# 1952 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1952 Philadelphia Eagles season marked their 20th year in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous output of 4–8, winning seven games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

## Off season

Head coach Wayne Millner took over, for ailing head coach Bo McMillin in 1951, would resign on September 8, 3 weeks before the 1952 season started, citing health as the reason for stepping down.

### NFL Draft

The 1952 NFL draft was held on January 17, 1952. Picks made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans franchise. There were 12 teams picking for 32 rounds.
The Eagles made the 4th pick in each round and made 31 picks in the 32 rounds they had picks in. The New York Yanks had the Eagles pick in the 5th round.
The Los Angeles Rams received this year's lottery bonus pick. The Rams used it to pick Bill Wade a quarterback out of Vanderbilt University. The Eagles used their number-4 pick in the 1st round to take Johnny Bright a back of Drake University. Johnny Bright, was chosen before fellow backs and future NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame members Frank Gifford from University of Southern California and Hugh McElhenny out of University of Washington, passed up playing for the Eagles. Bright later commented:
   I would have been their (the Eagles') first Negro player. There was a tremendous influx of Southern players into the NFL at that time, and I didn't know what kind of treatment I could expect.

### 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 | = Hall of Famer | =Canadian Football Hall of Famer |
| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School | Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 5 | Johnny Bright | Back | Drake | 2 | 17 | Jim Weatherall | Tackle | Oklahoma |
| 3 | 29 | Lum Snyder | Tackle | Georgia Tech | 4 | 41 | Chuck Ulrich | Tackle | Illinois |
| 5 | 53 | Pick Taken By | New York | Yanks | 6 | 65 | Dick Lemmon | Back | California |
| 7 | 77 | John Thomas | End | Oregon State | 8 | 89 | Wayne Robinson | Center | Minnesota |
| 9 | 101 | Maury Nipp | Guard | Loyola (CA) | 10 | 113 | Gerry McGinley | Guard | Pennsylvania |
| 11 | 125 | Ralph Goldston | Back | Youngstown State | 12 | 137 | Jack Blount | Tackle | Mississippi State |
| 13 | 149 | Ed Hamilton | Back | Kentucky | 14 | 161 | Bob Stringer | Back | Tulsa |
| 15 | 173 | Malcolm Schmidt | End | Iowa State | 16 | 185 | Jim Brewer | Guard | North Texas State |
| 17 | 197 | John Weigle | End | Oklahoma State | 18 | 209 | Ed Romanowski | Back | Scranton |
| 19 | 221 | Talbott Trammell | End | Washington & Lee | 20 | 233 | Bobby Blaik | Back | Army/Colorado College |
| 21 | 245 | Les Wheeler | Guard | Abilene Christian | 22 | 257 | Johnny Turco | Back | Holy Cross |
| 23 | 269 | Maury Schnell | Back | Iowa State | 24 | 281 | Joe Tyrrell | Guard | Temple |
| 25 | 293 | Bob Kelley | Center | West Texas State | 26 | 305 | Bob Albert | Back | Bucknell |
| 27 | 317 | Chuck Hill | Back | New Mexico | 28 | 329 | Johnny Brewer | Back | Louisville |
| 29 | 341 | Tony "Zippy" Morocco | Back | Georgia | 30 | 353 | Don Stevens | Back | Illinois |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 28 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 31–25 | 1–0 | Forbes Field | 22,501 | Recap |
| 2 | October 4 | New York Giants | L 7–31 | 1–1 | Shibe Park | 22,112 | Recap |
| 3 | October 12 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 26–21 | 2–1 | Shibe Park | 18,648 | Recap |
| 4 | October 19 | Cleveland Browns | L 7–49 | 2–2 | Shibe Park | 27,874 | Recap |
| 5 | October 26 | at New York Giants | W 14–10 | 3–2 | Polo Grounds | 21,458 | Recap |
| 6 | November 2 | at Green Bay Packers | L 10–12 | 3–3 | Marquette Stadium | 10,149 | Recap |
| 7 | November 9 | Washington Redskins | W 38–20 | 4–3 | Shibe Park | 16,932 | Recap |
| 8 | November 16 | Chicago Cardinals | W 10–7 | 5–3 | Shibe Park | 18,908 | Recap |
| 9 | November 23 | at Cleveland Browns | W 28–20 | 6–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 34,973 | Recap |
| 10 | November 30 | at Chicago Cardinals | L 22–28 | 6–4 | Comiskey Park | 13,577 | Recap |
| 11 | December 7 | Dallas Texans | W 38–21 | 7–4 | Shibe Park | 18,376 | Recap |
| 12 | December 14 | at Washington Redskins | L 21–27 | 7–5 | Griffith Stadium | 22,468 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||||

