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THE GREATEST EAGLES OF ALL TIME
David Sabino
August 22, 2007
PICKING THE BEST PLAYERS IN PHILLY HISTORY WAS NO FLIGHT OF FANCY. HERE ARE THE EAGLES WHO LANDED ON SI'S LIST
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August 22, 2007

The Greatest Eagles Of All Time

PICKING THE BEST PLAYERS IN PHILLY HISTORY WAS NO FLIGHT OF FANCY. HERE ARE THE EAGLES WHO LANDED ON SI'S LIST

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The Alltime Eagles Team

OFFENSE

QB

RANDALL CUNNINGHAM

1985-95

Team's second leading passer and fourth leading rusher of all time

RB

WILBERT MONTGOMERY

1977-84

No. 1 Eagle in rushing yards for a season (1,512) and a career (6,538)

RB

STEVE VAN BUREN

1944-51

Four-time league rushing champ carried team to '48 and '49 titles

WR

HAROLD CARMICHAEL

1971-83

Held NFL's longest consecutive-game catch streak at 127

WR

TOMMY MCDONALD

1957-63

1998 Hall of Famer led the '60 champs with 13 touchdown catches

TE

PETE PIHOS

1947-55

Six-time Pro Bowl end was NFL's top receiver in '53, '54 and '55

T

JERRY SISEMORE

1973-84

Third pick in 1973 draft played in 127 consecutive games

T

BOB BROWN

1964-68

Boomer was named All-Pro in each of five seasons in Philly

G

FRANK (BUCKO) KILROY

1943-55

Named All-Pro three times on offense and four more on D

G

JERMANE MAYBERRY

1996-04

Linchpin on 2002 O-line that gained team-best 415 yards per game

C

GUY MORRISS

1973-83

First team All-NFC in 1981, Morriss started 89 straight games at center

DEFENSE

DE

REGGIE WHITE

1985-92

The Minister of Defense's 124 sacks are the most of any Eagle

DE

CLYDE SIMMONS

1986-93

Second to White in career sacks (76�) and sacks in a season (19)

DT

JEROME BROWN

1987-91

Key member of '91 Philly D that led the NFL in fewest yards allowed

DT

CHARLIE JOHNSON

1977-81

Nosetackle was chosen for the Pro Bowl from 1980 through '82

LB

CHUCK BEDNARIK

1949-62

Bone-jarring tackler was also named NFL's alltime center in '69

LB

BILL BERGEY

1974-80

A three-time team MVP and five-time All-Pro

LB

ALEX WOJCIECHOWICZ

1946-50

Ex-Lion was the catalyst for the Eagles' title runs in the late '40s

S

BILL BRADLEY

1969-76

First player to lead the NFL in interceptions two straight years

S

BRIAN DAWKINS

1996-

One of six NFL DBs with 30 career interceptions and 15 sacks

CB

TOM BROOKSHIER

1953, '56-61

Eight of his 20 INTs came before his two-year stint in the Air Force

CB

ERIC ALLEN

1988-94

Tied for team lead with 34 picks, five of which were returned for TDs

SPECIAL TEAMS

K

DAVID AKERS

1999-

Has hit 81.6% of his field goals—eighth alltime in the NFL

P

JOE MUHA

1946-50

Punter for two title teams led the NFL with 47.3-yard average in '48

KR

TIMMY BROWN

1960-67

Most returns of any Eagle (169), and five went for touchdowns

PR

BRIAN WESTBROOK

2002-

Set team record by returning two punts for TDs in 2003 season

COACH

ANDY REID

1999-

Holds team marks for wins (88) and winning percentage (.620)

BILL BERGEY
LB
CAREER: 1974-80
KEY STAT: Named to Pro Bowl four times
THE DEFENSIVE LEADER and middle linebacker for the Eagles team that played in Super Bowl XV, Bergey was a force all over the field, making 18 interceptions as well as averaging close to 13 tackles per game in his seven seasons in Philadelphia.

BOB BROWN
T
CAREER: 1964-68
KEY STATS: Three Pro Bowls, five-time All-Pro
AN IMPOSING 6'4", 280-pound tackle, Boomer pounded Eagles opponents into submission for five All-Pro seasons. Among his many honors was being selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1960s and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in '04.

ALEX WOJCIECHOWICZ
LB
CAREER: 1946-50
KEY STAT: Pro Football Hall of Fame ('68)
ONE OF Fordham's legendary Seven Blocks of Granite, Wojciechowicz was a 60-minute man for the Lions before he joined the Eagles in 1946 exclusively as a defender and became a focal point of the '48 and '49 championship squads.

TOMMY McDONALD
WR
CAREER: 1957-63
KEY STATS: 287 catches, 5,499 yards, 67 TDs
HIS PHYSICAL stature could be described as diminutive, but when it came to fire and tenacity, nobody played larger than this 5'9", 176-pond flanker. One of every 4.3 of his catches in seven years as an Eagle resulted in a touchdown.

RANDALL CUNNINGHAM
QB
CAREER: 1985-95
KEY STATS: 22,877 yards passing, 4,482 rushing, 182 total TDs
DYNAMIC, CREATIVE and exciting are the best words to describe Cunningham's 11 years as an Eagle. Three-times the Maxwell club's player of the year, he had more than 4,000 passing and rushing yards in a season three times, and retired in '01 as the NFL's alltime leading rusher among quarterbacks.

BRIAN DAWKINS
S
CAREER: 1996-
KEY STATS: 32 INTs, 18 sacks
FEW PLAYERS are more of a lock to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame than this six-time Pro Bowler, who was drafted in the second round by the Eagles in '96. A ferocious hitter at 6 feet and 210 pounds, Dawkins also has the speed to blitz any quarterback as well as cover any receiver.

REGGIE WHITE
DE
CAREER: 1985-92
KEY STATS: 124 total sacks, 21 sacks in 1987
HE WAS one of the kindest players in NFL history off the field, but few men were more feared on the gridiron than White, the key to Buddy Ryan's 46 scheme. For eight seasons in green, White turned opposing QBs yellow, racking up 124 sacks, 471� more than any other Eagle.

WILBERT MONTGOMERY
RB
CAREER: 1977-84
KEY STATS: 1,465 carries, 6,538 yards

JERRY SISEMORE
T
CAREER: 1973-84
KEY STAT: 156 games (127 consecutive)
FOR 107 GAMES over eight seasons Wilbert Montgomery was the motor that made the Eagles' offense go. He ran for more than 1,000 yards three times and remains Philadelphia's career leader in carries and rushing yards; many of those yards were gained with the superb tackle Jerry Sisemore (76, above right) leading the way.

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

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