| Team: | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Year: | 1959 |
| Record: | 7–5 |
| Division Place: | 2nd (tied) NFL Eastern |
| Coach: | Buck Shaw |
| Owner: | Happy Hundred |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Shortnavlink: | Eagles seasons |
The Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 27th season in the National Football League. They improved on their previous output of 2–9–1, winning seven games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season.
The Eagles held training camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The 1959 NFL draft was held on December 2, 1958 (rounds 1–4) and January 21, 1959 (rounds 5–30). The draft consisted of 30 rounds with each of the 12 NFL teams having one draft pick in each round. A total of 360 players were selected in this year's draft. There was no lottery bonus pick this year as it had run its course; all 12 teams had been given a bonus pick in previous drafts.
As the Green Bay Packers had the worst record in the previous season at 1–10–1, they had the first draft pick, and selected Randy Duncan, the quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Packers' lone win in 1958 had been over the Eagles, 38–35, on October 26 in Green Bay.
The Eagles and the Chicago Cardinals both had 2–9–1 records in 1958, which were tied for the 2nd-worst record in the league, so they rotated in picking 2nd or 3rd in each round. Despite their poor records in 1958, both of these teams had defeated the eventual Eastern Conference champion New York Giants that year. The Eagles traded their first-round pick, the 2nd overall pick in the draft, to the Los Angeles Rams for quarterback Norm Van Brocklin. The Eagles made their first draft selection in round 2 with the 15th overall pick.
In 1959 the Eagles and Packers would both improve to 7–5–0. Then in 1960 they would each win their respective conference championships and meet in the NFL Championship game.
The table shows the Eagles' selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick.[2] 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 |
| width=3% style="background:#006633;" | Rd | width=1% style="background:#006633;" | Pick # | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | Player | width=7% style="background:#006633;" | Position ! | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Pick Taken By Chicago Bears | ||||||
| 2 | 15 | J. D. Smith | Tackle | Rice Owls | ||||
| 3 | 26 | Wray Carlton | Back | Duke Blue Devils | ||||
| 4 | 39 | Jim Grazione | Quarterback | Villanova Wildcats | ||||
| 5 | 51 | Nick Mumley | Tackle | Purdue Boilermakers | ||||
| 6 | 62 | Al Benecick | Guard | Syracuse Orange | ||||
| 7 | 75 | Pick Taken By Los Angeles Rams | ||||||
| 8 | 86 | Wilmer Fowler | Back | Northwestern Wildcats | ||||
| 9 | 99 | Gene Johnson | Back | Cincinnati Bearcats | ||||
| 10 | 110 | Rollie West | Back | Villanova Wildcats | ||||
| 11 | 123 | Art Powell | Wide receiver | San Jose State Spartans | ||||
| 12 | 134 | Howard Keys | Tackle | Oklahoma State Cowboys | ||||
| 13 | 147 | Dick Stillwagon | Back | Purdue Boilermakers | ||||
| 14 | 158 | Jack Smith | Tackle | Clemson Tigers | ||||
| 15 | 171 | Jim Poteete | Center | |||||
| 16 | 182 | Ken Paduch | Tackle | Auburn Tigers | ||||
| 17 | 195 | Bill Craig | Tackle | Villanova | ||||
| 18 | 206 | Jim Benson | Back | Georgia Tech | ||||
| 19 | 219 | Alan Miller | Back | Boston College | ||||
| 20 | 230 | Jim Payne | Guard | Clemson | ||||
| 21 | 243 | Bob Salerno | Guard | Colorado | ||||
| 22 | 254 | Jim Bowie | Tackle | Kentucky | ||||
| 23 | 267 | Dick Williams | End | Southern | ||||
