1953 Philadelphia Eagles season

1953 Philadelphia Eagles season
1953 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1952; Eagles seasons; 1954 →;

The 1953 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 21st in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 7–5, going 7–4–1.^[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Off Season

At the end of the 1952 season, 2-year player Bud Grant is offered a pay raise in his contract. He chooses to play football in the CFL(Canadian Football League) instead. He would have a career worthy of being named to the CFL's Hall of Fame as a player. Later on he would make the Pro Football Hall of Fame as coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Eagles held training camp at

Hershey Park Stadium in Hershey

, PA for the 3rd strait year.

Matt Guokas, Sr. is hired to be the PA announcer for the Eagles. Guokas played basketball for

NBA

. After losing his right leg in an automobile accident, Guokas turned to broadcasting, and he served as an announcer for the N Philadelphia Eagles for 32 years from 1953 to 1985.

NFL Draft

The

End out of University of Georgia

.

The 1952 expansion team

Baltimore Colts on January 23, 1953. The Colts had the number 1 pick and choose Heisman Trophy winner Billy Vessels^[2] a Halfback out of University of Oklahoma

.

With a 7–5 record in 1952 the Eagles got the 7th, 8th or 9th pick in the 30 rounds. With trading away their 1st round pick the Eagles 1st selection was the 7th pick in the 2nd round, 20th overall, they chose Al Conway a Back out of Army and William Jewell College. He did not play due to injury and ended up as an official in the American Football League and an official in the NFL for 28 years.

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 ^[3]

= Hall of Famer

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School	Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	7	^{Pick Traded to Los Angeles Rams}			2	20	Al Conway	Back	Army and William Jewell College
3	34	Don Johnson	Back	California	4	45	George Mrkonic	Guard	Kansas
5	56	Eddie Bell	End	Pennsylvania	5	61	Rex Smith ^{(pick from Detroit Lions)}	End	Illinois
6	70	^{Pick Traded to Chicago Cardinals}			7	76	Jack Erickson ^{pick from Chicago Cardinals}	Tackle	Army/Beloit
7	81	Ray Malavasi	Guard	Army/Mississippi State	8	92	Jess Richardson	Tackle	Alabama
9	106	Roger French	End	Minnesota	10	117	Tom Brookshier	Back	Colorado
11	128	Bob Pollard	Back	Penn State	12	142	George Porter	Tackle	San Jose State
13	153	Ray Westort	Guard	Utah	14	164	Roy Bailey	Back	Tulane
15	178	Willie Irvin	End	Florida A&M	16	189	Bud Wallace	Back	North Carolina
17	200	Tony Rados	Back	Penn State	18	214	Marv Trauth	Tackle	Mississippi
19	225	Pete Bachouros	Back	Illinois	20	236	Rollie Arns	Center	Iowa State
21	250	Hal Brooks	Tackle	Washington & Lee	22	261	Laurie LeClaire	Back	Michigan
23	272	Jeff Knox	End	Georgia Tech	24	286	Eli Romero	Back	Wichita State
25	297	Johnny Michels	Guard	Tennessee	26	308	Harvey Achziger	Tackle	Colorado State
27	322	Earl Hersh	Back	West Chester	28	333	Joe Gratson	Back	Penn State
29	344	Ralph Paolone	Back	Kentucky	30	357	Chuck Hren	Back	Northwestern

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	September 27	at San Francisco 49ers	L 21–31	0–1
2	October 2	Washington Redskins	T 21–21	0–1–1
3	October 10	at Cleveland Browns	L 13–37	0–2–1
4	October 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–7	1–2–1
5	October 25	at Chicago Cardinals	W 56–17	2–2–1
6	November 1	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 35–7	3–2–1
7	November 8	New York Giants	W 30–7	4–2–1
8	November 15	Baltimore Colts	W 45–14	5–2–1
9	November 21	Chicago Cardinals	W 38–0	6–2–1
10	November 29	at New York Giants	L 28–37	6–3–1
11	December 6	at Washington Redskins	L 0–10	6–4–1
12	December 13	Cleveland Browns	W 42–27	7–4–1

