# 1958 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1958 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 26th season in the National Football League (NFL). They failed to improve on their previous output of 4–8, winning only two games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season. In the offseason, Vince Lombardi was offered the Eagles head coaching position but he refused it. He opted to stay as the Offensive Coordinator of the New York Giants.

## Off-season

The Eagles hired the Air Force Academy's 1st head coach Buck Shaw. Shaw took over a last-place Eagles team and started rebuilding. He was also the 1st coach of the San Francisco 49ers when they formed in the AAFC in 1946. He immediately dealt Buck Lansford, Jimmy Harris, and a first-round draft choice to the Los Angeles Rams for 32-year-old, nine-year veteran quarterback Norm Van Brocklin.

### NFL Draft

The 1958 NFL draft was held on December 2, 1957 (rounds 1–4) and January 28, 1958 (rounds 5–30). The draft was 30 rounds long with 12 teams making picks. A total of 360 players were selected.
With a 4–8 record in 1957 the Eagles made the 6th pick in the 1st round.
This was the last year in which the Lottery Bonus Pick was used. The Chicago Cardinals had the number 1 pick of the draft and the Bonus Pick. They used the picks to select as Lottery Bonus Pick King Hill a Quarterback out of Rice University. With the 2nd pick they chose 1957 Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow a Halfback out of Texas A&M University

### 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 |
| Rd | Pick # | Player | Position | College | Rd | Pick # | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 6 | Walt Kowalczyk | Fullback | Michigan State | 2 | 17 | Proverb Jacobs | Tackle | California |
| 3 | 31 | $_{PickTakenbyWashingtonRedskins}$ | | | 4 | 43 | Frank Rigney | Tackle | Iowa |
| 5 | 52 | Bobby Mulgado | Back | Arizona State | 6 | 64 | John Kersey | Tackle | Duke |
| 7 | 76 | Len Mansfield | Tackle | Pittsburg State | 8 | 88 | Bill Striegel | Linebacker | Pacific |
| 9 | 100 | $_{PickTakenbyPittsburghSteelers}$ | | | 10 | 112 | Theron Sapp | Back | Georgia |
| 11 | 124 | Mel Dillard | Back | Purdue | 12 | 136 | Jack Crabtree | Back | Oregon |
| 13 | 148 | Mickey Trimarki | Quarterback | West Virginia | 14 | 160 | Bill Lapham | Center | Iowa |
| 15 | 172 | Stan Hinos | Tackle | Mississippi Valley State | 16 | 184 | Mike Meatheringham | Tackle | Georgia |
| 17 | 196 | Bill Van Buren | Center | Iowa | 18 | 208 | John Burroughs | Tackle | Iowa |
| 19 | 220 | Ron Sabal | Guard | Purdue | 20 | 232 | Kent Lovelace | Back | Mississippi |
| 21 | 244 | John Madden | Offensive tackle | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | 22 | 256 | George Sherwood | End | St. Joseph's (IN) |
