History of The Philadelphia Eagles - Mediocrity (1950-59)

Mediocrity (1950-59)

With the turn of the decade came another turn in team fortunes. After a whipping by the AAFC champion Cleveland Browns, who had just (with the other AAFC franchises) joined the NFL, the Eagles stumbled in the standings. 1950 proved Greasy Neale's last as head coach, and in 1951, Neale was replaced by Alvin "Bo" McMillan. McMillan, in turn, would get seriously ill the night before the season opener, and was replaced by Wayne Millner, who would last for all of one year before being replaced by Jim Trimble. While the remnants of the great 1940s teams managed to stay competitive for the first few years of the decade, and while younger players like Bobby Walston and Sonny Jurgensen occasionally provided infusions of talent, the team lacked the stuff of true greatness for most of the 1950s. The Eagles considered trying to purchase Temple Stadium in 1952 when the team was unhappy with their lease at Shibe Park. Temple University claimed the property to have been appraised for $1 million and said they were uninterested in selling. In 1958, however, the franchise took key steps to improve, hiring Buck Shaw as Head Coach and acquiring Norm Van Brocklin in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. That year also saw the team move from Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park) to Franklin Field, and attendance doubled. The 1959 squad showed real flashes of talent, and finished in second place in the Eastern Division.