## Game recaps
### Week 1: at the Pittsburgh Steelers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 0 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 25 |
at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: September 28, 1952
* Game time: EST
* Game attendance: 22,501
* Recap and Stats

### Week 2: vs New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| New York Giants | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: October 4, 1952
* Game time: EST
* Game attendance: 22,512
* Recap and Stats

### Week 3: vs Pittsburgh Steelers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 26 |
at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: October 12, 1952
* Game time: ? pm EST
* Game attendance: 18,648
* Recap and Stats

### Week 4 vs Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cleveland Browns | 14 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 49 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: October 19, 1952
* Game time: ? pm EST
* Game attendance: 27,874
* Recap and Stats

### Week 5 at New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| New York Giants | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
at Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan, New York City, New York
* Date: September 28, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 21,458
* Recap and Stats

### Week 6 at Green Bay Packers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
at City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: November 2, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 10,149
* Recap and Stats

### Week 7 vs Washington Redskins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Washington Redskins | 0 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 14 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 38 |
at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: November 9, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 16,932
* Recap and Stats

### Week 8 vs Chicago Cardinals

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chicago Cardinals | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: November 16, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 18,406
* Recap and Stats

### Week 9 at Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| Cleveland Browns | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 20 |
at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: November 23, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 28,948
* Recap and Stats

### Week 10 at Chicago Cardinals

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 0 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 22 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois
* Date: November 30, 1952
* Game time: ? PM CST
* Game attendance: 13,577
* Recap and Stats

### Week 11 vs Dallas Texans

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dallas Texans | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 17 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 38 |
at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Date: December 7, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 18,376
* Recap and Stats

### Week 12 at Washington Redskins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Washington Redskins | 7 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 27 |
at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.
* Date: December 14, 1952
* Game time: ? PM EST
* Game attendance: 22,468
* Recap and Stats

### Standings

NFL American Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 7–3 | 310 | 213 | L1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 252 | 271 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 5–4 | 234 | 231 | W1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 4–5 | 300 | 273 | L1 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 3–7 | 172 | 221 | L2 |
| Washington Redskins | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 4–6 | 240 | 287 | W2 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL National Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Detroit Lions | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 7–3 | 344 | 192 | W3 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 8–2 | 349 | 234 | W8 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–3 | 285 | 221 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 3–6 | 295 | 312 | L3 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 4–6 | 245 | 326 | W1 |
| Dallas Texans | 1 | 11 | 0 | .083 | 1–9 | 182 | 427 | L2 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Playoffs

With a record of 7–5, the Eagles fall one game back of Cleveland and failed to make the playoffs. The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams would tie for the National Division title and had to play a Division Championship game before meeting Cleveland in the 1952 NFL Championship Game

