The 1952 Philadelphia Eagles season marked their 20th year in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous output of 4–8, winning seven games.1952 Philadelphia Eagles The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Off season Head coach Wayne Millner took over, for ailing head coach Bo McMillin in 1951, would resign on September 8, 3 weeks before the 1952 season started, citing health as the reason for stepping down.
NFL draft The 1952 NFL draft was held on January 17, 1952. Picks made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans franchise. There were 12 teams picking for 32 rounds.
The Eagles made the 4th pick in each round and made 31 picks in the 32 rounds they had picks in. The New York Yanks had the Eagles pick in the 5th round.
The Los Angeles Rams received this year's lottery bonus pick. The Rams used it to pick Bill Wade a quarterback out of Vanderbilt University. The Eagles used their number-4 pick in the 1st round to take Johnny Bright a back of Drake University. Johnny Bright, was chosen before fellow backs and future NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame members Frank Gifford from University of Southern California and Hugh McElhenny out of University of Washington, passed up playing for the Eagles. Bright later commented:
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 Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.= Hall of Famer=Canadian Football Hall of Famer
Rd Pick PlayerPosition School Rd Pick PlayerPosition School 1 5 Johnny BrightBackDrake 2 17 Jim WeatherallTackleOklahoma 3 29 Lum SnyderTackleGeorgia Tech 4 41 Chuck UlrichTackleIllinois 5 53 Pick Taken By New York Yanks 6 65 Dick LemmonBackCalifornia 7 77 John ThomasEndOregon State 8 89 Wayne RobinsonCenterMinnesota 9 101 Maury NippGuardLoyola (CA) 10 113 Gerry McGinleyGuardPennsylvania 11 125 Ralph GoldstonBackYoungstown State 12 137 Jack BlountTackleMississippi State 13 149 Ed HamiltonBackKentucky 14 161 Bob StringerBackTulsa 15 173 Malcolm SchmidtEndIowa State 16 185 Jim BrewerGuardNorth Texas State 17 197 John WeigleEndOklahoma State 18 209 Ed RomanowskiBackScranton 19 221 Talbott TrammellEndWashington & Lee 20 233 Bob BlaikBackArmy/Colorado College 21 245 Les WheelerGuardAbilene Christian 22 257 Johnny TurcoBackHoly Cross 23 269 Maury SchnellBackIowa State 24 281 Joe TyrrellGuardTemple 25 293 Bob KelleyCenterWest Texas State 26 305 Bob AlbertBackBucknell 27 317 Chuck HillBackNew Mexico 28 329 Johnny BrewerBackLouisville 29 341 Tony "Zippy" MoroccoBackGeorgia 30 353 Don StevensBackIllinois
Regular season Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 28 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–25 1–0 Forbes Field 22,501 Recap 2 October 4 New York Giants L 7–31 1–1 Shibe Park 22,112 Recap 3 October 12 Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–21 2–1 Shibe Park 18,648 Recap 4 October 19 Cleveland Browns L 7–49 2–2 Shibe Park 27,874 Recap 5 October 26 at New York Giants W 14–10 3–2 Polo Grounds 21,458 Recap 6 November 2 at Green Bay Packers L 10–12 3–3 Marquette Stadium 10,149 Recap 7 November 9 Washington Redskins W 38–20 4–3 Shibe Park 16,932 Recap 8 November 16 Chicago Cardinals W 10–7 5–3 Shibe Park 18,908 Recap 9 November 23 at Cleveland Browns W 28–20 6–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 34,973 Recap 10 November 30 at Chicago Cardinals L 22–28 6–4 Comiskey Park 13,577 Recap 11 December 7 Dallas Texans W 38–21 7–4 Shibe Park 18,376 Recap 12 December 14 at Washington Redskins L 21–27 7–5 Griffith Stadium 22,468 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game recaps Week 1: at the Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 2: vs New York Giants
