Pete Retzlaff

8 Bob Brown sought greatness. A mountain of a man, Brown feared no one or nothing, not even the heightened expectations he generated. He stated his professional goal shortly after the Eagles used the second overall pick in the 1964 draft to secure the all-American offensive lineman from Nebraska: to be the best tackle ever to play in the National Football League. In five seasons in Philadelphia, Brown became the best tackle ever to play for the Eagles. "The Boomer," as Brown was called, was a sledgehammer, a pioneer, and a carefully chiseled beast who wore down and outlasted his opponents.

CAN IT be? Can it possibly be 50 years? They ask themselves: Where did the years go? All of them are in their 70s and 80s now, yet the boy in them remains anchored in 1960, the year they did something that no Eagles team has done since: They won the National Football League championship. Fifty years ago: JFK had just been elected president. That was how long ago it was. Linebacker Maxie Baughan was a rookie on that 1960 squad and expected it to happen again. But it never did, which he says just goes to show you how hard it is to even win one. The Eagles came close under Dick Vermeil in 1980.

The Eagles will honor their 1960 NFL championship team in Week 1 on Sept. 12, just as the latest lineup begins its drive to end the title drought that has persisted since then. As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, the team will wear their old kelly green and white uniforms, matching the ones worn by Chuck Bednarik, Tommy McDonald, Pete Retzlaff, and others when the Eagles last won a championship. The title team will be honored as part of the event and, of course, plenty of 50th anniversary merchandise will be for sale.

"Team Pa.! Team Pa.!" Eastern Pennsylvania's athletes enthusiastically chanted as they walked toward the bus taking them to the airport yesterday for the eighth International Summer Special Olympics Games in Minneapolis. Among those watching and smiling outside the Sheraton Society Hill was Pete Retzlaff. "Our theme is 'Catch the Spirit,' " said the former Eagles tight end and general manager, who also is a member of the Special Olympics international board. "I think you can see why. " Donald Aldridge, 21, is one young athlete who has caught the Special Olympics spirit.

Quarterback Randall Cunningham, who directed the Eagles to their first playoff berth since 1981, yesterday was named winner of the Bert Bell Award, sponsored by the Philadelphia-based Maxwell Football Club, as the outstanding NFL player of the year. Cunningham won about 75 percent of the first-place votes in balloting by the Maxwell Club members, Pro Football Writers Association members, Philadelphia-area media members and representatives of all 28 NFL teams. The four-year veteran completed 301 of 560 passes for 3,808 yards - all Eagles single-season records - and was the NFC's 11th-leading rusher with a team-leading 624 yards.

7 Pete Pihos. His opposition was a kid, some poor rookie who wasn't used to Pete Pihos' pirouettes and pivots. During a training camp practice in 1954, Pihos embarrassed the rookie after he somehow broke free, corralled the football, and dashed downfield for a touchdown. "Don't let that bother you, son," Eagles coach Jim Trimble said. "Pete can do that to any back in this league. " Certainly in his day, Pihos was the most feared wide receiver - or end - in the NFL. A fullback at Indiana, Pihos was the Eagles' third-round pick in 1945, and went on to play for the Birds from 1947 until 1955, when he retired at the age of 32 to focus on his day job as a salesman.

The letters and faxes poured in after my all-time Eagles team was published last month. Some readers agreed with my choices, others disagreed. Here is a sampling, along with my comments: Dear Sir: I can't believe Ray Didinger picked Ron Jaworski over Dutch Van Brocklin at quarterback. While Van Brocklin played only three seasons in Philadelphia, the 1960 team won it all. More importantly, that team is considered by many to be the weakest team ever to win the NFL championship.

Going into the 1960 NFL season, there were high hopes for the Eagles. But no sooner had the season begun than they were beaten by the Cleveland Browns at Franklin Field and found themselves in an unexpected war against the expansion Dallas Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl. It was the first of what on Sunday night will be the 100th meeting between the teams, the beginning of a rivalry that has crackled with intensity for generations. Up against a Dallas team that would go winless that year, the Eagles edged the Cowboys, 27-25, in a game that featured eight interceptions and two blocked extra points.

Eagles alumni roamed the sidelines yesterday at West Chester, hugging one another, critiquing the current crop of players, and posing for photos with new fans and old coaches. Wide receiver Pete Retzlaff was there, along with defensive back Tom Brookshier and tackle Ed Khayat, his teammates on the 1960 NFL championship team. So was George Savitsky, a tackle who was on the championship teams of 1948 and 1949. But of all of those former stars, none seemed to be greeted with more respect than Steve Van Buren.

Pete Retzlaff said he enjoyed puttering around in last weekend's Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News Mike Schmidt Pro-Celebrity Challenge golf tournament at Commonwealth National Country Club in Horsham. He enjoyed meeting and greeting the many fans who came out to get his autograph and chat about the 1960 Eagles team that he helped propel to the NFL championship. And, perhaps most of all, he enjoyed the fact that the tournament benefited a worthwhile charity: the Pennsylvania Special Olympics.

