1979 Philadelphia Eagles season
Encyclopedia
The 1979
Philadelphia Eagles
season resulted in an appearance in the postseason for the second consecutive year, a feat the team had not achieved for three decades. They would make the playoffs again in the following two seasons before a six-year drought.
was the procedure by which National Football League
teams selected amateur college football
players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft
was held May 3–4, 1979 in New York City. As was started with the 1977 NFL Draft, this was 12 rounds.
The Philadelphia Eagles got the 19th to the 21st picks in the 12 rounds. They had overcome the traded-away draft picks of the Mike McCormack era. The Eagles had waited but they finally had a first-round pick and other low-round draft picks. They would use these and build a team as 7 of the 10 draft picks made the team for the coming years.
The draft began with first overall pick of Tom Cousineau
, linebacker from Ohio State, by the Buffalo Bills
. With the number 7 pick the New York Giants
selected Phil Simms
, a quarterback from Morehead State. The crowd, made up of mostly New York fans, voiced their displeasure of his selection.
1979 NFL season
The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams...
Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
season resulted in an appearance in the postseason for the second consecutive year, a feat the team had not achieved for three decades. They would make the playoffs again in the following two seasons before a six-year drought.
Offseason
After going 9–7 in the 1978 season and making the playoffs, the Eagles found themselves having to follow rule 3 of the draft – "Teams that made the playoffs are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated" – meaning four teams with a record the same or better than the Eagles would pick in front of them.NFL Draft
The 1979 NFL Draft1979 NFL Draft
The 1979 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979...
was the procedure by which National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
teams selected amateur college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
was held May 3–4, 1979 in New York City. As was started with the 1977 NFL Draft, this was 12 rounds.
The Philadelphia Eagles got the 19th to the 21st picks in the 12 rounds. They had overcome the traded-away draft picks of the Mike McCormack era. The Eagles had waited but they finally had a first-round pick and other low-round draft picks. They would use these and build a team as 7 of the 10 draft picks made the team for the coming years.
The draft began with first overall pick of Tom Cousineau
Tom Cousineau
Tom Cousineau is a former American Football linebacker who played three seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes from 1979 to 1981, and six seasons in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers from 1982 to 1987...
, linebacker from Ohio State, by the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. With the number 7 pick the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
selected Phil Simms
Phil Simms
Phillip Martin "Phil" Simms is a former American football quarterback, and currently a television sportscaster for the CBS network. After a standout career at Morehead State University, Simms was drafted in the first round by the New York Giants of the National Football League with the number...
, a quarterback from Morehead State. The crowd, made up of mostly New York fans, voiced their displeasure of his selection.
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 trade the Eagles made. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.| = Pro Bowl Pro Bowl In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those... er |
= Hall of Fame Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees... r |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 21 | Jerry Robinson Jerry Robinson Jerry Robinson is an American comic book artist best known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s.He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.-Career:... |
LB | UCLA |
| 2 | 48 | Petey Perot Petey Perot Edward Joseph "Petey" Perot is a former professional American football offensive lineman. He started in Super Bowl XV for the Philadelphia Eagles. Perot played college football at Northwestern State University and was drafted in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Eagles. He also... |
G | Northwestern State |
| 3 | 74 | Tony Franklin | Kicker | Texas A & M |
| 4 | 94 | Ben Cowins Ben Cowins Ben Cowins is a former college football running back who played for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks from 1975-1978. He was the University of Arkansas all-time leader in rushing attempts , rushing yards , rushing touchdowns and 100-yard rushing games prior to all his team records being... |
RB | Arkansas |
| 5 | 126 | Scott Fitzkee Scott Fitzkee Scott Austin Fitzkee is a former professional American football wide receiver. He played in both the National Football League and United States Football League and starred at Penn State University in 1978... |
TE | Penn State |
| 6 | 158 | Pick Traded to New York Giants | ||
| 7 | 178 | Don Swafford | OT | Florida |
| 7 | 185 | Curtis Bunche | DT | Albany State |
| 8 | 196 | Chuck Correal | C | Penn State |
| 8 | 211 | Max Runager Max Runager Max Culp Runager is a former professional American football punter in the National Football League for eleven seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at the University of South Carolina... |
Punter | South Carolina |
| 9 | Pick Traded to | |||
| 10 | Pick Traded to | |||
| 11 | 296 | Al Chesley Al Chesley Albert Cornell Chesley is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 11th round of the 1979 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pittsburgh.Chesley has also been a member of the Chicago Bears.... |
LB | Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Pick Traded to | |||
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2, 1979 | New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 23–17 | |
| 2 | September 10, 1979 | Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
L 14–10 | |
| 3 | September 16, 1979 | at New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League .... |
W 26–14 | |
| 4 | September 23, 1979 | at New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 17–13 | |
| 5 | September 30, 1979 | Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC... |
W 17–14 | |
| 6 | October 7, 1979 | Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... |
W 28–17 | |
| 7 | October 14, 1979 | at St. Louis Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 24–20 | |
| 8 | October 21, 1979 | at Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... |
L 17–7 | |
| 9 | October 28, 1979 | at Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL... |
L 37–13 | |
| 10 | November 4, 1979 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
L 24–19 | |
| 11 | November 12, 1979 | at Dallas Cowboys Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas... |
W 31–21 | |
| 12 | November 18, 1979 | St. Louis Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 16–13 | |
| 13 | November 25, 1979 | at Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... |
W 21–10 | |
| 14 | December 2, 1979 | Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... |
W 44–7 | |
| 15 | December 8, 1979 | Dallas Cowboys Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas... |
L 24–17 | |
| 16 | December 16, 1979 | at Houston Oilers Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter... |
W 26–20 | |
Standings
| NFC East NFC East The NFC East is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. It currently has four members: the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins.... |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| Dallas Cowboys 1979 Dallas Cowboys season The 1979 Dallas Cowboys season was their 20th in the league. The team was unable to improve on their previous output of 12–4, winning only eleven games... |
11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 371 | 313 | W-3 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 339 | 282 | W-1 |
| Washington Redskins 1979 Washington Redskins season The 1979 Washington Redskins began with the team trying to improve on their 8-8 record from 1978. While the Redskins were able to improve their record; finishing 10-6, the Redskins were eliminated from playoff contention on the final week of the season when, facing the Dallas Cowboys with the NFC... |
10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 348 | 295 | L-1 |
| New York Giants 1979 New York Giants season The 1979 New York Giants season was the 55th season for the club in the National Football League. The Giants had a 6–10 record in 1979 and finished in fourth place in the National Football Conference East Division.-Offseason:... |
6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 237 | 323 | L-3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals 1979 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season -Schedule:-Standings:-References:**... |
5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 307 | 358 | L-1 |
Playoffs
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcard | December 23, 1979 | Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 27–17 | |
| Divisional | December 29, 1979 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West... |
L 24–17 | |