# 1965 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1965 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's thirty-third season in the National Football League.
The Philadelphia Eagles compiled a record of five wins to nine losses out of the fourteen games played. The team was led by Joe Kuharich with ownership duties belonging to Jerry Wolman. The Eagles began the season with a win against the St. Louis Cardinals followed by a loss to the New York Giants. After a win against the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles lost four straight games, dropping the team from the playoff hunt. It ended the season in fifth place within the NFL Eastern Conference.

## Off Season
### NFL Draft

The NFL and the American Football League (AFL) competed with each other for the same pool of college players each year. The 1965 NFL draft and the 1965 AFL Draft both took place on Saturday, November 28, 1964. This was the day of the Army–Navy Game, which is normally the last game of the college season before the bowl games.
The two leagues' drafts were separate from each other; as a result, several players were drafted by both leagues. The AFL's representatives were aggressive in pursuing potential stars and did what they could to please the players who agreed to sign with the AFL. Joe Namath, who agreed to sign if he could play in New York, ultimately signed a three-year contract with the New York Jets that was worth $427,000. (Not all of this amount was for Namath himself. $120,000 went toward salaries for three of his relatives over that three-year period, as well as for lawyer's fees.)
As in earlier years, some players signed "AFL contracts" with the league itself as soon as their last college game was over; when they were drafted by an AFL team, those contracts were transferred from the league to their respective teams. To help fight this, the NFL moved its draft up to near the end of the college season, but this move was quickly matched by the AFL.
League representatives were assigned to various draft prospects to keep them away from the other league's recruiters. One of the Eagles' draft picks, Otis Taylor, was held in a motel and had to "escape" from his NFL advisor. He later signed with the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs for money and a "red Thunderbird convertible" that the AFL advisor had been driving.
The first player selected in the NFL draft was Tucker Frederickson, running back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St. Louis Cardinals to sign Joe Namath, who instead signed with the AFL's New York Jets. He and the Jets went on to defeat the NFL's Baltimore Colts for the World Championship in Super Bowl III after the 1968 season.

### Player selections

| = Pro Bowler | = AFL All-Star | = Hall of Famer |
| Rd | PICK | PLAYER | POS | SCHOOL | AFL | Rd | Pick | Signed |
| 1 | 7 | $^{PickTradedtoGreenBayPackers}$ | | | | | | |
| 2 | 20 | Ray Rissmiller | Tackle | Georgia | Buffalo | 8 | 64 | Eagles |
| 3 | 35 | Al Nelson | Running back | Cincinnati | Buffalo | 9 | 78 | Eagles |
| 4 | 48 | Fred Hill | Wide receiver | USC | Oakland | 16 | 123 | Eagles |
| 5 | 63 | John Henderson | End | Michigan | Buffalo | 17 | 136 | Buffalo |
| 6 | 76 | John Huarte | Quarterback | Notre Dame | New York | 2 | 12 | Boston |
| 6 | 77 | Gary Garrison | Wide receiver | San Diego State | | | | |
| 7 | 91 | Erwin Will | Tackle | Dayton | | | | |
| 8 | 104 | Al Piraino | Tackle | Wisconsin | Kansas City | 11 | 85 | |
| 9 | 119 | Floyd Hudlow | Back | Arizona | Buffalo | 10 | 80 | |
| 10 | 132 | Rick Redman | Center | Washington | San Diego | 5 | 38 | Eagles |
| 11 | 147 | Louis James | Running back | Texas-El Paso | | | | |
| 12 | 161 | John Kuznieski | Running back | Purdue | | | | |
| 13 | 175 | John Fouse | End | Arizona | Buffalo | 17 | 129 | |
| 14 | 188 | Tom Longo | Back | Notre Dame | | | | |
| 15 | 203 | Otis Taylor | Wide receiver | Prairie View A&M | Kansas City | 4 | 29 | Kansas City |
| 16 | 216 | Jim Gray | Back | Toledo | New York | 11 | 84 | Jets |
| 17 | 231 | Dave Austin | End | Georgia Tech | | | | |
| 18 | 244 | Bill Marcordes | End | Bradley | | | | |
| 19 | 259 | Charley Englehart | Tackle | John Carroll | | | | |
| 20 | 272 | Bobby Shann | End | Boston College | | | | |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 19 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 34–27 | 1–0 | Franklin Field | 54,260 |
| 2 | September 26 | New York Giants | L 14–16 | 1–1 | Franklin Field | 57,154 |
| 3 | October 3 | Cleveland Browns | L 17–35 | 1–2 | Franklin Field | 60,759 |
| 4 | October 10 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 35–24 | 2–2 | Cotton Bowl | 56,249 |
| 5 | October 17 | at New York Giants | L 27–35 | 2–3 | Yankee Stadium | 62,815 |
| 6 | October 24 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–20 | 2–4 | Franklin Field | 56,515 |
| 7 | October 31 | at Washington Redskins | L 21–23 | 2–5 | D.C. Stadium | 50,301 |
| 8 | November 7 | at Cleveland Browns | L 34–38 | 2–6 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 72,807 |
| 9 | November 14 | Washington Redskins | W 21–14 | 3–6 | Franklin Field | 60,444 |
| 10 | November 21 | at Baltimore Colts | L 24–34 | 3–7 | Memorial Stadium | 60,238 |
| 11 | November 28 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 28–24 | 4–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 28,706 |
| 12 | December 5 | Dallas Cowboys | L 19–21 | 4–8 | Franklin Field | 54,714 |
| 13 | December 12 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 47–13 | 5–8 | Pitt Stadium | 22,002 |
| 14 | December 19 | Detroit Lions | L 28–35 | 5–9 | Franklin Field | 56,718 |
Conference opponents are in bold text.

## Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 11–1 | 363 | 325 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 6–6 | 325 | 280 | W3 |
| New York Giants | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 7–5 | 270 | 338 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 6–6 | 257 | 301 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 363 | 359 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 296 | 309 | L6 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 2–10 | 202 | 397 | L7 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Roster

| = 1965 Pro Bowl | = Hall of Famer |
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
| | Joe Kuharich | | COACH | | | | | | Notre Dame |
| 38 | Sam Baker | 36 | K-FB | 12 | 0 | 217 | 6–2 | 12 | Oregon State |
| 55 | Maxie Baughan* | 27 | LB | 12 | 12 | 227 | 6–2 | 5 | Georgia Tech |
| 64 | Ed Blaine | 25 | G | 14 | 14 | 240 | 6–1 | 3 | Missouri |
| 76 | Bob Brown*+ | 24 | T | 14 | 14 | 280 | 6–4 | 1 | Nebraska |
| 22 | Timmy Brown* | 28 | RB | 13 | 0 | 198 | 5–11 | 6 | Ball State |
| 3 | Jack Concannon | 22 | QB | 3 | 0 | 205 | 6–3 | 1 | Boston College |
| 23 | Claude Crabb | 25 | DB-WR | 10 | 0 | 192 | 6–1 | 3 | Colorado and USC |
| 87 | Bill Cronin | 22 | TE | 2 | 0 | 231 | 6–5 | Rookie | Boston College |
| 27 | Irv Cross* | 26 | DB | 14 | 0 | 195 | 6–2 | 4 | Northwestern |
| 32 | Roger Gill | 25 | WR-HB | 13 | 0 | 200 | 6–1 | 1 | Texas Tech |
| 49 | Glenn Glass | 25 | DB-WR | 12 | 0 | 205 | 6–1 | 3 | Tennessee |
| 81 | Ron Goodwin | 24 | FL-SE-WR | 11 | 0 | 180 | 5–11 | 2 | Baylor |
| 78 | Dave Graham | 26 | T | 14 | 0 | 250 | 6–3 | 2 | Virginia |
| 34 | Earl Gros | 25 | FB | 14 | 0 | 220 | 6–3 | 3 | LSU |
| 43 | Ralph Heck | 24 | LB | 12 | 0 | 230 | 6–1 | 2 | Colorado |
| 86 | Fred Hill | 22 | TE-SE-WR | 12 | 0 | 215 | 6–2 | Rookie | USC |
| 10 | King Hill | 29 | QB | 7 | 5 | 212 | 6–3 | 7 | Rice |
| 79 | Lane Howell | 24 | T-DT | 14 | 0 | 257 | 6–5 | 2 | Grambling |
