The first comprehensive history of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Since the team’s origins in 1933, the Philadelphia Eagles have provided football fans with years of star players, dramatic games, and memorable moments. Philadelphia Eagles: The Complete Illustrated History offers a look back at every Eagles season—the good and the bad—with recaps of on-field performances and off-field anecdotes. Longtime Philadelphia sportswriter Les Bowen includes the stories behind the action and offers profiles of the greatest players, coaches, and front-office figures who have defined more than 75 years of Eagles history. Among those featured are Bert Bell, Greasy Neale, Steve Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik, Harold Carmichael, Wilbert Montgomery, Ron Jaworski, Dick Vermeil, Buddy Ryan, Randall Cunningham, Reggie White, and Donovan McNabb, among others. Stories on the greatest games and turning-point moments in Eagles history round out this comprehensive look at an iconic NFL franchise.

“An ambitious, remarkably frank” chronicle of the Philadelphia Eagles’ bid for the NFL championship by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews). In 1992, the Philadelphia Eagles—a team assembled in the image of their iconoclastic, controversial former head coach, Buddy Ryan—were known for their ferocious defense led by Reggie White, Seth Joyner, and Andre Waters, and for the otherworldly talents of quarterback Randall Cunningham. Now was the time for the Eagles’ campaign for the championship. But as the season progressed, it disintegrated into an ugly flurry of greed, racism, violence, personal and professional feuds, one tragic death, and a very wild face-off in the stands between a player’s wife and mistress. By midseason, the sentiment of both fans and press was the same: “shut up and play.” Told through the personal stories of the teammates themselves, as well as the coaches, managers and owner, Bringing the Heat spares nothing—and no one—in “a phenomenal feat of reportage, perfect for football fans coast to coast” (H. G. Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights). “Overflows with stories of pro football dreams, of bravery in the face of injury. Yet it also unflinchingly tells of the darker side of life in the NFL: uncontrollable egos, ruined families, marital infidelity.” —The New York Times Book Review “There are now four mandatory books on football: Dan Jenkins’s Semi-Tough; George Plimpton’s Paper Lion; H. G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights, and the hilarious, incorrigible son of them all, Mark Bowden’s Bringing the Heat.” —Michael Bamberger, Sports Illustrated

Football history smudges out 1960 as down time between golden ages. The Johnny Unitas Colts of '58 and '59 thrust football into the national consciousness with their sudden-death, Nielsen-friendly championship drama. Meanwhile, Vince Lombardi's '60s dynasty, consisting of a litany of stars, kicked off the Super Bowl era. Wedged in between were the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles, unfairly dismissed as the team with nothing but a championship. This book chronicles that team, which had so much more than a championship. It was a team that had grit, heart, and old-time characters who compensated for their lack of glitz with a remarkable group dynamic, plus a leader who transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Day in, day out, Leo Carlin was a constant presence with the Philadelphia Eagles for over five decades. The longtime ticket director and front office mainstay has dedicated most of his life to creating memorable experiences for Eagles fans. He's played countless roles and has countless stories to tell as a result. A Bird's-Eye View is a fascinating, frank, in-the-room look at nearly 60 years of Eagles' history, spanning five different ownerships, 14 head coaches, so many stars, and, of course, a Super Bowl. From getting his start as a part-timer in 1960--when professional football in Philadelphia ranked a distant third in popularity to baseball and college football--to riding down Broad Street with his fellow Eagles hall of famers in the championship parade, Carlin opens up about the highlights, lowlights, and neverending hijinks that come with the territory.