Philadelphia Eagles · History

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional football franchise based in Philadelphia, founded in 1933. They compete in the NFC East and play at Lincoln Financial Field, which opened in 2003. The club has won five league championships: the NFL titles of 1948, 1949 and 1960, and Super Bowls LII and LIX.

The founding and the blue eagle

In July 1933 Bert Bell and Lud Wray paid $2,500 for the rights to the slot left vacant when the Frankford Yellow Jackets folded. Bell took the name from the blue eagle of the National Recovery Administration, the emblem of Franklin D. Roosevelt's recovery programme. The team debuted in October 1933 at the Baker Bowl. In 1943, with much of the roster in military service, the club merged for one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers as the unofficial Steagles and finished 5-4-1.

Greasy Neale, Steve Van Buren and the 1948 and 1949 titles

Earle "Greasy" Neale coached the Eagles from 1941 to 1950 and took them to three consecutive championship games. The first, in 1947, was lost 28-21 to the Chicago Cardinals. On 19 December 1948 at Shibe Park, in a blizzard that buried the yard lines, Philadelphia beat the same Cardinals 7-0; running back Steve Van Buren scored the only touchdown on a five-yard run. On 18 December 1949, in heavy rain at the Los Angeles Coliseum, they repeated with a 14-0 win over the Rams and Van Buren rushed for 196 yards. They remain the only back-to-back shutouts in NFL championship history.

1960: Bednarik and Lombardi's only playoff defeat

On 26 December 1960 at Franklin Field, Philadelphia beat the Green Bay Packers 17-13 in the NFL Championship Game. Buck Shaw was the coach and Norm Van Brocklin, the league MVP that season, the quarterback. Chuck Bednarik played centre and linebacker, the last NFL player to hold full-time jobs on both sides of the ball. With the clock running out he tackled Jim Taylor at the nine-yard line and sat on him until the horn. It was the only playoff loss of Vince Lombardi's career.

Vermeil, Buddy Ryan and Gang Green

Dick Vermeil arrived in 1976 and ended twenty years without a playoff berth. On 11 January 1981, at a freezing Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia beat Dallas 20-7 in the NFC Championship Game and reached Super Bowl XV, played on 25 January 1981 in New Orleans and lost 27-10 to the Oakland Raiders. Ron Jaworski was the quarterback. On 19 November 1978 the Eagles had won the "Miracle at the Meadowlands", when Herman Edwards returned a Giants fumble for the winning touchdown on the last snap. Buddy Ryan coached from 1986 to 1990 with a defence of Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner, and Randall Cunningham at quarterback. White recorded 124 sacks as an Eagle. That team never won a playoff game.

Andy Reid, McNabb and Super Bowl XXXIX

Andy Reid coached the club from 1999 to 2012 and won 130 regular-season games, more than anyone in franchise history. In his first draft he took Donovan McNabb second overall, to boos from the fans who had travelled to New York. The Eagles played four straight NFC Championship Games from 2001 to 2004 and won the last of them 27-10 against Atlanta. To get there they converted fourth-and-26 against Green Bay on 11 January 2004, McNabb finding Freddie Mitchell to extend a drive in a game they won 20-17 in overtime. On 6 February 2005 in Jacksonville they lost Super Bowl XXXIX 24-21 to the New England Patriots. Veterans Stadium, home since 1971, closed in 2003; in 1997 the city had installed a courtroom and holding cells in its 700 Level for fans arrested during games.

From the Baker Bowl to Lincoln Financial Field

The club has had six homes. It started at the Baker Bowl (1933-1935), moved to Municipal Stadium (1936-1939) and then to Shibe Park (1940-1957), later renamed Connie Mack Stadium, and played at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field from 1958 to 1970. Veterans Stadium was home from 1971 to 2002 and was brought down with explosives in March 2004. Lincoln Financial Field opened in August 2003 on the same South Philadelphia sports complex, cost about $512 million and seats around 69,000. The NovaCare Complex training base has stood next to it since 2001. Ownership passed from Bell and Wray to Alexis Thompson in 1941, then to Jerry Wolman in 1963, Leonard Tose in 1969 and Norman Braman in 1985. Jeffrey Lurie bought the club in May 1994 for $185 million; Howie Roseman has run the roster since 2010.

Super Bowl LII and the Philly Special

On 10 December 2017 quarterback Carson Wentz tore a knee ligament. Nick Foles replaced him. On 4 February 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Philadelphia beat New England 41-33. Foles threw for 373 yards and also caught a touchdown on fourth down just before half-time, the play known as the "Philly Special". He was named MVP. Doug Pederson was the head coach and the title was the club's first since 1960.

Jalen Hurts and Super Bowl LIX

Nick Sirianni was hired in January 2021. His quarterback, Jalen Hurts, had been a second-round pick in 2020. On 12 February 2023 in Glendale the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs despite three rushing touchdowns from Hurts. Two years later, on 9 February 2025 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, they beat the same Chiefs 40-22 and Hurts was named MVP. Running back Saquon Barkley, signed in March 2024, had rushed for 2,005 yards that regular season. The team's short-yardage sneak, the "tush push", pushed the league into debating a ban.

The club's nine championship games

Philadelphia has played nine title games: four before the Super Bowl era, winning three, and five Super Bowls, winning two. Those five were shared between two opponents, New England and Kansas City, with one win and one defeat against each.

Retired numbers and the Hall of Fame

Nine numbers have been retired: Donovan McNabb's 5, Steve Van Buren's 15, Brian Dawkins's 20, Tom Brookshier's 40, Pete Retzlaff's 44, Chuck Bednarik's 60, Al Wistert's 70, Reggie White's 92 and Jerome Brown's 99, the defensive tackle killed in a car crash in June 1992. Van Buren (1965), Bednarik (1967), White (2006), Dawkins (2018) and receiver Harold Carmichael (2020) are in the Hall of Fame, as is Bert Bell, NFL commissioner from 1946 to 1959. Carmichael is the club's career receiving yards leader, LeSean McCoy its leading rusher and McNabb its leading passer.

The Dallas rivalry and the Philadelphia crowd

The NFC East pairs the Eagles twice a season with the Cowboys, the Giants and Washington. The Dallas file includes the Bounty Bowl of 23 November 1989, when Jimmy Johnson accused Buddy Ryan of paying his players to injure the opposing kicker and quarterback. Against Washington there was the Body Bag Game of 12 November 1990: the visitors lost both quarterbacks and finished with running back Brian Mitchell running the offence. The crowd has its own record: in December 1968 fans booed a Santa Claus at Franklin Field and threw snowballs at him, and before the conference final of January 2018 the police greased the lampposts on Broad Street to stop supporters climbing them. The fight song, "Fly, Eagles Fly", follows every score and ends with the crowd spelling out E-A-G-L-E-S.