these performers are also members of the team’s Hall of Fame and were part of the symbolic team honoring 75 years of the franchise history in 2007.

Interestingly, Donovan McNabb, a threat to opponents throughout the 2000s, didn’t appear in the Pro Hall of Fame, but its number 5 is retired. Another interesting retiree is number 99, which belonged to Jerome Brown. It was a posthumous decision after Brown died in the automobile crash.