CAN IT be? Can it possibly be 50 years? They ask themselves: Where did the years go? All of them are in their 70s and 80s now, yet the boy in them remains anchored in 1960, the year they did something that no Eagles team has done since: They won the National Football League championship. Fifty years ago: JFK had just been elected president. That was how long ago it was. Linebacker Maxie Baughan was a rookie on that 1960 squad and expected it to happen again. But it never did, which he says just goes to show you how hard it is to even win one. The Eagles came close under Dick Vermeil in 1980.

The Eagles will honor their 1960 NFL championship team in Week 1 on Sept. 12, just as the latest lineup begins its drive to end the title drought that has persisted since then. As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, the team will wear their old kelly green and white uniforms, matching the ones worn by Chuck Bednarik, Tommy McDonald, Pete Retzlaff, and others when the Eagles last won a championship. The title team will be honored as part of the event and, of course, plenty of 50th anniversary merchandise will be for sale.

Going into the 1960 NFL season, there were high hopes for the Eagles. But no sooner had the season begun than they were beaten by the Cleveland Browns at Franklin Field and found themselves in an unexpected war against the expansion Dallas Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl. It was the first of what on Sunday night will be the 100th meeting between the teams, the beginning of a rivalry that has crackled with intensity for generations. Up against a Dallas team that would go winless that year, the Eagles edged the Cowboys, 27-25, in a game that featured eight interceptions and two blocked extra points.

8 Bob Brown sought greatness. A mountain of a man, Brown feared no one or nothing, not even the heightened expectations he generated. He stated his professional goal shortly after the Eagles used the second overall pick in the 1964 draft to secure the all-American offensive lineman from Nebraska: to be the best tackle ever to play in the National Football League. In five seasons in Philadelphia, Brown became the best tackle ever to play for the Eagles. "The Boomer," as Brown was called, was a sledgehammer, a pioneer, and a carefully chiseled beast who wore down and outlasted his opponents.

7 Pete Pihos. His opposition was a kid, some poor rookie who wasn't used to Pete Pihos' pirouettes and pivots. During a training camp practice in 1954, Pihos embarrassed the rookie after he somehow broke free, corralled the football, and dashed downfield for a touchdown. "Don't let that bother you, son," Eagles coach Jim Trimble said. "Pete can do that to any back in this league. " Certainly in his day, Pihos was the most feared wide receiver - or end - in the NFL. A fullback at Indiana, Pihos was the Eagles' third-round pick in 1945, and went on to play for the Birds from 1947 until 1955, when he retired at the age of 32 to focus on his day job as a salesman.

Frank McNamee had never missed an Eagles game. But on the afternoon of Nov. 24, 1963, as his Philadelphia Eagles played the Washington Redskins, the team's president was not in his customary Franklin Field seat. Instead, McNamee stood outside Independence Hall, with thousands of other Philadelphia-area residents, at a memorial service for President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas two days earlier. McNamee's absence was a tacit protest of the decision by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to go ahead with league games on that traumatic Sunday.

The man who built the last Eagles championship team died yesterday, a day short of his 95th birthday. Vincent Anthony McNally, a native Philadelphian who was the Eagles' general manager from 1949 through 1963, died in his home in Berwyn. Born on Dec. 5, 1902, Mr. McNally was a college teammate of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame and became famed in Philadelphia for assembling the 1960 Eagles, the city's last NFL champion. Mr. McNally also was the general manager of the 1949 Eagles, who won the NFL championship.

On this first day of what figures to be a winter of discontent for Eagles' fans, some words by Dante might best express the feelings of those elders who still remember the glory of former times. No, not Dante Pastorini, the shopworn quarterback who played out the string here after a decent career with the Houston Oilers, but Dante Alighieri, who composed masterpieces in the world's most musical language. You don't have to know any Italian to appreciate the sheer euphony of the Fifth Canto from Dante's "Divine Comedy.

The letters and faxes poured in after my all-time Eagles team was published last month. Some readers agreed with my choices, others disagreed. Here is a sampling, along with my comments: Dear Sir: I can't believe Ray Didinger picked Ron Jaworski over Dutch Van Brocklin at quarterback. While Van Brocklin played only three seasons in Philadelphia, the 1960 team won it all. More importantly, that team is considered by many to be the weakest team ever to win the NFL championship.

Eagles alumni roamed the sidelines yesterday at West Chester, hugging one another, critiquing the current crop of players, and posing for photos with new fans and old coaches. Wide receiver Pete Retzlaff was there, along with defensive back Tom Brookshier and tackle Ed Khayat, his teammates on the 1960 NFL championship team. So was George Savitsky, a tackle who was on the championship teams of 1948 and 1949. But of all of those former stars, none seemed to be greeted with more respect than Steve Van Buren.