## Roster

(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1952 Pro Bowl | = Hall of Famer |
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
| | Jim Trimble | 35 | COACH | $_{1952record}$ 7–5–0 | $_{NFL-EaglesLifetime}$ 7–5–0 | | | 1st | Indiana University |
| 81 | Bibbles Bawel | 22 | DB | 12 | 0 | 185 | 6–1 | Rookie | Evansville |
| 60 | Chuck Bednarik+ | 27 | LB-C | 12 | 0 | 233 | 6–3 | 3 | Pennsylvania |
| 36 | John Brewer | 24 | FB | 12 | 0 | 230 | 6–4 | Rookie | Louisville |
| 10 | Adrian Burk | 25 | QB | 12 | 3 | 190 | 6–2 | 2 | Baylor |
| 33 | Russ Craft* | 33 | DB-HB | 12 | 0 | 178 | 5–9 | 6 | Alabama |
| 17 | Fred Enke | 28 | QB | 9 | 0 | 208 | 6–1 | 4 | Arizona |
| 53 | Ken Farragut | 24 | C-LB | 12 | 0 | 240 | 6–4 | 1 | Mississippi |
| 27 | Neil Ferris | 25 | DB-HB | 8 | 0 | 181 | 5–11 | 1 | Loyola Marymount |
| 22 | Ralph Goldston | 23 | HB-DB | 9 | 0 | 195 | 5–11 | Rookie | Youngstown State |
| 86 | Bud Grant | 25 | E-DE | 12 | 0 | 199 | 6–3 | 1 | Minnesota |
| 62 | Bill Horrell | 22 | G | 4 | 0 | 222 | 5–11 | Rookie | Michigan State |
| 38 | John Huzvar | 23 | FB | 12 | 0 | 247 | 6–4 | Rookie | $_{NorthCarolinaState,andPittsburgh}$ |
| 78 | Mike Jarmoluk | 30 | DT-T-MG | 12 | 0 | 232 | 6–5 | 6 | Temple |
| 76 | Bucko Kilroy | 31 | G-MG-T-DT | 12 | 0 | 243 | 6–2 | 9 | Temple |
| 67 | John Magee | 29 | G | 12 | 0 | 220 | 5–10 | 4 | $_{La-Lafayette,andRice}$ |
| 68 | Maury Nipp | 22 | G | 10 | 0 | 219 | 6–0 | Rookie | Loyola Marymount |
| 89 | Bob Oristaglio | 28 | DE-E | 4 | 0 | 214 | 6–2 | | Pennsylvania |
| 43 | Jim Parmer | 26 | FB-HB | 6 | 0 | 193 | 6–0 | 4 | Oklahoma State |
| 35 | Pete Pihos+ | 29 | E-DE | 12 | 0 | 210 | 6–1 | 5 | Indiana |
| 21 | Al Pollard | 24 | HB-FB | 12 | 0 | 196 | 6–0 | 1 | Army |
| 62 | Knox Ramsey | 26 | G | 3 | 0 | 216 | 6–1 | 4 | William & Mary |
| 82 | Joe Restic | 25 | E | 3 | 0 | 180 | 6–2 | Rookie | Villavova |
| 52 | Wayne Robinson | 22 | LB-C | 12 | 0 | 225 | 6–2 | Rookie | Minnesota |
| 65 | Dan Rogas | 26 | G-DT-T | 10 | 0 | 230 | 6–1 | 1 | Tulane |
| 27 | Clyde Scott | 28 | HB-DB | 2 | 0 | 174 | 6–0 | 3 | $_{Arkansas,andNavy}$ |
| 79 | Vic Sears | 34 | T-DT | 12 | 0 | 223 | 6–3 | 11 | Oregon State |
| 73 | Lum Snyder | 22 | T | 11 | 0 | 228 | 6–5 | Rookie | Georgia Tech |
| 20 | Don Stevens | 24 | HB | 11 | 0 | 176 | 5–9 | Rookie | Illinois |
| 44 | Bob Stringer | 23 | LB-FB | 12 | 0 | 197 | 6–1 | Rookie | Tulsa |
| 45 | Joe Sutton | 28 | DB-HB | 10 | 0 | 180 | 5–11 | 3 | Temple |
| 11 | Bobby Thomason | 24 | QB | 12 | 9 | 196 | 6–1 | 3 | VMI |
| 69 | Joe Tyrrell | 23 | G | 2 | 0 | 215 | 5–11 | Rookie | Temple |
| 31 | Ebert Van Buren | 28 | DB-LB-FB-HB | 12 | 0 | 210 | 6–2 | 1 | LSU |
| 83 | Bobby Walston | 24 | E-HB-K | 12 | 0 | 190 | 6–0 | 1 | Georgia |
| 63 | Norm Willey | 25 | DE-G-E | 12 | 0 | 224 | 6–2 | 2 | Marshall |
| 75 | Frank Wydo | 28 | T-DT | 12 | 12 | 225 | 6–4 | 5 | Cornell |
| 41 | Frank Ziegler | 29 | HB-DB | 11 | 0 | 175 | 5–11 | 3 | Georgia Tech |
| 88 | Jack Zilly | 31 | DE-E | 12 | 0 | 212 | 6–2 | 5 | Notre Dame |
| | 38 Players Team Average | 26.1 | | 12 | | 208.2 | 6–1.2 | 2.4 | |

## Postseason

At the end of the season, Bud Grant was offered a pay raise in his contract. He chose to play football in the CFL(Canadian Football League) instead. He had a career worthy of being named to the CFL's Hall of Fame as a player. Later on he made the Pro Football Hall of Fame as coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

## Awards and honors

Pro Bowl Players
* Chuck Bednarik and Pete Pihos both make the Pro Bowl 1st team.
* Russ Craft and Bucko Kilroy selected to the Pro-Bowl team as back-ups.
League leaders
* Bud Grant finishes 2nd in receptions with 56.
* Bud Grant finishes 2nd in receiving yards with 997 yds.
* Adrian Burk leads league in number of punts with 83 and 40.2 yds avg
* Bobby Walston finishes 2nd with 11 field goals made.