| 63 | Lynn Hoyem | 26 | G-T | 14 | 0 | 244 | 6–4 | 3 | Long Beach State |
| 83 | Don Hultz | 25 | DE-DT | 14 | 0 | 241 | 6–3 | 2 | Southern Miss |
| 84 | Jim Kelly | 23 | TE | 1 | 0 | 218 | 6–2 | 1 | Notre Dame |
| 73 | Ed Khayat | 30 | DT-DE-T | 14 | 5 | 240 | 6–3 | 8 | Tulane |
| 29 | Izzy Lang | 23 | RB | 14 | 0 | 232 | 6–1 | 1 | Tennessee State |
| 52 | Dave Lloyd | 29 | LB-C | 13 | 13 | 247 | 6–3 | 6 | Georgia,Texas Tech |
| 33 | Ollie Matson | 35 | RB-FL | 14 | 0 | 220 | 6–2 | 13 | San Francisco |
| 75 | John Meyers | 25 | DT | 14 | 14 | 276 | 6–6 | 3 | Washington |
| 89 | Mike Morgan | 23 | LB | 14 | 14 | 242 | 6–4 | 1 | LSU |
| 26 | Al Nelson | 22 | DB | 14 | 14 | 186 | 5–11 | Rookie | Cincinnati |
| 9 | Jim Nettles | 23 | DB | 14 | 0 | 177 | 5–10 | Rookie | Wisconsin |
| 72 | Floyd Peters | 29 | DT | 9 | 9 | 254 | 6–4 | 6 | San Francisco State |
| 35 | Ray Poage | 25 | TE-SE-FL-WR | 13 | 0 | 208 | 6–4 | 2 | Texas |
| 24 | Nate Ramsey | 24 | DB | 14 | 14 | 200 | 6–1 | 2 | Indiana State |
| 51 | Dave Recher | 23 | C | 14 | 0 | 245 | 6–1 | Rookie | Iowa |
| 44 | Pete Retzlaff*+ | 34 | E-HB-TE | 14 | 0 | 211 | 6–1 | Rookie | South Dakota State |
| 68 | Bobby Richards | 27 | DE-DT | 14 | 12 | 245 | 6–2 | 3 | LSU |
| 54 | Jim Ringo* | 34 | C | 14 | 14 | 232 | 6–1 | 12 | Syracuse |
| 21 | Joe Scarpati | 22 | DB | 14 | 0 | 185 | 5–10 | 1 | North Carolina State Wolfpack |
| 25 | Bob Shann | 22 | DB | 4 | 0 | 189 | 6–1 | Rookie | Boston College |
| 70 | Jim Skaggs | 25 | G-T | 14 | 14 | 250 | 6–3 | 2 | Washington |
| 16 | Norm Snead* | 26 | QB | 11 | 9 | 215 | 6–4 | 4 | Wake Forest |
| 82 | George Tarasovic | 35 | DE-LB-C | 14 | 0 | 245 | 6–4 | 13 | Boston College,LSU |
| 53 | Harold Wells | 27 | LB | 14 | 0 | 220 | 6–2 | Rookie | Purdue |
| 67 | Erwin Will | 22 | DT | 5 | 0 | 275 | 6–5 | Rookie | Dayton |
| 37 | Tom Woodeshick | 24 | RB | 13 | 0 | 225 | 6–0 | 2 | West Virginia |

## Awards and honors

* Pete Retzlaff, Bert Bell Award