| Team: | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Year: | 1951 |
| Record: | 4–8 |
| Division Place: | 5th NFL American |
| Coach: | Bo McMillin 2–0 and Wayne Millner 2–8 |
| Owner: | Happy Hundred |
| Stadium: | Shibe Park |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Shortnavlink: | Eagles seasons |
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.
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.
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.
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 | width=5% style="background:#006633;" | Pick | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | Player | width=5% style="background:#006633;" | Position | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | School | width=2% style="background:#;" | Rd | width=5% style="background:#006633;" | Pick | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | Player | width=5% style="background:#006633;" | Position | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Ebert Van Buren | Back | LSU | 1 | 8 | Chet Mutryn (From Detroit Lions) | Back | Xavier | ||||||||||
| 2 | 21 | Pick Taken by | Washington | - align=left | Redskins | 3 | 32 | Al Bruno | End | Kentucky | |||||||||
| 4 | 43 | Fran Nagle | Back | Nebraska | 5 | 57 | Jack Dwyer | Back | Loyola (CA) | ||||||||||
| 6 | 68 | Ken Farragut | Center | 7 | 79 | Frank Boydston | Back | Baylor | |||||||||||
| 8 | 93 | Jack Richards | End | 9 | 104 | Denny Doyle | Guard | ||||||||||||
| 10 | 116 | Louis Schaufele | Back | 11 | 130 | Bob Pope | Tackle | Kentucky | |||||||||||
| 12 | 141 | Henry Rich | Back | 13 | 152 | Pete Mastellone | Center | ||||||||||||
| 14 | 166 | Bobby Walston | End | 15 | 177 | Bobby North | Back | ||||||||||||
| 16 | 188 | Hal Hatfield | End | 17 | 202 | Hal Waggoner | Back | Tulane | |||||||||||
| 18 | 213 | Bill Weeks | Back | 19 | 224 | Jack Bove | Tackle | West Virginia | |||||||||||
| 20 | 238 | John Glorioso | Back | Missouri | 21 | 249 | Neal Franklin | Tackle | SMU | ||||||||||
| 22 | 260 | Jack Rucker | Back | Mississippi State | 23 | 274 | Jack Bighead | End | Pepperdine | ||||||||||
| 24 | 285 | Tony Kotowski | End | Mississippi State | 25 | 296 | Glenn Drahn | Back | Iowa | ||||||||||
| 26 | 310 | Billy Stewart | Back | Mississippi State | 27 | 321 | Bob Winship | Tackle | Rice | ||||||||||
| 28 | 332 | Marv Stendel | End | Arkansas | 29 | 346 | Roscoe Hansen | Tackle | North Carolina | ||||||||||
| 30 | 357 | John "Model-T" Ford | Quarterback | Hardin–Simmons | . | ||||||||||||||
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 30 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 17–14 | 1–0 | Comiskey Park | 16,129 | ||
| 2 | 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. | ||||||||
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.
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.
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1951 Pro Bowl[4] | = Hall of Famer |
| NO. | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | Player | width=4% style="background:#006633;" | AGE | width=6% style="background:#006633;" | POS | width=3% style="background:#006633;" | GP | width=1% style="background:#006633;" | GS | width=4% style="background:#006633;" | WT | width=4% style="background:#006633;" | HT | width=1% style="background:#006633;" | YRS | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - align=left | Bo McMillin | 56 | Coach | 2 | record 2–0 | 163 | 5–9 | 1st | - align=left | Centre | ||||||||
| - align=left | Wayne Millner | 38 | Coach | 10 | record 2–8 | 189 | 6–1 | 1st | - align=left | Notre Dame | ||||||||
| 80 | - align=left | Neill Armstrong | 25 | E-DB | 12 | 189 | 6–2 | 4 | - align=left | Oklahoma State | ||||||||
| 74 | - align=left | Walt Barnes | 33 | G | 12 | 238 | 6–1 | 3 | - align=left | LSU | ||||||||
