A Bird's-Eye View: My Mostly Wonderful, Always Unforgettable Half-Century with the Philadelphia Eagles

no.—P.D.

Contents

Foreword by Jeffrey Lurie

Foreword by Rich Gannon

Coauthor’s Note

1. In the Beginning

2. Jerry and Ed

3. Jerry’s Decline and Fall

4. Joe K. and the 15-Year Contract

5. Leonard’s Women

6. Hey, Duke, How Much You Want for Your Yacht?

7. Take These Seats and Shove Them Up Your Ass

8. The Move to the Linc

9. Runt of the Litter

10. Kay, the Light of My Life

11. The Dog Just Shit on Your Mother

12. A Difficult Time

13. My Olympic Moment

14. Kings of the Spring

15. The Donald

16. The Man in France

17. Buddy

18. I Hope He’s Faster Than His Old Man

19. Job Offers

20. The Parade of Coaches

21. Big Red

22. Wheeling and Dealing

23. The Ultimate Weapon

24. A Special Pair of Heroes

25. Hey, Mister, Can I Have Your Shirt?

26. Don’t Come Any Closer, Asshole

27. Taking Care of Business

28. The Man Who KO’d Csonka

29. No Freedom, No Football

30. Just Call Me Coach

31. Death and Football

32. Some People I’ve Met Along the Way

33. The Legend of Muss Detty

34. Entering the Hall

35. The Battle of My Life

Foreword by Jeffrey Lurie

When I purchased the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994, Leo Carlin was already entrenched as our ticket manager. It was an area of the business that I knew very little about at the time, but I had heard great things about Leo, and I knew that having somebody with his experience would be vital to our success as an organization.

Leo and I had a wonderful relationship from the beginning. He was very passionate about building and maintaining a strong relationship with our season-ticket holders, treating them like family and keeping open lines of communication with them. If you had a question or needed to get in touch with somebody about tickets, it was always, Where’s Leo? He was, and remains, a wonderful ambassador for our organization.

Before we moved from Veterans Stadium to Lincoln Financial Field in 2003, one of our major priorities as we designed the new stadium was how the layout of the new facility was going to affect each individual season-ticket holder. People may not know how much time and energy go into a project like that, but because the seating arrangements were going to be very different, we had to make sure we had a process that would be as fair as possible for everyone.

Leo was the public face of this very time-consuming project. The work was endless, and the reason he was able to do such an outstanding job with it is the same reason he was such an important member of our front office: he truly cared about the fans and our relationship with them. Not only did Leo successfully move Eagles season-ticket holders into Lincoln Financial Field, he had already done the same thing 30 years earlier when the team moved from Franklin Field to Veterans Stadium!

To be a part of the Eagles organization for more than a half-century—to be an integral part of any business for that long—you have to care deeply about your work. Leo just wanted to make us better and better. You don’t know who you’re inheriting when you buy a business, but Leo was a rock and someone who was an excellent resource to me because of his breadth and depth of knowledge about our football team. Everybody in the building knew him. When you passed Leo in the hallways and asked how he was doing, he always gave a signature reply: Sterling! We all appreciated his cheerful demeanor and enthusiasm.

Football is a unique business, especially here in Philadelphia, where our fans are so avid. We have almost 70,000 passionate supporters every time we play a game at our stadium. With almost 20,000 season-ticket holder accounts and 70,000 clients, it can be very difficult to establish and maintain a relationship on any personal level. But Leo humanized that relationship-building throughout his entire tenure with the team—from Franklin Field to Veterans Stadium to Lincoln Financial Field. He was so passionate about being able to please and service all of our customers in a one-on-one manner. He helped create a bond among our community that is very unique in any business that serves so many people.

We inducted Leo into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame in 2012. That’s an honor we reserve only for the most deserving individuals who have greatly affected the organization for the better. For us it was an easy decision to make because of how tremendous Leo’s contributions had been and how valuable they would continue to be. Everyone in the Eagles organization appreciates Leo’s loyalty, his personality, his warmth, and his upbeat approach to work every day in a business that has so many ups and downs.

One thing that always struck me about Leo is how humble and thankful he is for his time with the Eagles. But what he doesn’t realize is just how lucky we are to have had him as a member of this organization for so many years. In today’s world, that’s remarkable. He had a very special career, and I will always be thankful that he has been a part of the Eagles family for so many decades.

