It's a touchdown | Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles--"The Steagles"--Saved Pro Football...

People you relate to playing a game for the game itself | Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles--"The Steagles"--Saved Pro Football During World War II | Matthew Algeo

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	• Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles--"The Steagles"--Saved Pro Football During World War II Matthew Algeo Da Capo Press, 2006 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Treasure Of Lost History From The NFL

The year is 1943 and the NFL is at a crossroads. With WWII raging, teams are losing players, coaches and owners to the various military branches. One of the 10 teams had suspended operations and there are questions if the league should follow that lead.

The remaining league members elect to conduct a 10-game season with a twist, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles will merge for the year.

That is where Matthew Algeo picks up the story with the world at war and the attempt to maintain athletic entertainment on the homefront. The "Steagles" had a roster of players who washed-out of the military, former stars who had little to nothing left for the gridiron and those waiting for their call-ups.

And unlike some players on other clubs who had pro football listed as their main occupation - which granted them an exemption of working in a war-related industry during the season - every Steagle worked full-time during the day and practiced at night.

Algeo artfully utilizes the history of the time, comments from players & coaches and game stats for the season that nearly found the hybrid club with two homes on top of the league standings. A forgotten piece of early NFL lore, it took 60 years for the story to be grandly presented to fans, as a ceremony honoring the team was held in the Steelers' Heinz Field.

It is a must read for football fans or those interested in the homefront during WW II.

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It's a touchdown

The Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers merged in June 1943 in an effort to keep the Steelers (who only had seven players under contract) alive during World War II.

The team was sometimes referred to as The Steagles. That name, however, was never official. The NFL referred to them as the Phil-Pitt entry.

Author Matt Algeo describes the Steagles as "thrown together by necessity and chance, they were a motley bunch, the unwanted remnants of two mediocre teams, with a host of ailments: ulcers, perforated ear drums and trick knees."

Fifteen of the 24 players who appeared in five or more games for the Steagles were military rejects. Chicago Bears quarterback Sid Luckman said, "The game slid backwards 10 years in 1943."

Algeo does an excellent job of chronicling the team's challenges (co-coaches that didn't get along, every player being required to work a full-time job in the defense industry and a number of injuries) as well as what the times were like. He also offers an interesting look at the early days of professional football.

Surprisingly, the Steagles had a decent season, and an outside chance to win the Eastern Division late in the season.

Any football fan should find this book worth their time.

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People you relate to playing a game for the game itself

The players and the coaches of this era are your next door neighbors. They hold "real" jobs. Go to work on the bus. Balance their lives with their game. And with a grace and humility greatly missing in today's professional athlete, makes one yearn for a different time. Throw in the early history of the NFL and life on the home front during the Second World War, combines to make this a very enjoyable read.

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The Pennsylvania solution to WWII

After hearing a review of this book on a morning talk show, I ran to Amazon and was amazed to find it. My children in Pittsburgh and Steeler fans and us in Philadelphia and Eagle fans, this book made for a fun holiday gift. I never knew the story before. It was a hit!

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Great Read

Great book if you're a football fan or history buff. I originally bought this book because I am a fan of the Eagles and Steelers, however I think I would have liked it even if i wasn't! It taught me a lot about the early days of football and especially how the season unfolded during the troubling time of War.

During World War II, the National Football League faced a crisis unimaginable today: a shortage of players. By 1943, so many players were in the armed forces that the league was forced to fold one team (the Cleveland Rams) and merge two others: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Thus were the Steagles born. The Steagles included military draft rejects, aging stars lured out of retirement, and even a couple of active servicemen who managed to get leave for the games. The center was deaf in one ear, the wide receiver was blind in one eye (and partially blind in the other), and the halfback had bleeding ulcers. One player was so old he'd never before played football with a helmet. Yet, somehow, this motley bunch managed to post a winning record--the first in the history of the Eagles and just the second in the history of the Steelers. But Last Team Standing isn't just about football. It's also about life in the United States during World War II, a time of fear and hope, of sacrifice and momentous change. It's about rationing, racism, and Rosie the Riveter. It's about draft boards, bond drives, the A-bomb, and movie stars. Above all, it's about the men and women of the Greatest Generation who couldn't fight, but helped win the war in immeasurable ways.

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