The staffs at the institutions where I conducted my research were most helpful: the Bowdoin College Library, the Library of Congress Main Reading Room, the Library of Congress Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room, the Los Angeles Public Library, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Urban Archives at Temple University, and the Van Pelt Library at the University of Pennsylvania.
For going above and beyond, special thanks must be extended to Bob Carroll and the Professional Football Researchers Association, Nancy Farghalli and my colleagues at the public radio program Marketplace, Margaret Jerrido and the staff at the Urban Archives, and Matt Waechter at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
To my agent, Jane Dystel, thank you for your unflagging support and kind encouragement. To my editor, Wendy Holt, and everyone at Da Capo Press, thank you for your wise counsel and good humor.
I am most indebted to the nine members of the Steagles I was fortunate enough to interview. Each was kind enough to speak with me at length: Ted Doyle, Ray Graves, Jack Hinkle, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Tom Miller, Vic Sears, Allie Sherman, Ernie Steele, and Al Wistert. Sadly, Tom Miller was unable to witness the completion of this book. He passed away on December 2, 2005.
After publication of the hardcover edition of this book in the fall of 2006, four more Steagles passed away: Ted Doyle, Jack Hinkle, Vic Sears, and Ernie Steele. They were good men and it was an honor for me to have known them.
Finally, to my wife Allyson, mere thanks are not enough. While I was writing this book, Allyson was embarking on a new adventure of her own, as a Foreign Service Officer. That we were able to successfully undertake both projects simultaneously, while moving from Los Angeles to Washington to Mali, is a testament to her infinite patience and grace. Allyson, I couldn’t have done it without you. Merci mon amour!
Sources
THIS BOOK IS BASED PRIMARILY ON MY INTERVIEWS with members of the Steagles, as well as contemporaneous newspaper accounts of the team. The interviews were conducted in person and on the telephone between February 2003 and January 2006.
I am indebted to the sportswriters who covered the team in 1943, particularly Art Morrow of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cecil G. Muldoon of the Pittsburgh Press, and Jack Sell of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Their work in 1943 made mine in 2005 immeasurably easier.
I am equally indebted to the anonymous men and women who toiled in the basement of the late, great Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, assiduously clipping each story that appeared in the paper and filing it according to its subject matter. Before search engines there were clip files. The Bulletin’s, consisting of a half million small brown envelopes, now resides at the Urban Archives at Temple University in Philadelphia. To anyone interested in twentieth-century American history, it is a priceless resource.
A complete bibliography follows, but a few sources deserve special mention. Books that were never out of my reach included Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League, edited by Bob Carroll, Michael Gershman, David Neft, and John Thorn; The Eagles Encyclopedia by Ray Didinger and Robert S. Lyons; The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present by David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch; and Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football by Robert W. Peterson.
Finally, no book about any aspect of NFL history could be written without the resources of the Professional Football Researchers Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving (and often reconstructing) the history of pro football. Since 1979 the PFRA’s newsletter, The Coffin Corner, has been entertaining and educating both casual football fans and serious students of the game. Many of the articles are posted on the PFRA’s website, www.footballresearch.com. But beware: That website will suck you in!
Interviews
Larry Cabrelli, Jr., son of Steagles end Larry Cabrelli
Lynn Cottom, daughter of Steagles center Al Wukits
Harriet Doyle, wife of Steagles tackle Ted Doyle
Ted Doyle, Steagles tackle
Jim Gallagher, Philadelphia Eagles executive, 1949–1995
Ray Graves, Steagles center
Jack Hinkle, Steagles halfback
Joane Hinkle, wife of Steagles halfback Jack Hinkle
Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Steagles tackle
Bruce Kuklick, professor of history, University of Pennsylvania
Tom Miller, Steagles end
Rob Ruck, senior lecturer, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh
Grace Sears, wife of Steagles tackle Vic Sears
Vic Sears, Steagles tackle
Allie Sherman, Steagles quarterback
Ernie Steele, Steagles halfback
Josephine Steele, wife of Steagles halfback Ernie Steele
Al Wistert, Steagles tackle
Dena Mary Zimmerman, widow of Steagles quarterback Roy Zimmerman
Donald Zimmerman, son of Steagles quarterback Roy Zimmerman
Rex Zimmerman, son of Steagles quarterback Roy Zimmerman
Newspapers
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Chicago Daily Times
Chicago Herald-American
Chicago Tribune
Detroit Free Press
Detroit News
Milwaukee Journal
Milwaukee Sentinel
New York Herald Tribune
New York Times
Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Record
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Press
The Sporting News
Stars and Stripes
Washington Evening Star
Washington Post
Washington Times-Herald
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