1947 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1947 Philadelphia Eagles season was the Eagles' 15th in the league. The team improved on its previous output of 6–5, winning eight games.[1]

1947 Philadelphia Eagles season
Head coachGreasy Neale
Home fieldShibe Park
Results
Record8–4
Division place1st NFL American
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(at Steelers) 21–0
Lost NFL Championship
(at Cardinals) 21–28
Philadelphia Eagles back Steve Van Buren (holding ball) makes a four yard gain as Chicago Cardinals back Red Cochran makes the tackle during the 1947 NFL Championship game on December 28, 1947 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. Cardinals ends Joe Parker (number 81) and Walt Rankin (far right) and Eagles tackle Al Wistert (number 70) are also pictured.

The team qualified for the playoffs for the first time in fifteen seasons.

Off season

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For the second year in a row, the Eagles traveled 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; the team only trained near its homebase when there were wartime travel restrictions during World War II.

Under Neale, the Eagles trained in Wisconsin, upstate New York and Minnesota when they could travel.

NFL draft

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The 1947 NFL draft was held on December 16, 1946. The NFL started a lottery that allowed for a bonus pick for the first pick in the draft. The NFL continued this practice until 1958.

The Eagles made twenty-nine selections during the draft's thirty-two rounds, holding the sixth or seventh slots in the rounds in which they had picks.

The top two picks in the draft were derived from 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 selected 1946 Heisman Trophy-winner Glenn Davis, a halfback from Army. He was unable to play, however, due to his required military service.

Cal Rossi, a running back from UCLA was drafted again in 1947 with the fourth pick by the Washington Redskins. He had been chosen in error with the ninth pick in the 1946 draft while he was still a junior in college. He declined to play pro football.

Future NFL Hall of Famers who were included in this draft where Dante Lavelli (12th round), Art Donovan (22nd round) and Tom Landry (20th round). Some of the players who were drafted were signed by All-America Football Conference teams.

Draft

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This table shows the Eagles selections, what picks they had that were traded away, and the teams that ended up with those picks. It is possible that those Eagles' picks ended up with those teams via trades made by the Eagles with other teams. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.

1947 Philadelphia Eagles draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 8 Neill Armstrong  E Oklahoma A&M
3 19 Bill Mackrides  QB Nevada
5 30 George Savitsky  T Penn Played with Eagles beginning in 1948
7 51 Tony Yovicsin  E Miami (FL)
8 61 Al Satterfield  T Vanderbilt
9 71 Bob Leonetti  G Wake Forest
10 80 Ulysses Cornogg  T Wake Forest
11 91 Alex Sarkisian  C Northwestern
12 102 Jerry D'Arcy  C Tulsa
13 110 John Hamberger  T SMU
14 121 Al Johnson  QB Hardin–Simmons Played with the Eagles in 1948
15 132 Joe Cook  B Hardin–Simmons
16 140 Jeff Durkota  FB Penn State
17 152 Hubert Shurtz  T LSU
18 161 Hal Bell  B Muhlenberg
19 170 T. J. Campion  T Southeastern Louisiana
20 182 Fred Hall  G LSU
21 191 Jim Clayton  T Wyoming
22 200 George Blomquist  E NC State
23 212 Joe Haynes  C Tulsa Played with the Buffalo Bills (AAFC)
24 221 Stanton Hense  E Xavier
25 230 Johnny Kelly  B Rice
26 242 H. J. Roberts  G Rice
27 251 Phil Cutchin  B Kentucky
28 261 Charley Wakefield  T Stanford
29 272 Dick Langenbeck  T Cincinnati
30 281 Bernie Winkler  T Texas Tech
31 288 Bill Stephens  T Baylor
32 298 Mike Kalosh  E La Crosse State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Game
recap
1 Bye
2 September 28 Washington Redskins W 45–42 1–0 Shibe Park 35,406 Recap
3 October 5 New York Giants W 23–0 2–0 Shibe Park 29,823 Recap
4 October 12 at Chicago Bears L 7–40 2–1 Wrigley Field 34,338 Recap
5 October 19 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 24–35 2–2 Forbes Field 33,538 Recap
6 October 26 Los Angeles Rams W 14–7 3–2 Shibe Park 36,364 Recap
7 November 2 at Washington Redskins W 38–14 4–2 Griffith Stadium 36,591 Recap
8 November 9 at New York Giants W 41–24 5–2 Polo Grounds 29,016 Recap
9 November 16 Boston Yanks W 32–0 6–2 Shibe Park 26,498 Recap
10 November 23 at Boston Yanks L 14–21 6–3 Fenway Park 15,628 Recap
11 November 30 Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–0 7–3 Shibe Park 37,218 Recap
12 December 7 Chicago Cardinals L 21–45 7–4 Shibe Park 32,322 Recap
13 December 14 Green Bay Packers W 28–14 8–4 Shibe Park 24,216 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

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Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Game
recap
Divisional December 21 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–0 Forbes Field 35,729 Recap
Championship December 28 at Chicago Cardinals W 21–28 Comiskey Park 30,759 Recap

Roster

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(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)

= 1947 Pro All-Star[3]
  • + = 1st team All-Star
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

Standings

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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.

References

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  1. ^ 1947 Philadelphia Eagles
  2. ^ "1947 Philadelphia Eagles Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Players are identified as a 1947 Pro All-Star.
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