# 1972 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1972 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 40th season in the National Football League. They failed to improve and declined on their previous output of 6–7–1, winning only two games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the twelfth consecutive season.
Both of the Eagles' victories were one-point decisions on the road vs. AFC teams, 21–20 over the Kansas City Chiefs and 18–17 over the Houston Oilers, a victory which cost the Eagles the #1 selection in the 1973 NFL draft. The meeting with the Chiefs was the last until 1992, and Kansas City did not come to Philadelphia until 1998.
Following the disastrous season, the third with three wins or fewer since 1968, general manager Pete Retzlaff resigned and coach Ed Khayat was fired by owner Leonard Tose.

## Offseason

The Eagles held training camp at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. This was their last year there. The next year, they moved camp to Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, only 7 miles from Veterans Stadium where they played their home games in Philadelphia.

### NFL Draft

The 1972 NFL draft was held on February 1–2, 1972. The draft was 17 rounds and a total of 443 players were chosen.
The Eagles chose John Reaves, a quarterback from the University of Florida, with the 14th pick in the 1st round. They had the 14th pick in each of the 17 rounds. They chose 17 players in this year's draft.
The number 1 overall pick went to the Buffalo Bills, who chose Walt Patulski, a defensive end out of the University of Notre Dame. In the 2nd round with the 40th pick, the Atlanta Falcons took 1971 Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan, a quarterback out of Auburn University

### Player selections

The table shows the Eagles' selections and which picks they had that were traded away and the teams that ended up with those picks. 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 | = Hall of Famer |
| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 14 | John Reaves | Quarterback | Florida |
| 2 | 37 | Dan Yochum $_{AcquiredPickviaTrade}$ | Tackle | Syracuse |
| 2 | 40 | $_{PicktakenbyAtlantaFalcons}$ | | |
| 3 | 66 | $_{PicktakenbyNewYorkJets}$ | | |
| 3 | 68 | Tom Luken $_{AcquiredPickviaTrade}$ | Guard | Purdue |
| 3 | 76 | Bobby Majors | Defensive back | Tennessee |
| 4 | 92 | Po James | Running back | New Mexico State |
| 5 | 118 | $_{PicktakenbyDenverBroncos}$ | |
| 6 | 144 | Vernon Winfield | Guard | Minnesota |
| 7 | 170 | Will Foster | Linebacker | Eastern Michigan |
| 8 | 196 | Larry Ratcliff | Running back | Eastern Michigan |
| 9 | 222 | Pat Gibbs | Defensive back | Lamar University |
| 10 | 246 | John Bunting | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 11 | 274 | Dennis Sweeney | Defensive end | Western Michigan |
| 12 | 300 | Don Zimmerman | Wide receiver | N.E. Louisiana |
| 13 | 326 | Preston Carpenter | Defensive end | Mississippi |
| 14 | 352 | Bill Overmeyer | Linebacker | Ashland |
| 15 | 378 | Tom Sullivan | Running back | Miami (FL) |
| 16 | 404 | Steve Bielenberg | Linebacker | Oregon State |
| 17 | 430 | Tom Nash | Tackle | Georgia |

## Regular season

On November 12, Tom Dempsey kicked six field goals in one game.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17, 1972 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 28–6 | 55,850 |
| 2 | September 24, 1972 | Cleveland Browns | L 27–17 | 65,720 |
| 3 | October 2, 1972 | New York Giants | L 27–12 | 65,720 |
| 4 | October 8, 1972 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–0 | 53,039 |
| 5 | October 15, 1972 | Los Angeles Rams | L 34–3 | 65,720 |
| 6 | October 22, 1972 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 21–20 | 78,389 |
| 7 | October 29, 1972 | at New Orleans Saints | L 21–3 | 65,664 |
| 8 | November 5, 1972 | St. Louis Cardinals | T 6–6 | 65,720 |
| 9 | November 12, 1972 | at Houston Oilers | W 18–17 | 34,175 |
| 10 | November 19, 1972 | Dallas Cowboys | L 28–7 | 65,720 |
| 11 | November 26, 1972 | at New York Giants | L 62–10 | 62,586 |
| 12 | December 3, 1972 | Washington Redskins | L 23–7 | 65,720 |
| 13 | December 10, 1972 | Chicago Bears | L 21–12 | 65,720 |
| 14 | December 17, 1972 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 24–23 | 34,872 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Game recaps

A recap of the scoring plays and the game scores by quarters during the year. The record after the team's name reflects this game's outcome also.

### Week 9

Sunday, November 12, 1972
Played at Houston Astrodome on AstroTurf in 72 °F or 22.2 °C indoors.
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles (2–6–1) | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 18 |
| Houston Oilers (1–8–0) | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| | | SCORING PLAYS | PHI | HOU |
| 1st | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 33-yard field goal | 3 | 0 |
| | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 52-yard field goal | 6 | 0 |
| 2nd | Oilers | Skip Butler 38-yard field goal | 6 | 3 |
| | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 22-yard field goal | 9 | 3 |
| | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 12-yard field goal | 12 | 3 |
| | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 38-yard field goal | 15 | 3 |
| 3rd | Oilers | Dan Pastorini 1-yard rush (Skip Butler kick) | 15 | 10 |
| 4th | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 20-yard field goal | 18 | 10 |
| | Oilers | Paul Robinson 30-yard rush (Skip Butler kick) | 18 | 17 |

### Week 11

Sunday, November 26, 1972
Played at Yankee Stadium on grass in 50 °F or 10 °C weather with a wind of 15 miles per hour or 24 kilometres per hour or 13 knots
NOTE: The game was not televised by CBS after striking International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers members cut the transmission cables in The Bronx.
| | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles (2–8–1) | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| New York Giants (7–4–0) | 14 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 62 |
| | | SCORING PLAYS | PHI | NYG |
| 1st | Giants | Bob Tucker 15-yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick) | 0 | 7 |
| | Giants | Ron A. Johnson 35-yard rush (Pete Gogolak kick) | 0 | 14 |
| | Eagles | Tom Dempsey 13-yard field goal | 3 | 14 |
| 2nd | Giants | Joe Orduna 5-yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick) | 3 | 21 |
| | Giants | Pete Gogolak 25-yard field goal | 3 | 24 |
| | Giants | Bob Tucker 29-yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick) | 3 | 31 |
| | Eagles | Harold Jackson 77-yard pass from John Reaves (Tom Dempsey kick) | 10 | 31 |
| | Giants | Ron A. Johnson 1-yard rush (Pete Gogolak kick) | 10 | 38 |
| 3rd | Giants | Pete Gogolak 29-yard field goal | 10 | 41 |
| | Giants | Don Herrmann 32-yard pass from Randy Johnson (Pete Gogolak kick) | 10 | 48 |
| 4th | Giants | Don Herrmann 63-yard pass from Randy Johnson (Pete Gogolak kick) | 10 | 55 |
| | Giants | Randy Johnson 2-yard rush (Pete Gogolak kick) | 10 | 62 |

### Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Washington Redskins | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 7–1 | 10–1 | 336 | 218 | L2 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 7–4 | 319 | 240 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 5–3 | 7–4 | 331 | 247 | W1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 1–6–1 | 3–7–1 | 193 | 303 | W2 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 11 | 1 | .179 | 0–7–1 | 0–10–1 | 145 | 352 | L5 |

## Postseason

At the end of 1972 season, head coach Ed Khayat was fired. Mike McCormack, a Washington Redskins assistant coach from 1965 to 1972, was hired in his place. Khayat was never an NFL head coach again, although he would be the head coach of the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League in 1991.