—Jeffrey Lurie, owner, Philadelphia Eagles

Foreword by Rich Gannon

Since 1987 I’ve been associated with the National Football League—first as a player, then as a broadcaster. It’s been an incredible honor and privilege, and yet my career probably never would have materialized if it weren’t for the intercession of my dear friend Leo Carlin. I first met Leo when I was a teenager. I was fortunate enough to attend high school in Philadelphia at his alma mater, St. Joseph’s Prep, where I played football with three of Leo’s sons.

After high school, I attended the University of Delaware. When I was a senior there, I was drafted by the New England Patriots. I was a quarterback at Delaware, but the Patriots wanted to convert me to either a running back or defensive back. I realized that my chances of making an NFL team at a position I had never played weren’t very good. Even before calling my agent, I called the one person I knew who would give me good, sound advice and maybe even help get me out of this mess: Leo Carlin.

Little did I know when I called him for advice after the draft that Leo was good friends with Bucko Kilroy, who was the Patriots’ vice president and pro personnel director at the time. Kilroy was a former player and scout with the Eagles, and part of his career there had intersected with Leo’s.

Leo reached out to Bucko immediately, and less than a week later I was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, where I eventually earned a roster spot…as a quarterback. Believe me when I say this never would have happened if it weren’t for Leo making that call, and for that I am forever grateful to this generous man. Leo has done countless favors for friends and colleagues during the course of a career in professional football that has spanned more than half a century.

Leo is a Philadelphia icon—not only for what he means to the Eagles but for how he treats people: with genuine love and respect. Leo joined the Eagles in 1960 and moved the team and its fans to three different stadiums for several different owners, head coaches, and general managers. You can probably count on one hand the number of people (other than team owners) who have spent more than 50 years with one NFL franchise. You don’t last that long in this business if you aren’t great at what you do and well respected by your peers.

Leo Carlin was the best in the business and wasn’t just respected and admired but was loved and adored by everyone associated with the Eagles and the NFL. That’s why he was nominated for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame multiple times, and why he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2012.

More important than the honors and accolades, though, is the essence of a man whose character and integrity comprise the foundation of a life spent helping others. Faith, family, and football are what Leo Carlin has always been about. I have learned so much from this humble man simply by watching and observing how he has spent his life in service to others. Leo has been a humble servant his entire life, and there is no better role model in our great game! While Leo has certainly left a lasting legacy with the Philadelphia Eagles and the National Football League, what is even more significant to me is the example he has set—for myself and others—of what it truly means to be a man. I have been blessed to call him my friend and mentor.

I know you will enjoy this book for its stories, anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes look at a pioneer who was involved in so much of the history of the Philadelphia Eagles, from their 1960 championship season right up to their recent Super Bowl championship in 2018.

—Rich Gannon, CBS Sports broadcaster, four-time Pro Bowl quarterback

Coauthor’s Note

To say this book has been a long time in the making would be an understatement. It was 11 years ago that Leo first mentioned to me that he wanted to write his memoirs and wondered if I’d be interested in helping him. The easy part was saying yes. Leo was a longtime friend, and given his long history with the Eagles and pro football, I knew he would have a lot of great stories to tell about his life and his long career in Philadelphia. The hard part was actually getting the project done. For 11 years, in between football seasons and drafts and OTAs and training camps and hip replacements and graduations and births and deaths and marriages, we chipped away at it. I’ve watched Leo battle a hideous disease—Parkinson’s—that he didn’t have when we began all this. His determination to fight it, even though he knows it will eventually get in the last punch, has been one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen, right up there with his wife, Kay’s, own valiant health battle against an infection that has ravaged her body for the better part of the last quarter-century.

This book will take you through more than five decades of Eagles history with Leo as the unforgettable tour guide. It will take you through his three years with the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars. It will take you through ownership changes, the firing of coaches, championship seasons, and losing seasons. It’s been an honor working on this project with Leo. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much I enjoyed writing it.

—Paul Domowitch

1. In the Beginning

I’m just a kid from North Philly. The streets of Hunting Park were my playground growing up, the alleys my hiding places. Our house was near Broad and Pike, which back then was a predominantly Irish Catholic neighborhood.

Like most kids, I loved sports. I played them all. But for as long as I can remember, football was my true love, my passion. It was the one dominant factor in my childhood. Actually, as you’re about to learn, it’s been the dominant factor in my entire life.

