The

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

was the franchise's 27th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

. They improved on their previous output of 2–9–1, winning seven games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season.

Off-season

The Eagles held training camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

NFL Draft

The 1959 NFL Draft was held on December 2, 1958 (rounds 1–4) and January 21, 1959 (rounds 5–30). The draft consisted of 30 rounds with each of the 12 NFL teams having one draft pick in each round. A total of 360 players were selected in this year's draft. There was no lottery bonus pick this year as it had run its course; all 12 teams had been given a bonus pick in previous drafts. As the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

had the worst record in the previous season at 1–10–1, they had the first draft pick, and selected

Randy Duncan Hearst Randolph "Randy" Duncan, Jr. (March 15, 1937 – September 27, 2016) was an American gridiron football quarterback and lawyer. He played college football at the University of Iowa in the Big Ten Conference. He played in two Rose Bow ...

, the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

. The Packers' lone win in 1958 had been over the Eagles, 38–35, on October 26 in Green Bay. The Eagles and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

both had 2–9–1 records in 1958, which were tied for the 2nd-worst record in the league, so they rotated in picking 2nd or 3rd in each round. Despite their poor records in 1958, both of these teams had defeated the eventual Eastern Conference champion

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

that year. The Eagles traded their first-round pick, the 2nd overall pick in the draft, to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

for quarterback

Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "The Dutchman", was an American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He spent his first nine seasons with the Los A ...

. The Eagles made their first draft selection in round 2 with the 15th overall pick. In 1959 the Eagles and Packers would both improve to 7–5–0. Then in 1960 they would each win their respective conference championships and meet in the

NFL Championship game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

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. * 30th round pick

Angelo Mosca Angelo Valentino Mosca (February 13, 1937 – November 6, 2021) was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. He was a defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a wrestler, Mosca was known by the nic ...

had already chosen to play in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fie ...

in the 1958 season after 3 years at Notre Dame and his senior year at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

Schedule

* Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Roster

''(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)'' * + After name means 1st team selection

Postseason

Before the start of the 1960 Season, but after the 1960 NFL Draft, on March 19, the NFL had an

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. The Philadelphia Eagles lost, Dick Bielski a tight end, Gerry Delucca an offensive tackle, and Bil Striegel, a linebacker.

Honors and awards

Pro Bowl selections – East Team ** Norm Van Brocklin – QB ** Billy Barnes – HB ** Tommy McDonald – Flanker ** Marion Campbell – DT ** Tom Brookshier – CB League leaders ** Norm Van Brocklin finishes 2nd in pass attempts with 340 ** Norm Van Brocklin finishes 2nd in pass completions with 191 ** Norm Van Brocklin finishes 2nd in passing yards with 2617 ** Norm Van Brocklin finishes 3rd in passing yards per Attempt Avg with 7.70 ** Norm Van Brocklin finishes 3rd in passing touchdowns with 14 ** Tommy McDonald finishes 2nd in pass receptions with 47 ** Tommy McDonald finishes 3rd in pass receiving yards with 846 ** Tommy McDonald finishes 2nd in pass reception touchdowns with 10 ** Tommy McDonald finishes 2nd (tied with 8) in punt return for a touchdown with 1 ** Tommy McDonald finishes 2nd in kickoff returns with 24 ** Art Powell finishes 2nd in kickoff returns avg. 27.1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1959 Philadelphia Eagles Season Philadelphia Eagles seasons

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...