The 1971 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 39th in the National Football League. They improved on their previous output of 3–10–1, winning six games. Despite the improvement, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eleventh consecutive season. This was the team's inaugural season in Veterans Stadium.
After the Eagles lost their first three games of the season, head coach Jerry Williams was fired and replaced by Ed Khayat.
Offseason NFL draft
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 Players are identified as Pro Bowlers if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their careers.= Hall of Famer Rd PickPlayer Pos.College 1 5 Richard HarrisDefensive EndGrambling2 30 Pick Taken By Detroit Lions 50 Hank Allison Acquired Minn Vikings Pick GuardSan Diego State 3 55 Pick Taken By San Francisco 49ers 4 83Happy FellerKickerTexas 5 108 Tom ShellabargerTackleSan Diego State6 133 Jack SmithDefensive backTroy State 154 Wyck NeelyDefensive backMississippi 7 161 Harold CarmichaelWide receiverSouthern 8 186 Leonard GotschalkCenterHumboldt State 9 211 Len PettigrewLinebackerAshland10 239 Pick Taken By New Orleans Saints 256Tom BaileyRunning backFlorida State 11 264 Albert DavisRunning backTennessee State 12 289 Rich SaathoffDefensive endNorthern Arizona 13 317Danny LesterDefensive backTexas 14 342 Robert CreechLinebackerTexas Christian 15 367 Ed FisherGuardPrairie View A&M 16 395 Bruce JamesLinebackerArkansas 17 420 John SageLinebackerLouisiana State
Personnel Staff / Coaches
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 19 at Cincinnati Bengals L 14–37 0–1 Riverfront Stadium 55,880 2 September 26 Dallas Cowboys L 7–42 0–2 Veterans Stadium 65,358 3 October 3 San Francisco 49ers L 3–31 0–3 Veterans Stadium 65,358 4 October 10 Minnesota Vikings L 0–13 0–4 Veterans Stadium 65,358 5 October 17 at Oakland Raiders L 10–34 0–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 54,615 6 October 24 New York Giants W 23–7 1–5 Veterans Stadium 65,358 7 October 31 Denver Broncos W 17–16 2–5 Veterans Stadium 65,358 8 November 7 at Washington Redskins T 7–7 2–5–1 RFK Stadium 53,041 9 November 14 at Dallas Cowboys L 7–20 2–6–1 Texas Stadium 60,178 10 November 21 at St. Louis Cardinals W 37–20 3–6–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,658 11 November 28 Washington Redskins L 13–20 3–7–1 Veterans Stadium 65,358 12 December 5 at Detroit Lions W 23–20 4–7–1 Tiger Stadium 54,418 13 December 12 St. Louis Cardinals W 19–7 5–7–1 Veterans Stadium 65,358 14 December 19 at New York Giants W 41–28 6–7–1 Yankee Stadium 62,774 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Awards and honors Records Breakers Al Nelson 102 yard missed field goal return, Eagles vs Dallas on September 26, 1971 Pro Bowl Bill Bradley named Pro Bowl starter
League leaders Bill Bradley leads league with 11 interceptions.
External links 1971 Philadelphia Eagles Statistics at jt-sw.com 1971 Philadelphia Eagles Schedule at jt-sw.com
VIDEO: 1971 Week 1, Eagles at Cincinnati Bengals by NFL Films at YouTube VIDEO: 1971 Week 4, Minnesota Vikings at Eagles by NFL Films at YouTube
References