174: Steagles - NFL

The NFL in 1943 was in an unusual spot. The Cleveland Rams- yes, the Rams played in Cleveland and won an NFL Championship before journeying west to Los Angeles - asked to pause operations for a year. The team's two owners, Dan Reeves and Frederick Levy, Jr., both were heading overseas to serve in the Armed Forces in World War II. That left the NFL with an uneven number of teams: nine. That doesn't make for an easy schedule. Each week, one team would be idle. The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers each had trouble filling out their rosters, as so many of their players were also serving. There were discussions about shutting down the NFL for the season, but that could have proved to be catastrophic, and the league might never have recovered from doing so. So, with commissioner Elmer Layden behind the move, the Eagles and Steelers merged operations for the 1943 season and became Phil-Pitt. However, they were also nicknamed the "Steagles," and that name stuck. On this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, Matthew Algeo, who wrote the book "Last Team Standing," joins the show to talk about the Steagles and the 1943 season. All of the machinations behind the merger, the challenges the NFL faced, the challenges the players faced, and just how well (or not) Eagles owner Lex Thompson got along with Steelers owners Bert Bell and Art Rooney. The Eagles had never finished a season with a record of at least .500, and the Steelers reached .500 just once. Yet, this amalgamation of a team nearly pulled off the impossible, finishing just one game off the pace of Washington and New York. Had the Steagles won just one more game, they would have ended the season in a three-way tie with the Redskins and Giants, and a wild postseason would have ensued. Check out this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes for a look back at this incredible season and the 'Steagles."