Last Team Standing

How the Steelers and the Eagles—"The Steagles"—Saved Pro Football During World War II

Matthew Algeo

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781613748886
• Edition: 1

Tracing the history of the National Football League during World War II, this book delves into the severe player shortage during the war which led to the merging of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, creating the "Steagles." The team's center was deaf in one ear, its wide receiver was blind in one eye (and partially blind in the other), and its halfback had bleeding ulcers. One player was so old he'd never before played football with a helmet. Yet somehow, this group of players—deemed unfit for military service due to age or physical ailment—posted a winning record in the league, to the surprise of players and fans alike. Digging into the history of the war paralleled by the unlikely story of the Steagles franchise, both sports fans and history buffs will learn about the cultural significance of this motley crew of ball players during a trying time in United States history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Roster: 1943 Phil-Pitt Steagles
• Preface: 1941
• One: A Bad Break
• Two: Keystoners
• Three: New Priorities
• Four: Making Changes
• Five: Hatching the Steagles
• Six: Greasy and Walt
• Seven: Unfit for Military Service
• Eight: Birds of Steel
• Nine: Chicago
• Ten: Strikes
• Eleven: Thanksgiving
• Twelve: Survival
• Thirteen: Win and in
• Epilogue: V-J Day
• Postscript: 2003
• Notes
• Acknowledgments
• Sources
• Bibliography