Dating back to the origins of American Declaration Day in 1868 — Philadelphia has always had a significant role in Memorial Day. For that World War II generation just returning from years in combat, players like Chuck Bednarik and Jack Sanders the latter of whom would sign with the Eagles as the first disabled World War II veteran to join professional football in 1945.
For these veterans of the largest war that the world had known to date — they would return from the islands of the South Pacific and the fields of Europe ready to fight for something else. The Philadelphia Eagles in nearly twelve years of existence had achieved being one of the oldest franchises in the NFL — but unlike the team that they replaced in Philadelphia in 1933 — had not been a success on the gridiron.
It was time to make the Eagles a winner.
In 1946 — just one year after the surrender of the Axis powers — the Eagles began to push to the top of the NFL with a 7–3 record. The following year in 1947 — they advanced to the playoffs, beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 21–0, and advanced to the first World Championship Game in Franchise history.
The team complete with Al Wistert, Steve Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik, Pete Phihos, and Tommy Thompson would spend most of the next two seasons dominating the NFL — beating rival Chicago Cardinals in a blizzard in 1948 and winning the first ever NFL Championship in 1949.
Over their 90-year existence — it seems like most of the time that the Eagles have always been coming back from something. The parallels between the Eagles of the late 1940s — whose roster included those WWII veterans — and the present-day Eagles is uncanny. Both teams were the best in the NFL in their respective eras, both teams had virtually unstoppable running backs, and both teams began their acsension to NFL greatness with a narrow loss on the NFL’s biggest stage.
Finally in 1947 Eagles would battle the Cardinals for the NFL Championship at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Down 21–7 in the 3rd quarter — the Eagles mounted two scoring drives to cut Chicago’s lead to 28–21 with five minutes left in the contest. The Eagles would never get the ball back.
But in true form for a team of players who fought a war before winning an NFL Championship — the Philadelphia Eagles of the 1940s would never lose a Championship Game again.
It was the greatest Eagles team to ever take the field. Until — of course — this current Eagles team.
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