| 24 | 278 | Gerry Benn | Tackle | Oklahoma State | ||||
| 25 | 291 | Dick Jamieson | Quarterback | Bradley | ||||
| 26 | 302 | Jim Burks | Tackle | Virginia Tech | ||||
| 27 | 315 | Lowell Jenkins | Tackle | Wisconsin | ||||
| 28 | 326 | Leo Sexton | End | Auburn Tigers | ||||
| 29 | 339 | John Stolte | Tackle | Kansas State Wildcats | ||||
| 30 | 350 | Angelo Mosca | Tackle | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 27 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 14–24 | 0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 41,697 | ||
| 2 | October 4 | New York Giants | W 49–21 | 1–1 | Franklin Field | 27,023 | ||
| 3 | October 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 28–24 | 2–1 | Franklin Field | 27,343 | ||
| 4 | October 18 | at New York Giants | L 7–24 | 2–2 | Yankee Stadium | 68,783 | ||
| 5 | October 25 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 28–24 | 3–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 20,112 | ||
| 6 | November 1 | Washington Redskins | W 30–23 | 4–2 | Franklin Field | 39,854 | ||
| 7 | November 8 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–28 | 4–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 58,275 | ||
| 8 | November 15 | Chicago Cardinals | W 27–17 | 5–3 | Franklin Field | 28,887 | ||
| 9 | November 22 | Los Angeles Rams | W 23–20 | 6–3 | Franklin Field | 47,425 | ||
| 10 | November 29 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 0–31 | 6–4 | Forbes Field | 22,191 | ||
| 11 | December 6 | at Washington Redskins | W 34–14 | 7–4 | Griffith Stadium | 24,325 | ||
| 12 | December 13 | Cleveland Browns | L 21–28 | 7–5 | Franklin Field | 45,952 | ||
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1959 All-Star Selection[5] | = Hall of Famer |
| width 2% style="background:#006633;" | NO. | width=20% style="background:#006633;" | Player | width=2% style="background:#006633;" | AGE | width=6% style="background:#006633;" | POS | width=2% style="background:#006633;" | GP | width=2% style="background:#006633;" | GS | width=2% style="background:#006633;" | WT | width=2% style="background:#006633;" | HT | width=4% style="background:#006633;" | YRS | width=15% style="background:#006633;" | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - align=left | 61 | COACH | 1958 record 7–5–0 | Eagles Lifetime 9–14–1 | NFL Lifetime 80–53–5 | 2 | - align=left | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | |||||||||||
| 50 | - align=left | Darrel Aschbacher | 24 | G | 11 | 0 | 220 | 6–1 | Rookie | Boise State,Oregon | |||||||||
| 33 | - align=left | Billy Ray Barnes | 24 | HB | 12 | 0 | 201 | 5–11 | 2 | - align=left | Wake Forest | ||||||||
| 60 | - align=left bgcolor=#CCFFCC | Chuck Bednarik | 33 | LB-C | 12 | 0 | 233 | 6–3 | 10 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 36 | - align=left | Dick Bielski | 27 | E-FB | 12 | 0 | 224 | 6–1 | 4 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 40 | - align=left | Tom Brookshier | 28 | DB | 12 | 0 | 196 | 6–0 | 6 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 78 | - align=left | Marion Campbell | 30 | DE-DT-MG-G-T | 11 | 0 | 250 | 6–3 | 5 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 67 | - align=left | Stan Campbell | 29 | G | 12 | 12 | 226 | 6–0 | 7 | - align=left | Iowa State | ||||||||
| 21 | - align=left | Jimmy Carr | 26 | DB-LB-HB | 12 | 0 | 206 | 6–1 | 4 | Charleston (WV) | |||||||||
| 63 | - align=left | Tom Catlin | 28 | LB-C | 12 | 0 | 213 | 6–1 | 6 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 45 | - align=left | Paige Cothren | 24 | K | 7 | 0 | 201 | 5–11 | 2 | - align=left | Mississippi | ||||||||
