The Eagles won the 1960 NFL Championship at Franklin Field
The Birds defeated the Vince Lombardi-led Green Bay Packers 17-13 on Dec. 26, 1960.
Eagles rookie running back and returner Ted Dean bursts through Packers defenders during the 1960 NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field.
(Image: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles)
On Sunday, the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles are on the hunt for their second Super Bowl win in team history, and fifth NFL title overall, versus the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans at the Caesars Superdome.
Three of the Eagles’ NFL championships came in the pre-Super Bowl era. They won back-to-back titles in 1948 and 1949, and defeated the Vince Lombardi-led Green Bay Packers 17-13 on Dec. 26, 1960 in the NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field.
Winners of the NFL’s Eastern Conference, the Eagles finished the 12-game 1960 regular season with a 10-2 record. The Packers won the Western Conference with a record of 8-4. (There was not yet an AFC or wild card or divisional rounds.)
The Eagles, coached by Buck Shaw, were led by NFL MVP Norm Van Brocklin, All-Pro wide receiver Tommy McDonald, rookie running back and returner Ted Dean, Pro Bowl cornerback Tom Brookshier, and 35-year-old All-Pro Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik, a Penn alumnus who played center, linebacker, and long snapper. McDonald used to rub his hands on the brick walls at Franklin Field to improve his pass catching.
The Packers team included future Hall of Famers Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Willie Davis, Jim Ringo, Henry Jordan, Willie Wood, Forrest Gregg, and Ray Nitschke. Lombardi, for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named, was in his second year coaching the team.
Van Brocklin, also known as “The Fabulous Dutchman,” threw an interception on the first play of the game, one of two Eagles turnovers in the first quarter. The Packers scored first on a field goal by Hornung. He added another field goal in the second quarter to give Green Bay a 6-0 lead.
The Eagles responded with two long passes from Van Brocklin to McDonald, a slant across the middle and a 35-yard touchdown down the right sideline. Philadelphia added a field goal before halftime and entered the intermission up 10-6.
Eagles center, linebacker, and long snapper Chuck Bednarik, second from left, celebrates with Coach Buck Shaw, Van Brocklin, and teammates after the game. Bednarik, a Penn alum, played almost the entire game on offense and defense.
(Image: Philadelphia Eagles)
Following a scoreless third quarter, during which Bednarik knocked Hornung out of the game, Starr led the Packers on an 80-yard touchdown drive to put the Packers up 13-10. Dean fielded the ensuing kickoff around the 2-yard line and returned it 58 yards to the Green Bay 39. He punched it in a few plays later on a 5-yard run to give the Eagles a 17-13 lead.
The 1960 championship game was Lombardi’s only loss in the playoffs. It was also the last game for Shaw and Van Brocklin, who both retired. Van Brocklin, McDonald, and Bednarik would later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Eagles called Franklin Field home from 1958-1970, and amassed a record of 41-45-2 at the facility. In 1971, they moved to the newly built Veterans Stadium.
Prior to playing on Penn’s campus, the Eagles spent 18 seasons at Connie Mack Stadium in North Philadelphia, which could only hold 39,000 people compared to Franklin Field’s 60,000-plus. The University also offered a welcoming environment for families and fans.
“We became socially acceptable,” Brookshier, the former Eagles cornerback, said in a 1997 interview with sportswriter Ray Didinger. “There was just something about walking across the grounds, past the statues and the library on a crisp fall day. People who could never go to Penn now could go to Penn on Sunday to see us. It was a great setting and we [the players] felt it, too.”
“There wasn’t a bad seat in the house,” he added. “The stands went straight up so everyone was close to the field. We could hear the fans. If somebody in the upper deck called you a name, you could look up, point at the guy and say, ‘I’ll see you after the game.’”
The Eagles called Franklin Field home from 1958-1970.
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