Wings to Victory | Eagles 1971 Season Recap

[Music] veteran Stadium the glistening new home of the Eagles was an optimistic sight for Philadelphia fans as 1971 began 1970 had been a disastrous year that produced only three victories but record crowds starved for a winner for him to see their Eagles reborn the Eagles team that greeted the new stadium was sprinkled with seasoned veterans and salted with you on September 19th the new year began with the bengals a rough tough team eager to stomp the Eagles into the astroturf eat list the new eagle quarterback endured the pummeling and passed Philadelphia inside a victory [Music] [Applause] [Applause] but in the second half the Bengals exploded and the Eagles were blown out 37 to 14 [Music] [Applause] [Music] after the loss to Cincinnati the Eagles were battered by Dallas 42 to 7 then in the season's third week they met the 49ers the Eagles were buried by San Francisco is John Brodie buggy whipped passes to a variety of receivers with stunning accuracy [Music] [Music] three straight agonizing losses a bitter stock for the faithful for the players the sad story of 1970 seemed as though it would be a twice told tale in 1971 then when all seemed lost a change was made a sturdy new pair of legs carried Eagle fortunes ediot who combined the policy of strength through discipline with a hit or be hit philosophy became head coach ediot brought not instant victory but the will to win and in the season's fourth week the Eagles mauled Minnesota's snowmen [Applause] the defense traded punches with the Vikings but in the end the bruised purple limped home with a hard turn 13 to nothing victory [Music] in Oakland raw Rick Arrington started it quarterback and he shuffled the silver and black into a first half hold [Music] [Applause] [Music] but the tender nothing lead melted away when the dealer's knees buckled and the rate is blazed four five touchdowns after five straight losses the windless Eagles finally found their wings against the New York Giants while the defense drowned the Giants in rains fallen puddles the offensive line pried open huge holes and Eagle runners pored through [Applause] the trampling of New York resulted from the no glory work of the offensive line rich Stevens mark Norquist Henry Allison Wade Keys Mike Evans Jim Skaggs and Steve Smith seven men mowing a path to victory [Applause] Larry Watkins touchdown ended the drought as Philadelphia won its first 23 to 7 next came the Denver Broncos a team right for the Eagles second bite into sweet victory [Music] [Applause] [Applause] the offense scored just one lone touchdown but it was allied with a defense grown proud of its emerging strength the specialty teams led by the NFC's leading putter Tom McNeil at number 51 Ike Kelly converted ill-advised Bronco decisions into turnovers then the Screaming Eagle soared when bill Hobbs number 56 lived a linebackers dream defense was the catalyst of evil celebration and defense was the mighty right arm that preserved win number two [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] after two straight joyous victories the Philadelphia Eagles came together as a team in week number eight they met the rival Redskins and their game plan was designed to chop down Larry Brown the legs of the Washington offense [Music] with brown shortened to a stump the defense forced quarterback Billy Kilmer to launch air balls that floated dreamily into the Eagles secondary [Music] the defense carved a in red-skinned armor and then pete liske and the offense mustered a clutch touchdown that broke the scoreless tie [Applause] [Applause] needing only three points for a triumph the Eagle saw victory vanish in the shadows [Music] [Applause] and then with the diehards howling Washington tied the game at 7:00 within one minute of a loss eagle pride in bill Bradley's interception gave Philadelphia a final chance list lifted a prayer to Harold Jackson but no timeouts remain [Music] with time dying the clock ticked off the last seconds the Eagles had won every battle but the war ended in a tie through eight weeks the team was growing stronger nourished by a fierce defense and fired by a rapidly improving offense in 1971 Pete list came from Denver to general the Eagle attack with lisp as its leader the Eagle back field revolved around a variety of punishing runners there were Tom Bailey and Albert Davis a stumpy rookie built of cast iron [Music] there was tomboyish yet still pumping and turning his way up the gut [Applause] [Music] turning it up outside was libo jizz a hard man to handle in the open field [Music] [Applause] the pros pro in the backfield was Ronnie bull a shrewd runner who relied on ten years of instinct to bust the long one blending with the ground game was a passing attack that skewered defenses in the Eagles midseason surge to prominence [Music] four receivers liscad veteran tight end Gary Baldwin a greyhound in a position dominated by bears [Music] balancing Boldman was rookie Harold Carmichael a six foot eight seventh round selection and the prize of a superb Eagle Draft [Applause] at the flanks were Harold Jackson and Ben Hawkins at 5:10 Jackson hit in the turmoil then appeared like a phantom to rendezvous with the ball Harold Jackson 175 pounds of Quicksilver slithering through the secondary [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] looking in Jackson's shadow has been Hawkins number 18 the Eagles of a big play receiver the Eagles Hawk still flies free and easy for Philadelphia with chinstrap dangling and arms pumping Hawkins beats a desperate path to the endzone [Music] after a Haggard start the offensive guns were fully loaded for the final five games of 1971 after nine games the Eagles record stood at two six and one in st. Louis they rode on the roar the special teams whose lusty hitting produced the first touchdown [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Cardinals defense was blown about like tumbleweeds as Philadelphia scored easily and often and 137 to 20 week number 11 brought a rematch with the Redskins who escaped with an arrow 22:13 win in Detroit the Eagles choked off the Lions last breath in the NFC's Central Division in the first half the defense shut out one of football's most varied and explosive offenses [Music] a Champions mixture of timely defense ball control and Tom Dempsey's record-setting 52-yard field goal gave the Eagles ahead a 13 to nothing halftime lead but in the final two quarters Porter back Greg Landry commanded a furious lion rally and with one minute and 53 seconds remaining Detroit led 20 to 16 with Detroit smugly confident of their destiny Pete Liske marshaled a heroic 73-yard victory match a lob to Harold Jackson placed the ball at the Eagles 41 then a bullet to Ben Hawkins put the ball at the 5 with just 1 minute 3 seconds remaining a Sam sneak was called and Pete Liske rifled a pass to Kent Cramer who burrowed in for a glorious 2320 victory the next week a reservoir of confidence born from success spilled over into a 19 to 7 romp over st. Louis the man most responsible for victory was Tom Dempsey who booted for field goals including an incredible 54 yarder that broke the record he set one week earlier against Detroit in the season's last game the Eagle sought their third straight win against New York the defense signaled the sixth victory of 1971 on offense well disguise plays turned into touchdowns as Philadelphia rolled over the Giants 41 to 28 1971 a year that saw the Eagles flower and crest in the contenders 1971 was built on a defense that contained the last four number-one draft picks first came Tim Ravitch and the Roy Keys then came Steve's able and finally Richard Harris the Eagles came to hit they came to swarm and collide manhandle and gang tackle [Music] in 1971 the man with the ball was fair game for the defense as head kayat hit or be hit credo paid handsome rewards [Music] [Music] the defense was not a collection of individual stars but a collection of individuals that made the team the star that tackle was their quick charging captain Don Holt's knifing up the middle was Ernie Cao away and pursuing across the field was number 88 Gary petty grew at the ends were Don Brum and Mel Tom number 99 the man with the two first names and single-purpose get the quarterback flanking tom was rookie richard harris number 84 another agile man Mountain from Grambling college together both Harris number 84 and Tom number 99 worked in perfect harmony at one linebacker there was number 89 Steve Zabel who made the tough transition from tight end to linebacker and played like a veteran [Music] the other outside backer was number 50 Ron Porter a clutch player who made clutch plays roaming over the middle was Tim rossovich number 82 a mean man to meet in the open field behind the linebackers was the secondary at one corner was Al Nelson an expert at man-to-man defense who doubled is one of the league's most dangerous return specialists [Music] working in tandem with Nelson was Nate Ramsay number 24 who sifted through blockers to shut down the sweep at strong safety was Leroy keys who's six interceptions ranked him fourth in the NFC the free safety was Bill Bradley who in his first full season as a starter became an all-pro super bill was swatted at like a fly but he hung on to meet bigger men head-on meticulous coaching and ascent for the ball allowed Bradley to intercept more passes in 1971 than anyone else in pro football but card tackles and game saving interceptions were just a part of Bill Bradley story he was the symbol of Eagle Spirit through good times and bad Bradley and the Eagles endured they never lost heart and in the end their patience was rewarded with a sweet ride of winners [Music] the Philadelphia Eagles a team of 40 men every man a hitter [Music] [Applause] the Philadelphia Eagles a team on the brink of success a team flying on new wings to victory in 1972 [Music] [Applause] don't miss these two exciting Eagle preseason games at Veterans Stadium for information call four six three five 500

Channel: Philadelphia Eagles

Views: 4,194

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: eagles, eagles football, football, philadelphia, philadelphia eagles, nfl, nfl football, nfl season recap, eagles season recap, 1971 eagles, 1971 eagles season, nfl films, nfl highlights, eagles highlights, football highlights, nfl yearbook, eagles yearbook, harold carmichael, harold jackson, fred hill, ben hawkins, tim rossovich, nfl throwback, eagles throwback

Id: ViSPgLqWTUg

Length: 24min 9sec (1449 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 18 2020