Perhaps the most memorable juncture of these two franchises, however, occurred on a cold December day at Veterans Stadium. In the astonishing final eight-plus minutes of that Minnesota victory, a path opened up for a new, harder-edged, more passionate era of Eagles football, one that would be guided by a feisty, bespectacled Oklahoman named Buddy Ryan.
But on that Sunday, Dec. 1, 1985, Marion Campbell was the coach of the 6-6 Eagles. "The Swamp Fox" had assumed Dick Vermeil's job when the burned-out Vermeil resigned after the 1982 season.
"Marion was much more of a delegater than Dick," said John Spagnola, then the team's starting tight end. "He was low-key. He let Ted Marchibroda run the offense and just concerned himself with the defense."
The Eagles were a combination of aging leftovers from the '80 Super Bowl team (Ron Jaworski and Wilbert Montgomery), and a few talented newcomers like Mike Quick and Reggie White. They'd begun the season 1-4 but won five of their last seven to get back into playoff contention.
"We had hopes," Spagnola said.
Minnesota, meanwhile, had lost five of seven and came to Philadelphia with a 5-7 record and little hope. Quarterback Tommy Kramer was out - with what Grant mysteriously termed "wear-and-tear" injuries. Their leading rusher was Darrin Nelson, their top receiver tight end Steve Jordan.
Jaworski, in his last productive season here, was estranged from owner Norman Braman and hoped to parlay a strong finish into a contract extension.
As fate would have it, Braman, criticized often for ignoring Eagles history, had brought back the 1960 NFL champions that day for a 25th reunion ceremony at halftime.
The old players laughed and drank raucously in Braman's box as the Eagles built a 20-0 halftime. The lead grew to 23-0 in the third quarter. On the Eagles radio broadcast, color commentator Stan Walters was urging Campbell to rest his starters.