| 60 | - align=left bgcolor=#ccffcc | Chuck Bednarik+ | 26 | LB-C | 12 | 233 | 6–3 | 2 | - align=left | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| 10 | - align=left | Adrian Burk | 24 | QB-Punter | 12 | 12 | 190 | 6–2 | 1 | - align=left | Baylor | |||||||
| 36 | - align=left | Gerry Cowhig | 30 | LB-FB-DB | 11 | 215 | 6–2 | 4 | - align=left | Notre Dame | ||||||||
| 33 | - align=left | Russ Craft | 32 | DB-HB | 12 | 178 | 5–9 | 5 | - align=left | Alabama | ||||||||
| 53 | - align=left | Ken Farragut | 23 | C-LB | 11 | 240 | 6–4 | Rookie | - align=left | Mississippi | ||||||||
| 64 | - align=left | Mario Giannelli | 31 | MG-G | 10 | 265 | 6–0 | 3 | - align=left | Boston College | ||||||||
| 86 | - align=left | Bud Grant | 24 | E-DE | 12 | 199 | 6–3 | Rookie | - align=left | Minnesota | ||||||||
| 89 | - align=left | John Green | 30 | DE-E | 1 | 0 | 192 | 6–1 | 4 | - align=left | Tulsa | |||||||
| 73 | - align=left | Roscoe Hansen | 22 | T-DT | 9 | 215 | 6–3 | Rookie | - align=left | North Carolina | ||||||||
| 78 | - align=left | Mike Jarmoluk | 29 | DT-T-MG | 12 | 232 | 6–5 | 5 | - align=left | Temple | ||||||||
| 76 | - align=left | Bucko Kilroy | 30 | G-MG-T-DT | 12 | 243 | 6–2 | 8 | - align=left | Notre Dame Temple | ||||||||
| 52 | - align=left | Vic Lindskog+ | 37 | C | 11 | 203 | 6–1 | 7 | - align=left | Stanford | ||||||||
| 88 | - align=left | Jay MacDowell | 32 | T-DE | 12 | 217 | 6–2 | 5 | - align=left | Washington | ||||||||
| 39 | - align=left | Bill Mackrides | 26 | QB | 6 | 182 | 5–11 | 4 | - align=left | Nevada-Reno | ||||||||
| 67 | - align=left | John Magee | 28 | G | 12 | 220 | 5–10 | 3 | - align=left | La-Lafayette, Rice | ||||||||
| 49 | - align=left | Pat McHugh | 32 | DB-HB | 8 | 166 | 5–11 | 4 | - align=left | Georgia Tech | ||||||||
| 81 | - align=left | Red O'Quinn | 26 | DB-E | 5 | 195 | 6–2 | 1 | - align=left | Wake Forest | ||||||||
| 43 | - align=left | Jim Parmer | 25 | FB-HB | 11 | 193 | 6–0 | 3 | - align=left | Oklahoma State, Texas A&M</sub> | ||||||||
| 35 | - align=left bgcolor=#ccffcc | Pete Pihos | 28 | E-DE | 12 | 210 | 6–1 | 4 | - align=left | Indiana | ||||||||
| 21 | - align=left | Al Pollard | 23 | HB-FB | 6 | 196 | 6–0 | Rookie | - align=left | Army, Loyola Marymount | ||||||||
| 30 | - align=left | Bosh Pritchard | 32 | HB | 6 | 164 | 5–11 | 9 | - align=left | Georgia Tech,VMI | ||||||||
| 11 | - align=left | John Rauch | 24 | QB-DB | 4 | 195 | 6–1 | 2 | - align=left | Georgia | ||||||||
| 40 | - align=left | Frank Reagan | 32 | B | 12 | 182 | 5–11 | 10 | - align=left | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| 68 | - align=left | Ray Romero | 24 | G | 7 | 213 | 5–11 | Rookie | - align=left | Kansas State | ||||||||
| 31 | - align=left | Dan Sandifer | 24 | DB-HB | 12 | 190 | 6–1 | 3 | - align=left | LSU | ||||||||
| 27 | - align=left | Clyde Scott | 27 | HB-DB | 12 | 174 | 6–0 | 2 | - align=left | Arkansas,Navy | ||||||||
| 79 | - align=left | Vic Sears | 33 | T-DT | 12 | 223 | 6–3 | 10 | - align=left | Oregon State | ||||||||
| 72 | - align=left | Dick Steere | 24 | G | 5 | 240 | 6–4 | Rookie | - align=left | Drake | ||||||||
| 75 | - align=left | Walt Stickel | 29 | T-DT | 11 | 247 | 6–3 | 5 | - align=left | Pennsylvania Tulsa | ||||||||
| 45 | - align=left | Joe Sutton | 27 | DB-HB | 11 | 180 | 5–11 | 2 | - align=left | Temple | ||||||||
| 17 | - align=left | Ebert Van Buren | 27 | DB-LB-FB-HB | 12 | 210 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | LSU | ||||||||
| 15 | - align=left | Steve Van Buren | 31 | HB | 10 | 200 | 6–0 | 7 | - align=left | LSU | ||||||||
| 83 | - align=left | Bobby Walston | 23 | E-HB-K | 12 | 190 | 6–0 | Rookie | - align=left | Georgia | ||||||||
| 44 | - align=left | Norm Willey | 24 | DE-G-E | 11 | 224 | 6–2 | 1 | - align=left | Marshall | ||||||||
| 70 | - align=left | Al Wisert | 31 | G-T-DT | 12 | 214 | 6–1 | 8 | - align=left | Michigan | ||||||||
| 41 | - align=left | Frank Ziegler | 28 | HB-DB | 12 | 0 | 175 | 5–11 | 2 | - align=left | Georgia Tech | |||||||
| 38 Players Team Average | 27.8 | 12 | 206.1 | 6–1.0 | 3.4 |