Editing Philadelphia Eagles (section)

==== Buck Shaw years (1958–1960) ====
{{Further|1960 NFL Championship Game|Buck Shaw}}
In [[1958 Philadelphia Eagles season|1958]], the Eagles took several steps to improve, hiring [[Buck Shaw]] as head coach and acquiring quarterback [[Norm Van Brocklin]] in a trade with the [[Los Angeles Rams]]. During the [[1959 Philadelphia Eagles season|1959 season]], the team showed flashes of talent, and finished in second place in the Eastern Division. Former Eagles owner and co-founder Bert Bell had become [[National Football League Commissioner|NFL commissioner]], and attended the Eagles game on October 11 at Franklin Field against the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]], a team Bell used to own. Bell refused the box seats that the Eagles reserved for him and purchased his own tickets to sit with the fans. During the fourth quarter, while sitting behind the end zone, Bell suffered a heart attack and died later that day.

===== NFL champions (1960) =====
{{Further|1960 NFL Championship Game|Philadelphia Eagles Santa Claus incident|The Hit (Chuck Bednarik)}}
[[File:Penn - Franklin Field - 1922.jpg|thumb|[[Franklin Field]], the Eagles' home field from 1958 to 1970]]
The Eagles' [[1960 Philadelphia Eagles season|1960 season]] remains one of the most celebrated years in team history. Shaw, Van Brocklin, and [[Chuck Bednarik|Bednarik]], each in their last season before retirement, led an Eagles team more notable for its grit than its talent. One observer later quipped that the team had "nothing but a championship" to its first division title since 1949. The team was aided by their two Pro Bowl receivers, wide receiver [[Tommy McDonald (American football)|Tommy McDonald]], who later wrote an autobiography titled ''They Pay Me to Catch Footballs'', and tight end [[Pete Retzlaff]].

On November 20, 1960, at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] in [[The Bronx]], Bednarik launched a tackle against [[New York Giants]]' running back [[Frank Gifford]], which has come to be known as [[The Hit (Chuck Bednarik)|The Hit]], a tackle that is routinely ranked as one of the hardest and most vicious hits in [[National Football League|NFL]] history. With the game tied 10 to 10 in the fourth quarter, Gifford caught a short pass over the middle and was immediately hit by Bednarik with a clothesline tackle so hard that it dropped Gifford to the ground unconscious. Gifford was removed from the field on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital by ambulance, where he remained for ten days. Gifford was diagnosed with a deep [[concussion]] that resulted in his retirement from the game for 18 months.<ref>[https://www.sportscasting.com/the-facts-and-fiction-behind-chuck-bednariks-hit-on-wide-receiver-frank-gifford/ "Facts and fiction behind Chuck Bednarik's hit on wide receiver Frank Gifford,"] Sportscasting</ref> On the 100th anniversary of the NFL's founding, the NFL ranked Bednarik's tackle the 44th greatest play in league history.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nfl.com/100/originals/100-greatest/plays-44 |title=NFL's 100 Greatest Plays – 44: Chuck Bednarik hit on Frank Gifford |work=NFL.com |access-date=July 22, 2022}}</ref>

On December 26, 1960, one of the coldest days in recorded Philadelphia history, the Eagles faced [[Vince Lombardi]]'s [[Green Bay Packers]] in the [[1960 NFL Championship Game]] and dealt the formidable Lombardi the sole championship game loss of his storied career. Bednarik lined up at center on offense and at linebacker on defense. Fittingly, the game ended as Bednarik tackled a struggling [[Jim Taylor (fullback)|Jim Taylor]] and refused to allow him to stand until the last seconds had ticked away.<ref>[http://greenparrotbar.blogspot.com/2006/02/flashback-you-can-get-up-now-taylor.html NFL Flashback, "You can get up now, Taylor. This fucking game's over.": Chuck Bednarik] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329224128/http://greenparrotbar.blogspot.com/2006/02/flashback-you-can-get-up-now-taylor.html |date=March 29, 2019 }} Retrieved July 11, 2012.</ref>

Van Brocklin came to Philadelphia and agreed to play through 1960 with an understanding that, upon his retirement as a player, he would succeed Shaw as head coach. Ownership, however, opted to promote assistant coach [[Nick Skorich]] instead, and Van Brocklin quit the organization in a fit of pique, instead becoming head coach of the [[1961 NFL expansion draft|expansion]] [[1961 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]]. Back-up quarterback [[Sonny Jurgensen]] became the Eagles' starter for the [[1961 Philadelphia Eagles season|1961 season]]; they finished a half-game behind the [[1961 New York Giants season|New York Giants]] for first place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 10–4 record. Despite the on-the-field success, however, the franchise was in turmoil.

The [[1962 Philadelphia Eagles season|1962 team]], decimated by injury, managed only three wins and were embarrassed at home in a 49–0 loss to the [[1962 Green Bay Packers season|Packers]]. The off-field chaos continued through [[1963 Philadelphia Eagles season|1963]], as the 65 shareholders remaining from the original Happy Hundred sold the team to [[Jerry Wolman]], a 36-year-old millionaire Washington developer who outbid local bidders for the team, paying an unprecedented $5.505&nbsp;million for control of the club.<ref name="ppegpff">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=asZaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6780%2C1063969 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |agency=Associated Press |title=Wolman purchases Eagles for $5.5 million |date=December 6, 1963 |page=33 |access-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503021743/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=asZaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6780%2C1063969 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="tbapegbt">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LgJPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5275%2C5584324 |work=Toledo Blade |location=(Ohio) |agency=Associated Press |title=Eagles bought for $5 miilion |date=December 6, 1963 |page=30 |access-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503021743/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LgJPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5275%2C5584324 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[1964 Philadelphia Eagles season|1964]], Wolman hired former Cardinals and [[Washington Redskins]] coach [[Joe Kuharich]] to a 15-year contract. Over the next five seasons, the team failed to make the playoffs and the failures of the team over this period were highlighted by the [[Philadelphia Eagles Santa Claus incident|Santa Claus incident]], when fans pelted a Santa Claus with snowballs during a halftime Christmas pageant. The team had only one winning season, in [[1966 Philadelphia Eagles season|1966]], finishing second in the [[Eastern and Western Conferences (NFL) 1933–1969|NFL Eastern Conference]]. The Eagles lost to the [[Baltimore Colts]] 20–14, in the post-season's third place consolation game, the [[Playoff Bowl]], which was held at the [[Miami Orange Bowl|Orange Bowl]] in [[Miami]]. The Eagles finished 6–7–1 in [[1967 Philadelphia Eagles season|1967]]. In the following season, the Eagles fell even further in the standings, recording a 2–12 record in [[1968 Philadelphia Eagles season|1968]].