Relax, this doesn't have anything to do with the Phillies.

I know, my sense of timing could be better.

This is my print column from the Monday newspaper. It has to do with the Eagles. And yes, I fell asleep at halftime of last night's game.

Thankfully.

There are some faces, some scenes you don’t forget. It is the round, ruddy, cherubic face of an angel. And it is pure Philadelphia. In its own way, it fairly screams Philadelphia sports.

It’s been a while, and for the life of me I can’t remember whom that beaming countenance was hugging. It was either Leonard Tose or Dick Vermeil.Jan. 11, 1981.

The Eagles had just vanquished the hated Dallas Cowboys to advance to the Super Bowl. Jim Murray was on top of the world. That’s a long way from the Westbrook Park neighborhood where he grew up.

Murray started with the Eagles in 1969 as an assistant to Public Relations Director Jimmy Gallagher. Eventually, he would become the general manager and right-hand man of flamboyant owner Leonard Tose.

All of these thoughts came flooding back to me not once, but twice in the past week. The first time was as we were compiling a special section to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the “Iggles.”

I asked our lead sports columnist, Jack McCaffery, to track Murray down for an interview. As I was reading Jack’s piece, the memories all came flooding back.

It was then I learned that Murray and I had a couple of other things in common. And all of them spun around that one fateful day.Jan. 11, 1981. Veterans Stadium. We were both in the house. No doubt Murray was a bit more comfortable in his box than I was after spending a couple of hours tailgating, then making the long walk to our seats in the 700 level of the Vet.

It’s hard to describe just how cold it was that day. At the time, my soon-to-be fiancee’s father worked at Pepperidge Farm. He gave me a jumpsuit that guys who worked in the freezer used to wear. It was green. Perfect.


The wind chill that day was supposed to be 20 below zero. I can tell you it felt colder than that. I remember the Cowboys in their blue jerseys. Tom Landry in his fur hat, each breath appearing in front of his face like a ghost from all the whippings “America’s Team” had laid on the Eagles — and us as fans — for years.

Now it was time for revenge, for redemption. This was our time. And it came in a single incident.

I refer to it simply as Wilbert off right tackle.There are those who will tell you there are other great moments in the 75 years the Eagles have been playing football. Chuck Bednarik leveling Frank Gifford. “Concrete Charlie” sitting on the Packers’ Jim Taylor to cement the 1960 NFL Championship. Randall Cunningham in a prime-time moment, cartwheeling away from Giants linebacker Carl Banks and completing an acrobatic touchdown throw to Jimmy Giles on a Monday night game. Beating Atlanta at Lincoln Financial Field to advance to another Super Bowl.

None of them make the connection of that one single moment. The Eagles second offensive play of the game. Ron Jaworski hands the ball off to Wilbert Montgomery. A classic cut-back off the right side, and suddenly nothing in front of him but frozen Astroturf.

It was as cold — and as happy — as I ever remember being at the same time.

Suddenly, all that bitter cold melted away. We were no longer losers. That’s when we knew. We were winners. We were going to the Super Bowl. Jim Murray knew it, too.No we didn’t win that Super Bowl. Dick Vermeil had the team tighter than the 2007 New York Mets while the Raiders partied on Bourbon Street before battering the Birds in New Orleans.

The truth is, we had already won the big game. That NFC title game against the Cowboys was our Super Bowl.

Murray believes it is the most important moment in the Eagles’ 75-year history. I’ll go him one better. In one longtime season ticket holder’s mind, it is the No. 1 moment in Philadelphia sports history.

Yes, I revere the moment of Tug McGraw fanning Willie Wilson. And of Bobby Clarke hauling that Cup around the Spectrum ice. And of Mo Cheeks throwing down a gleeful dunk in the final seconds to beat the Lakers. None of them tops Wilbert off right tackle.

Ironically, a day after our special section appeared in the paper, I was walking into a church in Lafayette Hill, for the funeral service for Jack McCaffery’s mother. And who should be walking toward me than the topic of Jack’s most recent piece. That same round, cherubic face was unmistakable.Jim Murray had something he wanted to tell me. I told him he had touched my heart when he talked to Jack about that day, and that play involving Wilbert.

And then he offered a great idea. Jimmy Murray thinks that moment should be immortalized. I couldn’t agree more. The Vet is long gone, but the memories are not.

Somewhere in what is now a parking lot there should be a marker. Maybe at the spot where Wilbert took the handoff from Jaws. Maybe in the end zone.The marker should state plainly: Jan. 11, 1981. Wilbert off right tackle. The greatest moment in Philadelphia sports history.

Thanks for the memories, Jimmy.

Philip E. Heron is editor of the Daily Times.
Call him at (610) 622-8818. E-mail him at editor@delcotimes.com. To visit his daily blog, the Heron’s Nest, go to www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/philh/blog.html.