| 23 | 268 | Billy Templeton | End | Mississippi | 24 | 280 | Jim Padget | Center | Clemson |
| 25 | 292 | Hal Divine | Tackle | Memphis State | 26 | 304 | Neil MacLean | Back | Wake Forest |
| 27 | 316 | Hindman Wall | End | Auburn | 28 | 328 | Gene Gossage | Tackle | Northwestern |
| 29 | 340 | Don McDonald | Back | Houston | 30 | 351 | Jim Thompson | End | Temple |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 16 | Baltimore Colts | W 30–28 | 1–0 | Hershey Stadium | 16,894 |
| 2 | August 24 | vs. Chicago Bears | L 0–3 | 1–1 | Ohio State Fairgrounds Stadium | 15,365 |
| 3 | September 1 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–20 | 1–2 | City Stadium | 17,857 |
| 4 | September 6 | vs. Washington Redskins | L 31–35 | 1–3 | Gator Bowl | 26,242 |
| 5 | September 13 | vs. Detroit Lions | W 31–24 | 2–3 | Oklahoma Memorial Stadium | 61,000 |
| 6 | September 21 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 31–28 | 3–3 | Kezar Stadium | 33,398 |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 28 | Washington Redskins | L 14–24 | 0–1 | Franklin Field | 36,850 |
| 2 | October 5 | New York Giants | W 27–24 | 1–1 | Franklin Field | 23,178 |
| 3 | October 12 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 3–24 | 1–2 | Pitt Stadium | 23,153 |
| 4 | October 19 | San Francisco 49ers | L 24–30 | 1–3 | Franklin Field | 33,110 |
| 5 | October 26 | at Green Bay Packers | L 35–38 | 1–4 | City Stadium | 31,043 |
| 6 | November 2 | at Chicago Cardinals | T 21–21 | 1–4–1 | Comiskey Park | 17,486 |
| 7 | November 9 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 24–31 | 1–5–1 | Franklin Field | 26,306 |
| 8 | November 16 | Chicago Cardinals | W 49–21 | 2–5–1 | Franklin Field | 18,315 |
| 9 | November 23 | at Cleveland Browns | L 14–28 | 2–6–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 51,319 |
| 10 | November 30 | at New York Giants | L 10–24 | 2–7–1 | Yankee Stadium | 35,438 |
| 11 | December 7 | Cleveland Browns | L 14–21 | 2–8–1 | Franklin Field | 36,773 |
| 12 | December 14 | at Washington Redskins | L 0–20 | 2–9–1 | Griffith Stadium | 22,621 |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Giants | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 7–3 | 246 | 183 | W4 |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 8–2 | 302 | 217 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 4 | 1 | .636 | 6–3–1 | 261 | 230 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 3–6–1 | 214 | 268 | W1 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 2 | 9 | 1 | .182 | 2–7–1 | 261 | 356 | L6 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 9 | 1 | .182 | 2–7–1 | 235 | 306 | L4 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Roster

