1947 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1947 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 15th in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 6–5, winning eight games.[1] The team qualified for the playoffs for the first time in fifteen seasons.
| 1947 Philadelphia Eagles season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Greasy Neale |
| Home field | Shibe Park |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–4 |
| Division place | 1st NFL American |
| Playoff finish | Lost NFL Championship |
Off season
The Eagles for the 2nd year went to Saranac Lake High School Field / Eagles Residence, in Saranac Lake, New York to hold training camp. Greasy Neale liked having the Eagles train away from Philadelphia and they only trained near their homebase when there were wartime travel restrictions during WW II. Under Neale the Eagles trained in Wisconsin, upstate New York and Minnesota when they could travel.
NFL Draft
The 1947 NFL Draft was December 16, 1946. The NFL started a lottery of a bonus pick for the first pick in the draft. They did this until 1958.
The Eagles made 29 selections over the 32 rounds. They got the 6th or 7th pick in the rounds in which they had picks.
The top two picks in the draft was a lottery bonus pick as the number-one pick by the NFL champion Chicago Bears was Bob Fenimore, a back who attended Oklahoma A&M. With the number-two pick the Detroit Lions took 1946 Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis a halfback from Army. He was unable to play due to his required military service. Cal Rossi, a running back from UCLA was drafted again this year with the 4th pick by the Washington Redskins. He was taken in error with the 9th pick in the 1946 draft when he was still a junior in college. He declined to play pro football.
The future NFL Hall of Famers that were in this draft where Dante Lavelli (12th round), Art Donovan (22nd round) and Tom Landry (20th round).
Some players drafted were signed by All-America Football Conference teams.
Player selections
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 [2] | = Hall of Famer |
| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School | Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Neill Armstrong | End | Oklahoma A&M | 2 | No PICK | ||||
| 3 | 19 | Bill Mackrides | Back | Nevada-Reno | 4 | No PICK | ||||
| 5 | 30 | George Savitsky | Tackle | Pennsylvania | 6 | 42 | Traded Pick | to the | Chicago Bears | |
| 7 | 51 | Tony Yovicsin | End | Miami (FL) | 8 | 68 | Al Satterfield | Tackle | Vanderbilt | |
| 9 | 71 | Bob Leonetti | Guard | Wake Forest | 10 | 80 | Ulysses Cornogg | Tackle | Wake Forest | |
| 11 | 91 | Alex Sarkisian | Center | Northwestern | 12 | 102 | Jerry D'Arcy | Center | Tulsa | |
| 13 | 110 | John Hamberger | Tackle | Southern Methodist | 14 | 121 | Alvin Johnson | Back | Hardin–Simmons | |
| 15 | 132 | Joe Cook | Back | Hardin–Simmons | 16 | 140 | Jeff Durkota | Back | Penn State | |
| 17 | 152 | Hubert Shurtz | Tackle | Louisiana State | 18 | 161 | Hal Bell | Back | Muhlenberg | |
| 19 | 170 | Tom Campion | Tackle | Southeastern Louisiana | 20 | 182 | Fred Hall | Guard | Louisiana State | |
| 21 | 191 | Jim Clayton | Tackle | Wyoming | 22 | 200 | George Blomquist | End | North Carolina State | |
| 23 | 212 | Joe Haynes | Guard | Tulsa | 24 | 221 | Stanton Hense | End | Xavier | |
| 25 | 230 | Johnny Kelly | Back | Rice | 26 | 242 | H. J. Roberts | Guard | Rice | |
| 27 | 251 | Phil Cutchin | Back | Kentucky | 28 | 261 | Charley Wakefield | Tackle | Stanford | |
| 29 | 272 | Dick Langenbeck | Tackle | Cincinnati | 30 | 281 | Bernie Winkler | Tackle | Texas Tech | |
| 31 | 288 | Bill Stephens | Tackle | Baylor | 32 | 298 | Mike Kalosh | End | Wisconsin–La Crosse | |
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 28, 1947 | Washington Redskins | W 45–42 | |
| 2 | October 5, 1947 | New York Giants | W 23–0 | |
| 3 | October 12, 1947 | at Chicago Bears | L 40–7 | |
| 4 | October 19, 1947 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 35–24 | |
| 5 | October 26, 1947 | Los Angeles Rams | W 14–7 | |
| 6 | November 2, 1947 | at Washington Redskins | W 38–14 | |
| 7 | November 9, 1947 | at New York Giants | W 41–24 | |
| 8 | November 16, 1947 | Boston Yanks | W 32–0 | |
| 9 | November 23, 1947 | at Boston Yanks | L 21–14 | |
| 10 | November 30, 1947 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 21–0 | |