| 74 | - align=left | Jerry DeLucca | 23 | T-DT | 12 | 0 | 247 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | |||||||||
| 65 | - align=left | Jerry Huth | 26 | G | 10 | 0 | 226 | 6–0 | 3 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 27 | - align=left | Gene Johnson | 24 | DB | 12 | 0 | 187 | 6–0 | Rookie | - align=left | |||||||||
| 9 | - align=left bgcolor=#CCFFCC | Sonny Jurgensen | 25 | QB | 12 | 0 | 202 | 5–11 | 2 | - align=left | Duke Blue Devils | ||||||||
| 73 | - align=left | Ed Khayat | 24 | DT-DE-T | 9 | 0 | 240 | 6–3 | 2 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 43 | - align=left | Walt Kowalczyk | 24 | FB-DB | 12 | 0 | 208 | 6–0 | 1 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 61 | - align=left | Tom Louderback | 26 | LB-C-G | 12 | 0 | 235 | 6–2 | 1 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 80 | - align=left | Ken MacAfee | 30 | E-TE | 4 | 0 | 212 | 6–2 | 5 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 75 | - align=left | Jim McCusker | 23 | T | 12 | 0 | 246 | 6–2 | 1 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 25 | - align=left bgcolor=#CCFFCC | Tommy McDonald | 25 | FL-HB-SE-WR | 12 | 0 | 178 | 5–9 | 2 | - align=left | Oklahoma Sooners | ||||||||
| 29 | - align=left | John Nocera | 25 | LB | 12 | 0 | 220 | 6–1 | Rookie | - align=left | |||||||||
| 70 | - align=left | Don Owens | 27 | DT-T | 12 | 0 | 255 | 6–5 | 2 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 32 | - align=left | Joe Pagliei | 25 | FB | 7 | 0 | 220 | 6–0 | Rookie | - align=left | Clemson Tigers | ||||||||
| 26 | - align=left | Clarence Peaks | 24 | FB | 12 | 0 | 218 | 6–1 | 2 | - align=left | Michigan State Spartans | ||||||||
| 53 | - align=left | Bob Pellegrini | 25 | LB-G | 12 | 0 | 233 | 6–2 | 3 | - align=left | Maryland Terrapins | ||||||||
| 87 | - align=left | Art Powell | 22 | SE-DB-WR | 12 | 0 | 211 | 6–3 | Rookie | - align=left | San Jose State Spartans | ||||||||
| 44 | - align=left | Pete Retzlaff | 28 | E-HB-TE | 10 | 0 | 211 | 6–1 | 3 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 72 | - align=left | Jess Richardson | 29 | DT | 12 | 0 | 261 | 6–2 | 6 | - align=left | Alabama Crimson Tide | ||||||||
| 22 | - align=left | Lee Riley | 27 | DB | 12 | 0 | 192 | 6–1 | 4 | - align=left | Univ. of Detroit-Mercy Titans | ||||||||
| 66 | - align=left | Joe Robb | 22 | DE-LB | 12 | 0 | 238 | 6–3 | Rookie | - align=left | TCU Horned Frogs | ||||||||
| 30 | - align=left | Theron Sapp | 24 | FB-HB | 12 | 0 | 203 | 6–1 | Rookie | - align=left | |||||||||
| 76 | - align=left | J.D. Smith | 23 | T | 11 | 11 | 250 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | |||||||||
| 68 | - align=left | Bill Striegel | 23 | G-T-LB | 12 | 0 | 235 | 6–2 | Rookie | - align=left | Pacific | ||||||||
| 11 | - align=left | Norm Van Brocklin | 33 | QB | 12 | 12 | 190 | 6–1 | 10 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 83 | - align=left | Bobby Walston | 31 | E-HB-K | 12 | 0 | 190 | 6–0 | 8 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 51 | - align=left | Chuck Weber | 29 | LB-DE-G | 12 | 0 | 229 | 6–1 | 4 | - align=left | |||||||||
| 88 | - align=left | Jerry Wilson | 23 | DE | 12 | 0 | 238 | 6–3 | Rookie | - align=left | |||||||||
| 37 players team average | 26.1 | 12 | 220.1 | 6–1.2 | 2.8 |
Before the start of the 1960 Season, but after the 1960 NFL draft, on March 19, the NFL had an expansion draft for the Dallas Cowboys. The Philadelphia Eagles lost, Dick Bielski a tight end, Gerry Delucca an offensive tackle, and Bil Striegel, a linebacker.
Pro Bowl selections – East Team
League leaders[6]