Philadelphia Eagles '70 | Eagles 1970 Season Recap

the dawn of a new season the start of an adventure promises to be fulfilled and questions to be answered well the guardians of the gridiron smile or do they wait in ambush ready to dice the hopes of a football team and its faithful in Philadelphia the gods watch over Franklin feel they watch over the fans and they watch over the fortunes of the Philadelphia Eagles for the Eagles the season begins with a brighter risin that is the heritage of every pro football team in recent years the gods have been unkind but the Eagles enter every new season with hope hope for Eagles seven for the Eagles 1970 was a year of extremes a year of alpine exuberance and Death Valley depression the offense ranked seventh in the NFC in total offense and sixth in passing yardage the line was one of the league's best at protecting the passer and there were three fine receivers I'm Brady five Gary Ballman with his precise patterns and clutch catches Ben Hawkins number 18 with Jackrabbit speed and kangaroo leaping ability [Music] the hawk who is quick enough to run right out of his helmet [Music] Harold Jackson number 29 quick as the Cobra and just as lethal [Music] but if the Eagles live by the past in 1970 so they died by it they managed to give a ball away in critical situations at least once a game [Music] the running game was capable to Eagle runners were sprung by the smooth working line Sarah Pender number 22 is getting better with every year of experience and Tom wood a shift number 37 when healthy is one of football's premier running backs although they proved they could move the ball as well as anybody like the passing game the crowd forces also suffered critical breakdowns the defense was an enigma to in the secondary Steve priest number 33 ray Jones number 21 al Nelson co-captain 8 Ramsey and rod medved got most of the playing time and ranked second in the NFC against the pass [Music] injuries forced the Eagles to use eight different combinations in the secondary and several inexperienced players for this reason although the secondary was stingy when they gave one up it always seemed to be a game breaker [Music] against Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys in the league's best running game the Eagles gave up only 46 yards on the ground and for the only time in their history the Cowboys got no first downs rushing but the Eagles lost the game on three touchdown bombs against the Giants one of the league's best passing teams it was just the opposite Fran Tarkenton fell beneath an eagle avalanche that shut off his passing game [Music] but Ron Johnson rushed for 142 yards 34 on his fourth quarter run that was the margin of victory [Music] the team was defeating itself trying to win the visible battle they are being subdued by a full within themselves the invisible curse of defeat defeat on the team like an ever-present specter it shrouds a man in a cloak of misery the feat umbels a mana makes it hard to walk tall [Music] it leaves a man searching for the answer to what turns the sunlit skies of victory to the cloud darken skies of defeat part of the time it's the little things like a bad snap or maybe no snap at all it's a missed block or a missed assignment [Music] it's a drop pass a lucky break part of the time it's the big things like a fumbled punt that leads to a touchdown the feed is cruel allowing the momentary joy of an 80 yard touchdown pass only to nullify that joy with a penalty flag the feat comes from the strange things that follow a trouble team like reading a newspaper at the wrong time [Music] defeat is 10 seconds to play and a 27 yard field goal to win the game [Music] the feed effects every man differently but it affects every man [Music] although at times it makes life miserable defeat acts as an invisible chain linking each man to the other in an effort to rise above it [Music] libo just was one man who rose above adversity the rookie from Louisville had been a defensive end for all but his senior year at first he had his problems at times he was fighting the ball and at times he was fighting for his very existence they came at bogus as one man or they came at him and waved but they could not drown him instead a toughness was forged into Bo juice and his Spartan style became a rallying point [Music] before long bogus was repaying his pursuers [Music] he became a tough in fighter with a hard-nosed effort that had been inbred during his trials [Music] by season's end bulges with an all-purpose back he got 50 passes to rank seventh in the NFL and he exhibited move that no college defensive end ever showed before [Music] adversity had been the force that drove lead bogus to success Tim rossovich was another who overcame early season troubles 1970 Tim switch from defensive end to middle linebacker as a neophyte he made mistakes but he was learning learning from every missed assignment our over-aggressive act [Music] the lessons taught him the position but nobody had to teach him rossovich to hit against the Atlanta Falcons in his fifth game as a middle linebacker tim was ready willing and hitting [Music] rossovich had played his best game and was ready to seek his place as a premier middle linebacker when the Dolphins came to town the fires that have been nearly snuffed out by seven straight losses were rekindled the defense that the tempo of the game at the outset I'm not gonna be embarrassed today man we can't be embarrassed let's go over one dirt right inside eh damn right let's go now come on this is important now we gotta go stop him stop slim laughs Jed [Music] [Applause] so where'd it go [Applause] [Applause] and the offense did move the ball all afternoon it was a ballet of ability a symphony of sinew