| 11 | December 7, 1947 | Chicago Cardinals | L 45–21 | |
| 12 | December 14, 1947 | Green Bay Packers | W 28–14 |
Playoffs
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisional | December 21, 1947 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 21–0 | |
| Championship | December 28, 1947 | at Chicago Cardinals | L 28–21 |
1947 Roster
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1947 Pro All-Star[3] |
|
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greasy Neale | 56 | Coach | 1947 record 8–4–0 | NFL-Eagles Lifetime 37–34–4 | 7th | West Virginia Wesleyan | |||
| Neill Armstrong | 21 | E-DB | 12 | 1 | 189 | 6–2 | Rookie | Oklahoma State | |
| Al Baisi | 30 | G | 2 | 0 | 217 | 6–0 | 7 | West Virginia | |
| Alf Bauman | 27 | DT-T | 2 | 0 | 228 | 6–2 | Rookie | Northwestern | |
| Larry Cabrelli | 30 | E-DB | 6 | 0 | 194 | 5–11 | 6 | Colgate | |
| T.J. Campion | 29 | T | 5 | 0 | 235 | 6–2 | Rookie | Southeastern Louisiana | |
| Russ Craft | 26 | DB-HB | 10 | 4 | 178 | 5–9 | 1 | Alabama | |
| Noble Doss | 27 | HB | 9 | 0 | 186 | 6–0 | Rookie | Texas | |
| Otis Douglas | 36 | T | 12 | 3 | 224 | 6–1 | 1 | William & Mary | |
| Jack Ferrante | 31 | E-DE | 11 | 6 | 197 | 6–1 | 6 | none | |
| John Green | 26 | DE-E | 12 | 1 | 192 | 6–1 | Rookie | Tulsa | |
| Roger Harding | 24 | C-LB | 6 | 0 | 217 | 6–2 | 2 | California | |
| Jack Hinkle | 30 | B | 3 | 0 | 195 | 6–0 | 7 | Syracuse | |
| Dick Humbert | 29 | E-DE | 11 | 1 | 179 | 6–1 | 5 | Richmond | |
| Jim Kekeris | 24 | T | 10 | 2 | 257 | 6–1 | Rookie | Missouri | |
| Bucko Kilroy | 26 | G-MG-T-DT | 12 | 9 | 243 | 6–2 | 4 | Notre Dame, and Temple | |
| Ben Kish | 30 | B | 12 | 8 | 207 | 6–0 | 7 | Pittsburgh | |
| Pete Kmetovic | 27 | HB | 5 | 0 | 175 | 5–9 | Rookie | Stanford | |
| Bob Krieger | 28 | E | 7 | 2 | 190 | 6–1 | 5 | Dartmouth | |
| Bert Kuczynski | 26 | E | 3 | 0 | 196 | 6–0 | 3 | Pennsylvania | |
| Vic Lindskog | 33 | C | 10 | 1 | 203 | 6–1 | 3 | Stanford | |
| Jay MacDowell | 28 | T-DE | 12 | 3 | 217 | 6–2 | 1 | Washington | |
| Art Macioszczyk | 27 | FB | 11 | 2 | 208 | 6–0 | 3 | Western Michigan | |
| Bill Mackrides | 22 | QB | 8 | 0 | 182 | 5–11 | Rookie | Nevada-Reno | |
| Duke Maronic | 26 | G | 4 | 0 | 209 | 5–9 | 3 | none | |
| Pat McHugh | 28 | DB-HB | 9 | 1 | 166 | 5–11 | Rookie | Georgia Tech | |
| Joe Muha | 26 | FB-LB | 12 | 12 | 205 | 6–1 | 1 | Virginia Military Institute | |
| Cliff Patton | 24 | G-LB | 12 | 12 | 243 | 6–2 | 1 | TCU | |
| Pete Pihos | 24 | E-DE | 12 | 12 | 210 | 6–1 | Rookie | Indiana | |
| Hal Prescott | 27 | E | 11 | 2 | 199 | 6–1 | 1 | Hardin–Simmons | |
| Bosh Pritchard | 28 | HB | 11 | 5 | 164 | 5–11 | 5 | Georgia Tech, and VMI | |
| Vic Sears | 29 | T-DT | 7 | 5 | 223 | 6–3 | 6 | Oregon State | |
| Allie Sherman | 24 | QB | 11 | 0 | 170 | 5–11 | 4 | Brooklyn | |
| Ernie Steele | 30 | HB-DB | 12 | 5 | 187 | 6–0 | 5 | Washington | |
| Gil Steinke | 28 | HB | 6 | 3 | 175 | 6–0 | 2 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | |
| Dan Talcott | 26 | T | 8 | 0 | 235 | 6–3 | Rookie | UNLV | |
| Tommy Thompson | 31 | QB | 12 | 1 | 192 | 6–1 | 7 | Tulsa | |
| Steve Van Buren+ | 27 | HB | 12 | 7 | 200 | 6–0 | 3 | LSU | |
| Don Weedon | 28 | G | 12 | 0 | 220 | 5–11 | Rookie | Texas | |
| Boyd Williams | 25 | C | 6 | 0 | 218 | 6–3 | Rookie | Syracuse | |
| Al Wistert+ | 27 | T-G-DT | 12 | 12 | 214 | 6–1 | 4 | Michigan | |
| Alex Wojciechowicz | 32 | C-LB-E | 12 | 11 | 217 | 5–11 | 9 | Fordham | |
| John Wyhonic | 28 | G | 12 | 2 | 213 | 6–0 | 1 | Alabama | |
| 41 Players Team Average | 27.6 | 11 | 205 | 6–0.5 | 2,7 |
- Link to all time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history
Standings
| NFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Philadelphia Eagles | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 6–2 | 308 | 242 | W1 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 6–2 | 240 | 259 | W1 | |
| Boston Yanks | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 3–4–1 | 168 | 256 | L2 | |
| Washington Redskins | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 3–5 | 295 | 367 | W1 | |
| New York Giants | 2 | 8 | 2 | .200 | 1–6–1 | 190 | 309 | L1 | |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Notes
- 1947 Philadelphia Eagles
- Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
- Players are identified as a 1947 Pro All-Star.