(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)
| = 1958 Pro Bowl Selection | = Hall of Famer |
* + After name means 1st team selection
| NO. | Player | AGE | POS | GP | GS | WT | HT | YRS | College |
| | Buck Shaw | 61 | COACH | $_{1958record}$ 2–9–1 | $_{EaglesLifetime}$ 2–9–1 | $_{NFLLifetime}$ 73–48–5 | | 1 | Notre Dame |
| 33 | Billy Ray Barnes | 23 | HB | 12 | 0 | 201 | 5–11 | 1 | Wake Forest |
| 60 | Chuck Bednarik | 33 | LB-C | 12 | 0 | 233 | 6–3 | 9 | Pennsylvania Quakers |
| 81 | Eddie Bell | 27 | DB-LB | 12 | 0 | 212 | 6–1 | 3 | Pennsylvania Quakers |
| 36 | Dick Bielski | 26 | E-FB | 12 | 0 | 224 | 6–1 | 3 | Maryland Terrapins |
| 65 | Harold Bradley | 29 | G | 12 | 12 | 230 | 6–2 | 4 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| 40 | Tom Brookshier | 27 | DB | 11 | 0 | 196 | 6–0 | 5 | Colorado Buffalos |
| 78 | Marion Campbell | 29 | DE-DT-MG-G-T | 11 | 0 | 250 | 6–3 | 4 | Georgia Bulldogs |
| 86 | Ed Cooke | 23 | DE-LB | 7 | 0 | 250 | 6–4 | Rookie | Maryland Terrapins |
| 42 | Bob Hudson | 28 | DB-LB-E | 11 | 0 | 225 | 6–4 | 7 | Clemson Tigers |
| 63 | Ken Huxhold | 29 | G | 12 | 0 | 226 | 6–1 | 4 | Wisconsin Badgers |
| 67 | Proverb Jacobs | 23 | T-DT | 12 | 0 | 258 | 6–4 | Rookie | California Golden Bears |
| 9 | Sonny Jurgensen | 24 | QB | 12 | 0 | 202 | 5–11 | 1 | Duke Blue Devils |
| 73 | Ed Khayat | 23 | DT-DE-T | 5 | 0 | 240 | 6–3 | 1 | Tulane Green Wave |
| 68 | Bill Koman | 24 | LB | 12 | 12 | 229 | 6–2 | 2 | North Carolina Tarheels |
| 43 | Walt Kowalczyk | 23 | FB-DB | 12 | 0 | 208 | 6–0 | Rookies | Michigan State Spartans |
| 64 | Galen Laack | 26 | G | 8 | 0 | 230 | 6–0 | Rookie | Pacific Tigers |
| 61 | Tom Louderback | 25 | LB-C-G | 12 | 0 | 235 | 6–2 | Rookie | San Jose State Spartans |
| 25 | Tommy McDonald | 24 | FL-HB-SE-WR | 10 | 0 | 178 | 5–9 | 1 | Oklahoma Sooners |
| 66 | Ed Meadows | 26 | DE-E | 12 | 0 | 221 | 6–2 | 4 | Duke Blue Devils |
| 80 | Gene Mitcham | 26 | E | 2 | 0 | 206 | 6–2 | Rookie | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| 46 | Brad Myers | 29 | B-E | 9 | 0 | 197 | 6–1 | 5 | Bucknell Bison |
| 87 | Andy Nacrelli | 25 | E | 2 | 0 | 190 | 6–1 | Rookie | Fordham Rams |
| 41 | Jerry Norton | 27 | DB-HB | 9 | 0 | 195 | 5–11 | 4 | SMU Mustangs |
| 70 | Don Owens | 26 | DT-T | 12 | 0 | 255 | 6–5 | 1 | Southern Miss Golden Eagles |
| 26 | Clarence Peaks | 23 | FB | 11 | 0 | 218 | 6–1 | 1 | Michigan State Spartans |
| 53 | Bob Pellegrini | 24 | LB-G | 12 | 0 | 233 | 6–2 | 2 | Maryland Terrapins |
| 76 | Volney Peters | 30 | DT-T-DE | 10 | 0 | 237 | 6–4 | 6 | USC Trojans |
| 44 | Pete Retzlaff | 27 | E-HB-TE | 12 | 0 | 211 | 6–1 | 2 | South Dakota St. Jackrabbits |
| 72 | Jess Richardson | 28 | DT | 12 | 0 | 261 | 6–2 | 5 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| 22 | Lee Riley | 26 | DB | 12 | 0 | 192 | 6–1 | 3 | Univ. of Detroit Mercy Titans |
| 45 | Rocky Ryan | 26 | DB-E | 3 | 0 | 202 | 6–1 | 2 | Illinois |
| 82 | Tom Scott | 28 | DE-LB | 12 | 0 | 218 | 6–2 | 5 | Virginia |
| 64 | John Simerson | 23 | C-T | 4 | 0 | 257 | 6–3 | 1 | Purdue Boilermakers |
| 79 | Lum Snyder | 28 | T | 12 | 0 | 228 | 6–5 | 6 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
| 74 | Len Szafaryn | 30 | T-G-LB-DT | 7 | 0 | 226 | 6–2 | 9 | North Carolina Tarheels |
| 11 | Norm Van Brocklin | 32 | QB | 12 | 12 | 190 | 6–1 | 9 | Oregon Ducks |
| 83 | Bobby Walston | 30 | E-HB-K | 12 | 0 | 190 | 6–0 | 7 | Georgia Bulldogs |
| 27 | Billy Wells | 27 | HB | 12 | 0 | 180 | 5–9 | 4 | Michigan State Spartans |
| 73 | Sid Youngelman | 27 | DT-DE | 5 | 0 | 257 | 6–3 | 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| | 35 Players Team Average | 26.5 | | 12 | | 220.3 | 6–1.5 | 3.2 | |