a minuet of motion [Music] the offense piled up close to 300 yards and scored on three touchdown passes two went to Harold Jackson you tore up the Miami secondary the other went to rookie tied in Steve's able the Eagles first round draft choice for 1970 the offense piled up a 24 nothing lead and although the Dolphins got to within 7 points it was only fitting that the Eagle defense that had set the pace in the beginning should seal a verdict in the end [Music] the team's first victory of 1970 got the second half of the season off to a good start [Music] for head coach Jerry Williams the Sun had at last begun to shine the victory belong to the defense as much as the offense all season the fans loved and appreciated the aggressive tactics of the Eagle defenders much of the improvement goes to defensive coach Jimmy Carr calls every playful sidelines and then does everything but make the tackle himself just don't get down defense or get that ball back there [Applause] [Music] Carr Joe moss and Irv cross built the defense around a basic precept of defensive football gang tackling [Music] Eagle defenders have left many a quarterback asking to leave the room hitting starts in the pit and Gary Pettigrew number 88 is one of the leaders of Eagles fine pit crew [Music] gary uses many tools to break through a [Music] regardless of the method he spends a lot of time the opposition's backfield [Music] [Applause] petticrew has tremendous range and a tackle 20 yards downfield is not an exception but down field or in the backfield he's one of football's fiercest competitors no offense can concentrate on Pettigrew though as his line mates are just as effective his tackle mate number 77 Ernie Callaway is in his second season and is rapidly developing into a fine defensive lineman [Music] good outside pressure is supplied by N's Don Hulk's number 83 and Mel Tom number 99 Tom blows it on a quarterback like a runaway bus Mel wore number 99 and number 58 during the season a regardless of the license number the big awayand was equally affected Don Hulk's used the savvy of eight years of NFL experience to reach enemy quarterbacks [Music] behind the line flanking rossovich are two fine linebackers Ron Porter number 50 has been with Eagles most consistent players that's come in a trade with Baltimore [Music] Porter is the team's most effective Blitzen [Music] the other linebacker is Adrian young number 35 you may not hit the hardest but he hits often Adrian covers a lot of territory and he's the best linebacker on pass coverage a necessary quality of any linebacker is intelligence and Adrian knows where the ball is at all times he can track down a reverse to the opposite side and hang tough when one comes his way Young's nose for the ball is apparent in that he pops loose many a fumble [Music] just let a call go against the Eagles and the spirit of the Fighting Irish within him boils over it is this spirit that moves a team to victory it is this spirit that move the Eagles to hit any fate on two legs you don't have to have the ball to get hit by an eagle in fact sometimes it isn't even necessary that you be on the other team [Music] but if you are the enemy look out [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Eagles carried this kind of spirit into their nationally-televised Monday night game four monday night football fans it was a battle with Howard Cassell but for the Eagles it was a battle with Alex Webster's new york giants the giants were at the peak of football efficiency ed won six straight and we're near the top of the UFC's they wore the look of confidence the Eagles on the other hand had nothing more than the anticipation of victory to warm them but that would prove to be enough over 60,000 fans sat in frosty Franklin field and were worn by a bitterly fought razor close contest that saw both teams move the ball through the frozen night air [Music] three times the Giants drove to the lead three times the Eagles came back and a tribute to the stubborn pride that have been developing all season the closeness of the game was a reflection of the way that both teams were hitting the Giants with visions of Super Bowl dancing in their heads were hitting the Eagle divisions have upset were hitting right back [Music] hitting was something that the Eagles have been doing all year and they gradually began to get control of the game [Applause] [Applause] the hitting carried over to the offense they began to drive for the go-ahead score [Applause] let it go let it go go let's go we needed gotta have it bigger we gotta have it let's go take it in [Music] [Applause] another dr8 up nine minutes but with one minute left the Eagle defense faced one more task let's go write that timeout [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Eagles had met the challenge the giant had been subdued but the emotionally charged atmosphere was not diffused by the final guy [Applause] [Applause] the spirited victory this night and a win over the Steelers on closing day brought the Eagles second-half record to 3 3 & 1 the defeat of the first half will linger only in memory but the spirit and the will to win that develop Dorito 70 will long endure you

Channel: Philadelphia Eagles

Views: 4,718

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: eagles, eagles football, football, philadelphia, philadelphia eagles, nfl, nfl football, 1970 eagles season, eagles season recap, eagles yearbook, nfl yearbook, 1970 nfl season, eagles highlights, nfl highlights, football highlights, nfl films, nfl throwback, eagles throwback, nfl season recap, norm snead, harold jackson, nate ramsey, tim rossovich, ben hawkins

Id: LRMCEC2-tAU

Length: 24min 36sec (1476 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 18 2020