American Football Wiki
Advertisement
1961 Philadelphia Eagles season
Head Coach Nick Skorich
Home Field Franklin Field
Results
Record 10–4
Place 2nd NFL Eastern
Playoff Finish Lost Playoff Bowl
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1960 1962

Off Season[]

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

NFL Draft[]

The 1961 NFL Draft and the 1961 AFL Draft were 2 separate drafts and players could end up being drafted by both leagues.

The NFL Draft was a draft of 20 rounds with 14 teams picking were separate drafts for college players and took place on December 27–28, 1960. The Eagles would pick 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 1960 NFL Championship Game loser Green Bay Packers. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dallas Cowboys as they had only participated 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 Minnesota 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 AFL had a 6 round draft held by phone. The second draft was held December 5th and 6th 1960 for rounds 7 through 30. Denver Broncos selected New Mexico State's Bob Gaiters as the overall first draft pick.
The Philadelphia Eagles lost their 1st round pick to the AFL for the second straight year. About half of the Eagles' 19 picks either signed with the AFL or remained in college to play 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 Buffao
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[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 17, 1961 Cleveland Browns W 27–20
60,671
2 September 24, 1961 Washington Redskins W 14–7
50,108
3 October 1, 1961 St. Louis Cardinals L 30–27
59,399
4 October 8, 1961 Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–16
60,671
5 October 15, 1961 at St. Louis Cardinals W 20–7
20,262
6 October 22, 1961 at Dallas Cowboys W 43–7
25,000
7 October 29, 1961 at Washington Redskins W 27–24
31,066
8 November 5, 1961 Chicago Bears W 16–14
60,671
9 November 12, 1961 at New York Giants L 38–21
62,800
10 November 19, 1961 at Cleveland Browns L 45–24
68,399
11 November 26, 1961 Dallas Cowboys W 35–13
60,127
12 December 3, 1961 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 35–24
21,653
13 December 10, 1961 New York Giants L 28–24
60,671
14 December 17, 1961 at Detroit Lions W 27–24
44,231

Standings[]

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

Roster[]

Playoff Bowl[]

Season Date Winner Result Attendance
1961 January 6 Detroit Lions L 38–10
25,612

[7]

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. 7.0 7.1 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 369
Advertisement