Game recaps

Week 1 @ San Francisco

Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles 21 (0–1–0) at San Francisco 49ers 31 (1–0–0) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles	7	0	7	7	21
San Francisco 49ers	14	3	7	7	31

at

San Francisco, California

Date: September 27, 1953
Game time: ? PM PST
Game attendance: 27,819
Recap and Stats

Game information

1st

49ers – Joe Arenas 18-yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Gordie Soltau kick)
Eagles – Adrian Burk 1-yard rush (Bobby Walston kick)
49ers – Y.A. Tittle 1-yard rush (Gordie Soltau kick)

2nd

49ers – Gordie Soltau 39-yard field goal

3rd

49ers – Billy Wilson 39-yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Gordie Soltau kick)
Eagles – Bobby Walston 3-yard pass from Adrian Burk (Bobby Walston kick)

4th

49ers – Billy Wilson 37-yard pass from Y.A. Tittle (Gordie Soltau kick)
Eagles – Pete Pihos 10-yard pass from Bobby Thomason (Al Pollard kick)

Week 2 vs Washington

The Eagles inability to hold onto the ball allows the Washington Redskins to tie them at 21 – 21. The Eagles allowed 4 interceptions and would lose 1 fumble as they allowed Washington to gain 182 yards on 9 completions. The Eagles also hurt their cause by having 10 penalties for 99 yards called against them.

Week 2:Philadelphia Eagles 21 (0–1–1) vs Washington Redskins 21 (1–1–0) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington Redskins	7	7	7	0	21
Philadelphia Eagles	7	7	0	7	21

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, PA

Date: October 2, 1953
Game time: ? PM
EST
Game attendance: 19,099
Recap and Stats

Game information

1st

Eagles – Pete Pihos 6-yard pass from Adrian Burk (Bobby Walston kick) Phila 7 – 0
Redskins – Laurie Niemi unknown-yard fumble return (Bill Dudley kick) Tied 7 – 7

2nd

Eagles – Pete Pihos 10-yard pass from Bobby Thomason (Bobby Walston kick) Phila 14 – 7
Redskins – Hugh Taylor 24-yard pass from Jack Scarbath (Bill Dudley kick) Tied 14 – 14

3rd

Redskins – Hugh Taylor 61-yard pass from Jack Scarbath (Bill Dudley kick) Wash 21 – 14

4th

Eagles – Adrian Burk 1-yard rush (Bobby Walston kick) Tied 21 – 21

Week 3 @ Cleveland Browns

Week 3: Philadelphia Eagles 13 (0–2–1) at Cleveland Browns 37 (3–0–0) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles	6	0	7	0	13
Cleveland Browns	6	7	14	10	37

at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Date: October 10, 1953
Game time: ? PM
EST
Game attendance: 45,802
Recap and Stats

Game information

1st

Browns – Lou Groza 20-yard field goal Cleve 3 – 0
Browns – Lou Groza 16-yard field goal Cleve 6 – 0
Eagles – Frank Ziegler 1-yard rush (kick failed) Tied 6 – 6

2nd

Browns – Chick Jagade 14-yard rush (Lou Groza kick) Cleve 13 – 6
Browns – Dante Lavelli 25-yard pass from Otto Graham (Lou Groza kick) Cleve 20 – 6

3rd

Eagles – Adrian Burk 32-yard rush (Bobby Walston kick) Cleve 20 – 13
Browns – Chick Jagade 13-yard rush (Lou Groza kick) Cleve 27 – 13

4th

Browns – Lou Groza 27-yard field goal Cleve 30 – 13
Browns – Jerry Helluin 42-yard fumble return (Lou Groza kick) Cleve 37 – 13

[1]

[2]

[3]

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	1	0	.917	9–1	348	162	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	4	1	.636	6–3–1	352	215	W1
Washington Redskins	6	5	1	.545	6–3–1	208	215	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	6	0	.500	5–5	211	263	W2
New York Giants	3	9	0	.250	3–7	179	277	L2
Chicago Cardinals	1	10	1	.091	0–10	190	337	W1

