Fans on the Philadelphia Eagles have, in recent a long time, suffered through quite a few disappointments and heartaches as they watch their group struggle to find its way into the elite echelon of professional football. The Eagles, 1st founded in 1933 when Bert Bell was allowed to purchase into the National Football League, have – at times – seemed poised to surge past their competitors within the National Football Conference and win that Super Bowl trophy that has for so long eluded them. Their only two appearances to date – in 1980 and 2004 – both resulted in losses. In truth, their finest several years, some would argue, came during the era of Head Coach Earle “Greasy” Neale.

The Eagles along with the Draft

Before Neale arrived to coach the team, the Eagles had struggled mightily. Wins have been scarce, and it was difficult for your new team to recruit the talent it required to build a foundation for future success. By 1935, Bell had come up with an idea that he thought could provide his group with a vehicle for improvement – but which he sold towards the NFL as an opportunity to spread the talent in the NFL across a greater number of teams. It was perhaps the primary real attempt at achieving parity. The idea, which was to have teams draft players from college in accordance with individuals teams’ performance inside last season, was adopted and still remains a vital component from the sport these days. Unfortunately, the Eagles wasted their 1st selection by choosing a running back who never wanted to play professional football.

Neale builds a team

The implementation in the college draft would have profound implications for the Philadelphia Eagles, however, using the arrival of Greasy Neale. Beginning in 1941, the Eagles produced personnel choices that had been far wiser than those produced inside 1930s. It would ultimately be the quality of these players as well as the innovative coaching style of Neale that would build a group that would prove to be dominant throughout a good part in the 1940s. It took only three many years for Neale’s Eagles to rise to second place in their division. Three several years after that, they had won their really 1st title from the division. His players, including such Eagles greats as Tommy Thompson and Steve van Buren, have been instrumental in elevating the team from perennial league lapdog to championship contender. Actually, the end in the decade saw the Eagles play in 3 straight NFL title games – two of which they won. Those Championships, in 1948 and 1949, have been a high water mark for that Eagles franchise, and manufactured the Eagles the only team in NFL history to win consecutive shutout titles, as neither the Cardinals nor the Rams could score against the vaunted Eagles defense.

Defense and Legacy

Neale’s defense was, of course, legendary. The so called “Eagle Defense” was copied and implemented by other teams within the NFL for a lot of a long time, and eventually evolved into what is now known as the 4-3 – a defense that several teams still use to this day. For his work using the Eagles and his a lot of contributions to the sport, Neale was honored with induction into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

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