1951 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1951 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 19th in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 6–6, winning only four games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

1951 Philadelphia Eagles season
OwnerHappy Hundred
Head coachBo McMillin 2–0 and
Wayne Millner 2–8
Home fieldShibe Park
Results
Record4–8
Division place5th NFL American
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Off Season

The Eagle hired Bo McMillin who took on the challenge of returning the Philadelphia Eagles to their previous glory was hired on February 8, 1951. However, after just two games (both wins), McMillin underwent surgery for what was believed to be ulcer troubles. The verdict was far worse: stomach cancer, which ended his coaching career. Assistant coach Wayne Miller took over as head coach for the rest of the year. He would resign weeks before the 1952 season citing health as the reason for stepping down.

NFL Draft

The 1951 NFL Draft was held on January 18–19, 1951. This draft would be for players coming out of college and because Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season. The NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft. The draft was 30 rounds with eleven teams picking. There was a total of 362 players drafted. 27 former Colts players were drafted including Y. A. Tittle by San Francisco 49ers.

The Eagles would rotate getting the 5th, 6th and 7th picks through the rounds as a results of their 6–6 record in 1950, tying them with Pittsburgh and Detroit.

With the lottery bonus pick as the #1 pick of the draft, the New York Giants choose Kyle Rote a Halfback from Southern Methodist University The 2nd pick in the draft was made by the Chicago Bears. This was the Baltimore Colts 1st round pick that would have had, that was earlier traded to Chicago. With this pick they choose Bob Williams a Quarterback from the Notre Dame.

With their 1st pick as the 7th selection in the 1st round the Eagles choose, Ebert Van Buren, brother of Steve Van Buren,[2] a Fullback/Halfback out of LSU.

Player selections

The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.

= Pro Bowler [3] = Hall of Famer
Rd Pick Player Position School Rd Pick Player Position School
17Ebert Van BurenBackLSU 18Chet Mutryn
(From Detroit Lions)
BackXavier
221Pick Taken byWashingtonRedskins 332Al BrunoEndKentucky
443Fran NagleBackNebraska 557Jack DwyerBackLoyola (CA)
668Ken FarragutCenterMississippi 779Frank BoydstonBackBaylor
893Jack RichardsEndArkansas 9104Denny DoyleGuardTulane
10116Louis SchaufeleBackArkansas 11130Bob PopeTackleKentucky
12141Henry RichBackArizona State 13152Pete MastelloneCenterMiami (FLA)
14166Bobby WalstonEndGeorgia 15177Bobby NorthBackGeorgia Tech
16188Hal HatfieldEndUSC 17202Hal WaggonerBackTulane
18213Bill WeeksBackIowa State 19224Jack BoveTackleWest Virginia
20238John GloriosoBackMissouri 21249Neal FranklinTackleSMU
22260Jack RuckerBackMississippi State 23274Jack BigheadEndPepperdine
24285Tony KotowskiEndMississippi State 25296Glenn DrahnBackIowa
26310Billy StewartBackMississippi State 27321Bob WinshipTackleRice
28332Marv StendelEndArkansas 29346Roscoe HansenTackleNorth Carolina
30357John "Model-T" FordQuarterbackHardin–Simmons .

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 30 at Chicago Cardinals W 17–14 1–0 Comiskey Park 16,129
2 October 6 San Francisco 49ers W 21–14 2–0 Shibe Park 23,432
3 October 14 at Green Bay Packers L 24–37 2–1 City Stadium 18,489
4 October 21 at New York Giants L 24–26 2–2 Yankee Stadium 28,656
5 October 28 Washington Redskins L 23–27 2–3 Shibe Park 20,437
6 November 4 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–13 3–3 Forbes Field 19,649
7 November 11 at Cleveland Browns L 17–20 3–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 36,571
8 November 18 Detroit Lions L 10–28 3–5 Shibe Park 25,350
9 November 25 Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–17 3–6 Shibe Park 15,537
10 December 2 at Washington Redskins W 35–21 4–6 Griffith Stadium 23,738
11 December 9 New York Giants L 7–23 4–7 Shibe Park 19,322
12 December 16 Cleveland Browns L 9–24 4–8 Shibe Park 16,263
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game recaps

Week 2 vs SF 49ers

Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles (2–0–0) vs San Francisco 49ers (1–1–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
49ers 7 0 0714
Eagles 7 0 7721

at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Date: October 6, 1951
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: degrees, wind mph
Game information

Week 9 vs Pitt Steelers

Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles (3–6–0) vs Pittsburgh Steelers (3–5–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Steelers 10 7 0017
Eagles 0 6 0713

at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Date: November 25, 1951
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: degrees, wind mph
Game information

Week 12 vs Cleveland Browns

The Eagles lost for the 4th time to the former AAFC member. They were out played by the American Conference champions Cleveland Browns, as they could only manage a net passing yard total of 8 yards for the game on 9 completions. The Eagles forced the Browns to turn the ball over 4 times, and sacked Otto Graham in the end zone for a safety as the only bright points of the game for the Eagles.

Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles (4–8) vs Cleveland Browns (11–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 7 3 7724
Eagles 0 0 279

at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Date: December 16, 1951
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: degrees, wind mph
Game information

Standings

NFL American Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 11 1 0 .917 9–0 331 152 W11
New York Giants 9 2 1 .818 7–2–1 254 161 W4
Washington Redskins 5 7 0 .417 4–5 183 296 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 4 7 1 .364 3–5–1 183 235 W1
Philadelphia Eagles 4 8 0 .333 3–6 234 264 L2
Chicago Cardinals 3 9 0 .250 0–8 210 287 W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs

The Philadelphia eagles finished with a 4–8–0 record and failed to make it to the 1951 NFL Championship Game. The game was played between the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams in Los Angeles on December 23, 1951, with an attendance of 59,475.

Roster

(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)

= 1951 Pro Bowl[4] = Hall of Famer
NO. Player AGE POS GP GS WT HT YRS College
Bo McMillin56Coach2record
2–0
1635–91stCentre[5]
Wayne Millner38Coach10record
2–8
1896–11stNotre Dame
80Neill Armstrong25E-DB121896–24Oklahoma State
74Walt Barnes33G122386–13LSU
60Chuck Bednarik+26LB-C122336–32Pennsylvania
10Adrian Burk24QB-Punter12121906–21Baylor
36Gerry Cowhig30LB-FB-DB112156–24Notre Dame
33Russ Craft32DB-HB121785–95Alabama
53Ken Farragut23C-LB112406–4RookieMississippi
64Mario Giannelli31MG-G102656–03Boston College
86Bud Grant24E-DE121996–3RookieMinnesota
89John Green30DE-E101926–14Tulsa
73Roscoe Hansen22T-DT92156–3RookieNorth Carolina
78Mike Jarmoluk29DT-T-MG122326–55Temple
76Bucko Kilroy30G-MG-T-DT122436–28Notre Dame
Temple
52Vic Lindskog+37C112036–17Stanford
88Jay MacDowell32T-DE122176–25Washington
39Bill Mackrides26QB61825–114Nevada-Reno
67John Magee28G122205–103La-Lafayette,
Rice
49Pat McHugh32DB-HB81665–114Georgia Tech
81Red O'Quinn26DB-E51956–21Wake Forest
43Jim Parmer25FB-HB111936–03Oklahoma State,
Texas A&M
35Pete Pihos28E-DE122106–14Indiana
21Al Pollard23HB-FB61966–0RookieArmy,
Loyola Marymount
30Bosh Pritchard32HB61645–119Georgia Tech,VMI
11John Rauch24QB-DB41956–12Georgia
40Frank Reagan32B121825–1110Pennsylvania
68Ray Romero24G72135–11RookieKansas State
31Dan Sandifer24DB-HB121906–13LSU
27Clyde Scott27HB-DB121746–02Arkansas,Navy
79Vic Sears33T-DT122236–310Oregon State
72Dick Steere24G52406–4RookieDrake
75Walt Stickel29T-DT112476–35Pennsylvania
Tulsa
45Joe Sutton27DB-HB111805–112Temple
17Ebert Van Buren27DB-LB-FB-HB122106–2RookieLSU
15Steve Van Buren31HB102006–07LSU
83Bobby Walston23E-HB-K121906–0RookieGeorgia
44Norm Willey24DE-G-E112246–21Marshall
70Al Wisert31G-T-DT122146–18Michigan
41Frank Ziegler28HB-DB1201755–112Georgia Tech
38 Players
Team Average
27.812206.16–1.03.4

Postseason

  • Wayne Millner resigns before 1952 season after training camp

References

  1. 1951 Philadelphia Eagles
  2. ISBN 978-1-59213-449-6 The Eagles Encyclopedia
  3. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
  4. Players are identified as a 1951 All-Star.
  5. Bo McMillin at the College Football Hall of Fame
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