NO.	Player	AGE	POS	GP	GS	WT	HT	YRS	College
	Jim Trimble	35	COACH	_{1953 record} 7–3–1	_{NFL-Eagles Lifetime} 14–9–1			2nd	Indiana University
60	Chuck Bednarik +	28	C-LB	12	0	233	6–3	4	Pennsylvania
36	John Brewer	25	FB	6	0	230	6–4	1	Louisville
45	Tom Brookshier	22	DB	11	0	196	6–0	Rookie	Colorado
10	Adrian Burk	26	QB	10	4	190	6–2	3	Baylor
33	Russ Craft	34	DB-HB	12	0	178	5–9	7	Alabama
53	Ken Farragut	25	C-LB	12	0	240	6–4	2	Mississippi
14	Bob Gambold	24	QB	3	0	215	6–4	Rookie	Washington State
27	Hal Giancanelli	24	HB	12	0	182	5–10	Rookie	Loyola Marymount
88	Bob Hudson	23	DB-LB-E	12	0	225	6–4	2	Clemson
81	Willie Irvin	23	DE-E	3	0	203	6–3	Rookie	Florida A&M
78	Mike Jarmoluk	31	DT-T-MG	12	0	232	6–5	7	Temple
40	[[Don Johnson (halfback)}]]	22	HB	12	0	187	6–0	Rookie	California
76	Bucko Kilroy	32	G-MG-T-DT	12	0	243	6–2	10	Temple
25	Toy Ledbetter	26	HB	10	0	198	5–10	3	Oklahoma State
67	John Magee	30	G	12	0	220	5–10	5	_{La-Lafayette and Rice}
61	John Michels	22	G	11	0	200	5–11	Rookie	Tennessee
72	George Mrkonic	24	T-DT	10	0	225	6–2	Rookie	Kansas
68	Maury Nipp	23	G	12	0	219	6–0	1	Loyola Marymount
43	Jim Parmer	27	FB-HB	12	0	193	6–0	5	Oklahoma State
35	Pete Pihos +	30	E-DE	12	0	210	6–1	6	Indiana
21	Al Pollard	25	HB-FB	12	0	196	6–0	2	_{Army and Loyola Marymount}
65	Jess Richardson	23	DT	12	0	261	6–2	Rookie	Alabama
52	Wayne Robinson	23	LB-C	11	0	225	6–2	1	Minnesota
85	Bob Schnelker	25	E	8	0	214	6–3	Rookie	Bowling Green
82	Tom Scott	23	DE-LB	12	0	218	6–2	Rookie	Virginia
79	Vic Sears	35	T-DT	12	0	223	6–3	12	Oregon State
73	Lum Snyder	23	T	12	0	228	6–5	1	Georgia Tech
44	Bob Stringer	24	LB-FB	12	0	197	6–1	1	Tulsa
11	Bobby Thomason	25	QB	12	8	196	6–1	4	VMI
31	Ebert Van Buren	29	DB-LB-FB-HB	12	0	210	6–2	2	LSU
83	Bobby Walston	25	E-HB-K	12	0	190	6–0	2	Georgia
86	Norm Willey	26	DE-G-E	12	0	224	6–2	3	Marshall
49	Jerry Williams	30	DB-HB	12	0	175	5–10	4	_{Idaho and Washington State}
75	Frank Wydo	29	T-DT	12	12	225	6–4	6	Cornell
41	Frank Ziegler	30	HB-DB	12	0	175	5–11	4	Georgia Tech
	35 Players Team Average			12

1953 Philadelphia Eagles season

Off Season

NFL Draft

Player selections

Schedule

Game recaps

Week 1 @ San Francisco

Week 2 vs Washington

Week 3 @ Cleveland Browns

Week 4 vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 5 @ Chicago Cardinals

Week 6 @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 7 vs New York Giants

Week 8 vs Baltimore Colts

Week 9 vs Chicago Cardinals

Week 10 @ New York Giants

Week 11 @ Washington Redskins

Week 12 vs Cleveland Browns

Standings

Playoffs

Roster

Postseason

Awards and honors

References