The Eagles have been, over the last ten or so years, a team that has demonstrated flashes of brilliance at times. With runs into the playoffs on numerous occasions, their fans have been given hope time and again, but repeatedly had those hopes dashed. In fact, over their 77 year history, the Eagles have repeatedly had periods in which they appeared ready to move onto the next level and compete for a Super Bowl, but never seem to get it done. Even when they have appeared in the game – once in 1980 and again in 2004 – they have not been able to win it. For older Eagles fans, the true glory days of the franchise are not now, but occurred over a half century ago during the coaching tenure of Earle Neale.

Creating the Draft
The Eagles were best known for losing prior to hiring Neale. The problem that they chiefly had was one of building their new franchise from the bottom up. Their owner’s idea, presented to the NFL in 1935, was to change the game in ways that even he could not have envisioned. For reasons related solely to his own team’s future prospects, he talked the NFL into instituting a player draft of graduating college football stars. The teams with the worst record in the previous season would have the first choice of those college prospects. The idea caught hold and has continued to the present day. Each year, the nation’s top collegiate athletes enter the NFL Draft in hopes of being selected for one of the NFL’s franchise football teams. Though the Eagles would eventually achieve success from the system they proposed, their very first choice was a bust. In fact, they chose someone who had no intention of playing at the professional level, and who went to medical school instead.

Team-building from the ground up
The Eagles did manage to figure out how to use the draft to their advantage, however, and began to make choices that would enable them to rapidly improve their fortunes. And while Neale’s ability to coach at the highest levels of the game certainly played the major part in his teams’ success, there is no arguing that the draft had a profound effect on the options available to him from a coaching perspective. During the 1940s, Neale’s Eagles went from last to second to first in their division. Behind the stellar play of such Eagles luminaries as Thompson and Van Buren, the Philadelphia franchise elevated itself from laughingstock to dominating champion. By the end of the Forties, the Eagles competed in three consecutive title games for the NFL crown, winning in ’48 and ’49. In both of those victories, their defense did not allow a single opponent score.

The defense that lives on
When it came to defense, Neale’s still live on to this day. It was he who originated the famous Eagle Defense that was adopted by other franchises around the League. That defense now lives on in the modern 4-3 formation that is still popular today. Neale’s championship years with the Eagles, as well as his defensive innovations, helped him to earn a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Author Bio: Ivan Jamison is a big sports fan. You can check out his Philadelphia Eagles Watch or his Los Angeles Dodgers Watch or his New York Mets Watch

Category: Sports
Keywords: Philadelphia Eagles