Donovan McNabb was dealt from Philadelphia to Washington in April. It is not the first time the Eagles surprised by sending their star quarterback to the nation's capitol.
On April Fools Day, 1964, quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, who had set an NFL record for passing yardage in 1961, was stunningly traded by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Washington Redskins.
In an interview on the 46th anniversary of the trade, Jurgensen told Bob Boyles of sundaymorningquarterbacks.com: "They had Joe Kuharich as the new coach and Jerry Wolman as new owner. I had a great meeting with them: we talked about two hours on how we were going to turn it around (after the Eagles suffered through a last-place finish of 2-10-2 in 1963). So, I left and went to have lunch at a place called Dave's Delicatessen. Some guy walks in and says you just got traded to the Redskins. I go, 'Yeah, yeah, April Fools Day.' He says, 'No, I just heard you got traded for real.'"
In exchange off the Redskins roster, Philadelphia saw the beauty others failed to see in quarterback Norm Snead and cornerback Claude Crabb. Snead, who was doomed to play on bad teams nearly all of his 16-year NFL career (not to mention his college career at Wake Forest), had been thrown right into action as a Washington rookie in 1961 and in three years owned a 48.6% completion percentage and a 46-to-71 TD-to-INT ratio. Crabb intercepted six passes as a rookie in 1962 but was so badly embarrassed by New York Giants receiver Del Shofner in a game at D.C. Stadium that year his future as a less-than-mediocre defender seemed sealed.
The Eagles, just beginning a bundle of ill-fated trades, suffered through losing seasons in nine of the next 10 years. Jurgensen was bound for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and would lead the NFL in passing yards five times. That was a league record later matched by Miami's Dan Marino. Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi briefly coached Jurgensen in Washington and said of Sonny: "He may be the best the league has ever seen. He is the best I have seen."
Those who remember Hall of Fame passer Jurgensen might be surprised by his modest collegiate stats for Duke, a team that nonetheless earned a combined 20-8-3 record, two ACC titles, and an Orange Bowl victory during 1954 to '56. Starting at quarterback in his junior and senior years, Jurgensen directed a run-oriented "Belly Series" option-read offense and threw very sparingly in his career: 77 completions in 156 pass attempts for 1,119 yards with six touchdowns and 16 interceptions, not exactly the numbers of a future pro passing record-holder. As a safety in the Blue Devils defensive backfield during two-way play of the 1950s, Jurgensen surprisingly intercepted more passes (10) than touchdowns (6) he threw on offense.
"Bill Murray (Duke's future Hall of Fame coach, not the comedian of SNL and movie fame) recommended me as a safety to the Eagles. I told them: 'I won't last a week as a safety,'" said Jurgensen.
"The guy who got Philadelphia to think of me as a quarterback was Ace Parker (Pro Football Hall of Famer and Duke's College Hall of Fame halfback from the 1930s), my backfield coach at Duke," said Jurgensen. "He told me in my senior year that our offense was 'kind of a waste of time for me because we just didn't throw it enough.'
"That's just the way football was in those days; lots of teams used a running style partly because players had to go both ways. I was just happy to be playing. Hey, we were good enough to go up to Ohio State (in 1955) and beat a really good team with (Heisman winner) 'Hopalong' Cassady and (Hall of Famer) Jim Parker."
"Ace really promoted me to Charley Gauer, who was an Eagles assistant coach. Charley came down to Duke to scout me; it was almost like a 'Pro Day' but a lot less formal than you see today. Charley lined up a receiver out wide and brought him straight across the field (for passes), first at 10 yards downfield, then 15, and 20. I did all right, but it is the toughest throw you ever have to make because throwing even a little bit behind him exposes you if you are inaccurate."
Had Jurgensen been more impressed with a bold 1950s fashion statement it might have placed him on a different path to college. He might have employed his passing talents with greater proclivity: "In my senior year in high school after the Shrine Game (high school all-stars from North and South Carolina pitted against each other in Charlotte)," Jurgensen recalled, "I was flown down to Georgia to work out for their coach Wally Butts. He watched the workout from his car, and when it was over he walked over to me and said, 'Young man, you should come to Georgia.' I asked him why, and he showed me this hand-painted tie he was wearing with a painting on it of (his current All-America and future pro quarterback) Zeke Bratkowski. Butts said, 'At Georgia, we throw the ball more than anybody in college football and we have the most sophisticated passing attack in college football. If you come to Georgia, I'll have a Sonny Jurgensen tie one day.' If I really had pro aspirations right then, I should have gone to Georgia, but I was from North Carolina, figured I'd earn my living in North Carolina, and felt I needed to play college ball in my home state."
Had Butts' fancy neckwear attracted Sonny to Georgia the coach would have had a virtually-unbroken stretch of Bratkowski, Jurgensen, and Fran Tarkenton throwing for him. Instead, the Bulldogs suffered through Jurgensen's collegiate years with a feeble passing attack and a 13-15-2 record. With Sonny, maybe Georgia could have attracted better players and gone to more bowl games in the '50s and '60s. Maybe Joe Namath and Ken Stabler would have followed Tarkenton to Georgia to create "QB U." Maybe Alabama's Bear Bryant might not have owned the SEC as he did during the '60s and '70s.
So, had it not been for a decision here or there, Jurgensen might have been an All-America passer as a Georgia Bulldog, or a lifetime Philadelphia Eagle for that matter. Today, Sonny is happy things worked out the way they did—he becoming a long-time Washington radio analyst and one of the best-loved Redskins of all time—and he has kept his sense of humor about his April Fools surprise: "I liked playing on the road (in the NFL); getting booed reminded me a lot of playing in Philadelphia."
Always Sonny!
For more on Sonny Jurgensen and more than 130 of football's most fascinating personalities—famous and barely known—see the release this coming August of The USA TODAY College Football Encyclopedia, available wherever fine books are sold.
by Bob Boyles
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