My “Eagles Mount Rushmore” – All-time Eagles (Top Pick)

July 31, 2024

My “Eagles Mount Rushmore” – All-time Eagles (Top Pick)

Today’s NFL lends itself to inflated passing and receiving yards. The days of “three yards and a cloud of dust” being an offensive strategy are long gone. Former Eagles head coach Andy Reid was often criticized for practically forgetting that handing the ball to a running back was a legal maneuver based on his pass happy play calling in Philadelphia.

Reid is now a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, and, aside from personnel, he doesn’t seem to have changed much. Record books are being rewritten around the league as current players rack up yardage totals unheard of just 20 years ago.

Yet, my top choice for my all-time Eagles stands head and shoulders above the rest in franchise history despite beginning his playing days more than 50 years ago. The first member of my “Eagles Mount Rushmore” is:

Harold Carmichael

Standing 6-8, the wide receiver seemed to tower over most defenders, much like his career statistics cast a shadow over even those closest to him on the list of top receivers for the franchise. Playing 13 seasons for the Eagles from 1971 through 1983, Carmichael’s 8,978 receiving yards are still the most in franchise history, more than 1,500 yards better than . . . Pete Retzlaff from the ‘50s and ‘60s! (Huh?) Carmichael is almost 2,500 yards or more ahead guys today’s fans actually heard of – DeSean Jackson (6,512), Mike Quick (6,464), and Zach Ertz (6,267). The receiver also leads the way in touchdown receptions with 79, which is 13 more than number two on the list, Tommy McDonald.

Carmichael even had a streak of 127 games with at least one catch. The streak only ended because of what I remember as a cheap shot by a defender (Dennis Thurman) of the Dallas Cowboys. (What a shock!) Broken in 1980, the record-setting streak stood until 1986.

While the time frame of his playing career stretches the parameters I set up, Carmichael didn’t not have a catch in a game in my lifetime until I was almost 9 years old. He was selected to three straight Pro Bowls in 1978, ’79, and ’80. He was a huge part of the team that went to the Super Bowl in the 1980 season. I still got to watch him at his best. His longevity as a receiver was part of his greatness.

That is why Harold Carmichael is the top choice on my Eagles Mount Rushmore.