I was a small kid, and truth be told, I wasn’t a particularly good football player. But I never let that deter me. I loved the game. I played it on the North Philly sandlots and in high school at St. Joe’s Prep. I even played later in life in Philadelphia-area rough-touch leagues, which probably wasn’t the smartest thing for a 5’9", 150-pound guy supporting a wife and seven kids to do. After I graduated from college—of course, another Catholic school, St. Joe’s College (now St. Joe’s University)—I was lucky enough to get a job with my hometown pro football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. I guess you could say the rest is history.

I worked for the Eagles for 50-plus years before finally retiring in April 2015. Three years before I rode off into the sunset at the age of 77, I got the gift of a lifetime when I was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. Well, that was actually the first of two gifts of a lifetime. The second came two years after I retired, when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl title. Even though I was no longer with the team on a daily basis at that point, owner Jeffrey Lurie was thoughtful enough to give me a Super Bowl ring.

Imagine that. This kid from North Philly is in the same honored place with the likes of Eagles football legends such as Steve Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik, Reggie White, Harold Carmichael, Bill Bergey, Tom Brookshier, Tommy McDonald, and Brian Dawkins. Is that crazy or what?

My parents, Anna and Lex.

My childhood home in North Philly, 1344 North Pike Place.

I’ve truly had a wonderful life. I’ve been married to the love of my life, Kay, for 60 years. We raised seven terrific children and have 22 grandchildren. And I spent my entire adult life working in professional football. Yeah, I guess you could say I’ve been a pretty lucky guy.

Growing up, we were your basic Irish Catholic family of that era. Our parish was St. Stephen’s, which was right around the corner from our house. I was an altar boy at St. Stephen’s, and living so close to the church meant that I was always on call. Anytime an altar boy didn’t show up for the 6:00 am Mass, guess who got the phone call to fill in? That’s right: me.

When the phone would ring early in the morning, I’d say, Ma, tell ’em to get somebody else. I’m tired. But it never worked. My mother, a devout Catholic, never was going to tell the priest that her son was too tired to serve Mass, especially since the pastor at St. Stephen’s also happened to be the bishop of the diocese. I became one of the special altar boys. I’d get called for all of the special Masses.

As I mentioned earlier, I attended high school at St. Joe’s Prep (referred to most often as the Prep). So did both of my older brothers and all four of my sons. Three of my grandsons also went to the Prep. People ask me, Did you like the Prep? I say, Well, let me put it this way: I went there. All of my boys went there. My brothers went there. My cousin went there. My grandkids went there. So yeah, I guess I like the Prep.

I knew I was going to the Prep from the time I was three years old. My brothers, who were 12 and 13 years older than me, went there. I don’t know if that’s what influenced me or not, but there never was any debate—that’s where I was going. My father was very proud that we went there. Tuition was about $200 a year, which back then was a lot of money. But he always found a way to come up with it.

Me (24) during my playing days at St. Joe’s Prep.

I remember when I first got there, I ran into this guy named Franny Delano. I asked him where he was from, and he said Narberth. At the time, I had never heard of it. I was thinking, Narberth? I must be the poorest kid in this school. But I got involved in sports and eventually realized I wasn’t the only kid at Prep who didn’t have a lot of money. Somehow, though, it worked out pretty well.

I started working for the Eagles in April 1960. I had been discharged from the United States Marine Corps and needed a job. Kay and I had gotten married a few months earlier. The team was looking for a part-timer to help distribute tickets; it turned out to be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Graduation day at St. Joe’s Prep. All four of my sons followed me to St. Joe’s.

I guess the ticket business was kind of in my blood already. My dad ran the Apollo Theater in Atlantic City for a while. My oldest brother, Lex, ran the Forrest Theater in Philadelphia for a long time. And my other brother, Joe, was the manager of the Walnut Street Theater, also in Philly.

I was kind of considered the black sheep of my family for going to work for a sports team as opposed to a theater, but I never regretted it. For a while, the Carlins had a monopoly on the entertainment industry in Philadelphia. The Eagles, the theaters—if you needed a ticket, we were the people to call.

I still remember the first time I walked into the Eagles’ offices, which were located at 15th and Locust back then. There were tickets all over the place, so I knew they needed help. Keep in mind this was long before computers.

The altar boy of St. Stephen’s.

It was a different time back then. The Eagles’ ticket manager was Ed Doyle. Every day, after a whiskey sour lunch, he would nod off at his desk until it was time to leave. Meanwhile, the rest of us would work our asses off trying to service our customers. Doyle didn’t care about the customers. In fact, when he wasn’t sleeping, he’d sit there and insult them. I wound up being a full-time part-timer in