Eagles Birthday Gift: 10 Defining Moments in 90-Year History

The Philadelphia Eagles were born in the summer of 1933. Since then, there have been highlights, lowlights and so much in between, but here are 10 moments that have defined them.

PHILADELPHIA – They were born on July 8, 1933, which means the Philadelphia Eagles turned 90 on Saturday.

They have won three NFL championships, and been to four Super Bowls but have won only one. There have been great moments, horrible moments and so much in between.

Here’s my take on the top-10 defining moments in their life span:

10. Leonard Tose flirting with Arizona Gambling debts, which were later revealed to be between $40 and $50 million, nearly led the then-Eagles owner to broker a deal that would see him sell nearly half of his stake in ownership in the team to a Canadian real estate developer for $40M to get out of debt. The catch was he had to move the team to Arizona.

Philadelphia and the NFL threw up as many roadblocks as they could, and ultimately persuaded Tose to abandon his scheme. The deal never went through, and the Eagles stayed put.

9. Hiring Buddy Ryan The architect of one of the game’s best defenses, one that spear-headed a Super Bowl title by the Chicago Bears, Ryan was hired by the Eagles in 1986. He never won a playoff game, though had fog not rolled in off Lake Michigan for a 1988 playoff game in Chicago, maybe things would have turned out differently for Ryan and the Eagles. As it was, they lost the Fog Bowl, 20-12.

With his quick quips and the Bounty Bowl game against the Dallas Cowboys, Ryan sure was fun having in town and breathed life into the franchise.

8. Double Whammy The first hit came on June 25, 1992, when All-Pro defensive tackle Jerome Brown was killed in a car accident. In just five seasons, Brown, drafted ninth overall in 1987, was carving out a Hall of Fame resume prior to his death. He had collected 29.5 sacks in his five years, including seasons of 10.5 and nine sacks.

The second hit came months later when Reggie White left for the Green Bay Packers in free agency.

7. Miracles at the Meadowlands There were three ‘Miracles,’ but instead of giving each of them their own place in the top 10, they are being lumped together here. Obviously, they all came in the backyard of the New York Giants and each one greatly stung their NFC East rivalry.

The first was the most significant. It came in 1978 when Herman Edwards scooped up a fumble from quarterback Joe Pisarcik for a touchdown with 20 seconds left in the game to take a 19–17 win in 1978. The Eagles finished 9-7 – their first winning season since 1966 - and went to the playoffs. It also served as a springboard to seasons with 11, 12, and 10 wins over the next three years and a Super Bowl appearance in 1980.

The second miracle happened on Oct. 99, 2003, when rookie running back Brian Westbrook returned a punt 84 yards for a game-winning touchdown with just over a minute remaining.

It’s only slightly less significant than the Miracle part 1 in that had the Eagles lost, they would have been staring at a 2-4 record. They won, went 12-4, but lost in the NFC title game.

The Miracle part 3, was flat-out fun, but not as significant as the first two.

Trailing 24-3 at halftime, the Eagles stormed back with 28 points in the fourth quarter during a 2010 game. The final touchdown came on a 65-yard punt return from DeSean Jackson as time expired to pull out a 38-31 win.

The win helped give the Eagles the head-to-head tiebreaker for the playoffs over the Giants, though Philly lost in the wildcard round to eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay.

Jackson’s return was ranked the top play of the 2010 season and, in 2013, NFL.com readers voted it the greatest play of all time.

6. The Hit Legend Chuck Bednarik’s hit on the New York Giants’ Frank Gifford on Nov. 20, 1960, was ranked 44th in an NFL ranking of the league’s top 100 plays. The aftermath, with Bednarik standing over a prone Gifford, who was knocked unconscious after catching a pass over the middle and trying to turn up field, is one of the more famous shots in all of sports.

Led by Bednarik, the first overall pick in the 1949 draft, the Eagles won 17-10 and then went on to win the NFL championship.

5. Hiring Dick Vermeil It happened in 1976. The Eagles hadn’t had a winning record in a decade when they tabbed the college coach from UCLA. In two years, he took them to a winning record with some front-office help in trading for quarterback Ron Jaworksi and landing linebacker Bill Bergey. After going 9-7 in 1978, it would be just two more years before Vermeil would take the Eagles to the first Super Bowl.

4. Back-to-Back Just 15 years into their existence, the Eagles won their first NFL championship. More than that, they came back after doing it in 1948 to do it again in 1949.

Both wins were by shutout.

The first title was played in a blinding snowstorm and Steve Van Buren’s 5-yard touchdown run stood up as the only score in a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cardinals.

The second title was a 14-0 win over the Los Angeles Rams as Van Buren ran for 196 yards on 31 carries and the defense, led by rookie Bednarik, held the Rams to just 21 yards rushing.

3. 1960 This is a standalone moment since it wasn’t just another NFL title but because the Eagles beat the Vince Lombardi-led Green Bay Packers, 17-13, on Dec. 26 in one of the coldest days recorded in Philly history.

It was Lombardi’s lone playoff defeat and the Eagles’ win is considered a key event in football history. Lombardi and the Packers went on to win five NFL championships then the first two Super Bowls in a span of seven seasons.

Bednarik was in the middle of it all as usual, playing center on offense and linebacker on defense. The game ended when Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor and then refused to let him stand up until the final seconds of the game ticked away.

It would be 57 years before the Eagles won another title.

2. Jeffrey Lurie’s Purchase On May 6, 1994, the Eagles’ fortunes changed when Jeffrey Lurie purchased the team for an estimated $185 million. After shaky ownership from Tose and Norman Braman, Lurie delivered stability and the Eagles are considered to be one of the better-run organizations in the NFL.

His teams have just eight losing seasons in 29 years with him as the steward.

1. Super Bowl Championship What more can be said about the Eagles’ 41-33 win over the GOAT Tom Brady and the dynasty that was New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII?

There are plenty of offshoots to this moment – the hiring of coach Doug Pederson, which surprised many, the drafting of quarterback Nick Foles in the third round of the 2012 draft then bringing him back after trading him away, and the Philly Special, with Foles becoming the first and still only quarterback to catch a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl - but they are all subsets to the greatest moment in Eagles history.

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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