Week 3: vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 4 vs Cleveland Browns
Week 5 at New York Giants
Week 6 at Green Bay Packers
Week 7 vs Washington Redskins
Week 8 vs Chicago Cardinals
Week 9 at Cleveland Browns
Week 10 at Chicago Cardinals
Week 11 vs Dallas Texans
Week 12 at Washington Redskins
Standings
Playoffs With a record of 7–5, the Eagles fall one game back of Cleveland and failed to make the playoffs. The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams would tie for the National Division title and had to play a Division Championship game before meeting Cleveland in the 1952 NFL Championship Game
Roster (All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
= 1952 Pro BowlPlayers are identified as a 1952 All-Star.= Hall of Famer NO. PlayerAGE POS GP GSWTHTYRSCollege Jim Trimble 35 COACH 1952 record7–5–0NFL-Eagles Lifetime7–5–0 1st Indiana University81Bibbles Bawel22DB1201856–1RookieEvansville 60Chuck Bednarik+27LB-C1202336–33Pennsylvania 36John Brewer24FB1202306–4RookieLouisville 10Adrian Burk25QB1231906–22Baylor33Russ Craft*33DB-HB1201785–96Alabama 17Fred Enke28QB902086–14Arizona 53Ken Farragut24C-LB1202406–4 1 Mississippi27Neil Ferris25DB-HB801815–111Loyola Marymount 22Ralph Goldston23HB-DB901955–11RookieYoungstown State 86Bud Grant25E-DE1201996–3 1 Minnesota 62Bill Horrell22G402225–11RookieMichigan State 38John Huzvar23FB1202476–4RookieNorth Carolina State, and Pittsburgh78Mike Jarmoluk30DT-T-MG1202326–56Temple76Bucko Kilroy31G-MG-T-DT1202436–29Temple67John Magee29G1202205–104La-Lafayette, and Rice 68Maury Nipp22G1002196–0RookieLoyola Marymount 89Bob Oristaglio28DE-E402146–2 Pennsylvania 43Jim Parmer26FB-HB601936–04Oklahoma State 35Pete Pihos+29E-DE1202106–15Indiana 21Al Pollard24HB-FB1201966–0 1 Army 62Knox Ramsey26G302166–14William & Mary 82Joe Restic25E301806–2RookieVillavova 52Wayne Robinson22LB-C1202256–2RookieMinnesota 65Dan Rogas26G-DT-T1002306–1 1 Tulane 27Clyde Scott28HB-DB201746–03 Arkansas, and Navy 79Vic Sears34T-DT1202236–311Oregon State 73Lum Snyder22T1102286–5RookieGeorgia Tech20Don Stevens24HB1101765–9RookieIllinois 44Bob Stringer23LB-FB1201976–1RookieTulsa 45Joe Sutton28DB-HB1001805–113Temple 11Bobby Thomason24QB1291966–13VMI69Joe Tyrrell23G202155–11RookieTemple 31Ebert Van Buren28DB-LB-FB-HB1202106–2 1 LSU83Bobby Walston24E-HB-K1201906–0 1 Georgia 63Norm Willey25DE-G-E1202246–22Marshall 75Frank Wydo28T-DT12122256–45Cornell41Frank Ziegler29HB-DB1101755–113Georgia Tech 88Jack Zilly31DE-E1202126–25Notre Dame 38 Players Team Average 26.1 12 208.2 6–1.2 2.4
Postseason At the end of the season, Bud Grant was offered a pay raise in his contract. He chose to play football in the CFL(Canadian Football League) instead. He had a career worthy of being named to the CFL's Hall of Fame as a player. Later on he made the Pro Football Hall of Fame as coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
Awards and honors Pro Bowl Players Chuck Bednarik and Pete Pihos both make the Pro Bowl 1st team. Russ Craft and Bucko Kilroy selected to the Pro-Bowl team as back-ups.
League leaders Bud Grant finishes 2nd in receptions with 56. Bud Grant finishes 2nd in receiving yards with 997 yds. Adrian Burk leads league in number of punts with 83 and 40.2 yds avg Bobby Walston finishes 2nd with 11 field goals made.
References