In 1943, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles had lost so many players to World War II that the NFL forced the two teams to merge into one roster for a single season. Pittsburgh had only six men left under contract; Philadelphia had sixteen. Fans and newspapers started calling the combined team the "Steagles" — officially the Phil-Pitt Combine — though Philadelphia's own writers insisted on calling it the Eagles.
Every player on the roster held a full-time job in a defense plant, since playing football was treated as an extracurricular activity. Tony Bova, the team's leading receiver with 417 yards, was blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. Guard Eddie Michaels was nearly deaf, center Ray Graves was deaf in one ear, and placekicker Troy Smith played on a prosthetic leg.
The two head coaches, Greasy Neale and Walt Kiesling, split duties because neither would accept being demoted. Defensive back Ernie Steele said it got so tense that "Kiesling and Neale walked off the field after a heated argument during practice" before one game. The Steagles finished 5-4-1 — Philadelphia's first winning season ever. The next year, still short on players, the Steelers merged with the Chicago Cardinals instead, forming a team nicknamed "Card-Pitt" because "every team walked all over them."
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