RIP Eagles Legend And Pro Football Hall Of Famer Tommy McDonald
NBCSports – Tommy McDonald, the flamboyant, record-setting Hall of Fame receiver who starred on the Eagles’ 1960 NFL Championship team, died Monday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced. He was 84. McDonald was the Eagles’ third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma in 1957 and in seven seasons with the Eagles, he caught 287 passes for 5,499 yards and 66 touchdowns. Despite standing just 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, McDonald led the NFL in touchdowns in 1958 and 1961 and in receiving yards in 1961. In the 1960 Championship Game, which the Eagles won 17-13 over the Packers at Franklin Field, he caught three passes for 90 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown from Norm Van Brocklin in the second quarter. After the game, legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi famously said, “If I had 11 Tommy McDonalds, I’d win a championship every year.” McDonald finished his career with the Cowboys, Rams, Falcons and Browns and retired after the 1968 season with 495 catches for 8,410 yards and 84 touchdowns. He was a four-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler. When he retired, McDonald ranked sixth in NFL history in catches, fourth in yards and second to long-time Packers great Don Hutson in touchdowns. Today, 55 years after he last played for the Eagles, he still ranks second in franchise history with those 66 touchdown catches, behind only Harold Carmichael’s 79. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
RIP to Touchdown Tommy, of of the greatest of all time. And not only statistically. This man was one of the most naturally talented and toughest SOB’s to ever take the field. 5’9, 175 pounds…AND THE LAST (non-kicking) PLAYER TO EVER PLAY WITHOUT A FACEMASK!!! Talk about balls that dragged on the grass. Sure, it was a different era. Tommy McDonald would most likely made one helluva D-III football stud nowadays. But still, the man excelled in all sports at his high school in Albuquerque, was an All-American at Oklahoma where he took down 2 National Titles, and dominated in the pro’s to the point he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Tommy was selected to 6 Pro Bowls, led the league in touchdown receptions twice (1958, 1960), and led the league in receiving yards (1960), and took down a world championship for the city of Philadelphia. Not too shabby, Thomas. Not too shabby at all.
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84-years-old. What a life. Take it easy, Tommy.
PS – Unrelated, but here’s how the likes of Concrete Chuck Bednarik and others celebrated championships back in the day. I wish I was 1/1000000th of these men. Read about Chuck here:
