The bomb: Jurgensen drops back into his end zone to throw a 1968 pass that gained 99 yards, matching a team record first set in 1939. (Richard Darcey/The Washington Post)

No one was more stunned by the trade than Jurgensen, who heard the news on April 1 from someone who burst into the Philadelphia deli where he was having lunch.

Initially, he thought it was an April Fool's joke, because he had just come from a two-hour meeting with the new Eagles coach, Kuharich. "We talked about what needed to be done," Jurgensen said of an Eagles team that had had an even sorrier 1963 record — 2-10-2 — than the Redskins. "It was a very positive meeting. A trade was the furthest thing from my mind. I had no clue."

In three years as the regular Eagles quarterback, Jurgensen had amassed impressive numbers. His 3,723 yards passing in 1961 set a league record. He threw 32 touchdown passes that first season. Under pressure once, he flipped the ball behind his back and completed the throw. He and the team were much less effective the next two seasons — and when the won-lost record plummeted, the Philadelphia boo-birds went after him in full fury.

Other Pages in Chapter 2: 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78

Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Names, Numbers Trivia Quiz Index

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