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Number Crunching: #17
by Chris Brophy
19/7/2009
Many players are considered ahead of their time, either in terms of their talent or just in just because they appear to be a freak of nature. As we reach number 17 we find a player who in his era was a giant and even if he played now, he’d still be noticeable purely because of his height. Read on to find out all there is to know about the Diner’s all-time number 17:
FD’s All Time #17: Harold Carmichael, Wide Receiver (Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys)
 Nowadays, huge physical receivers are seen all over the league. The likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Randy Moss are dominating the air but whilst there is still a place for players of all shapes and sizes, every team ideally wants a physical, tall receiver. In the 1970’s receivers of that kind of stature were rarer than today but one guy stood head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of size and he had plenty of ability to go along with his height.
In the early 1970’s, the Philadelphia Eagles used a 7th round draft pick on a wide receiver from Southern University called Harold Carmichael. Nothing unusual there but then you read down his stat sheet and see his size 6 feet and 8 inches tall! That type of height is usually reserved for basketball players and even today, is still not all that common in the NFL despite players always getting bigger, faster, stronger and heavier over time.
However, Carmichael had more about him than just his freakish size. The Eagles scouts and coaches were impressed by his safe hands and ability to escape tight man coverage. Still, his size meant that a move to tight end was thought to be the best way to take advantage physical stature and maybe see if he could add weight and strength to help his blocking skills.
His rookie year was spent at tight end and he started six of the nine games he suited up for. He made 20 grabs at a nice average of 14.4 yards but the coaches could see his tall, lean body was never going to be a perfect fit at the position and he’d get better match-ups at wide receiver so for his second season he was split outside the hashes.
His second year seen him post similar numbers to his rookie year but he was almost starting from scratch again and learning his position. Year three would see him finally start to produce and take advantage of the physical gifts he had. The Eagles had also acquired veteran quarterback Roman Gabriel and he enjoyed a career year throwing to Carmichael. Gabriel would post the only 3000+ yard passing season of his career and Carmichael grabbed 67 balls for 1116 yards at a very nice average of 16.7 to lead the league in both categories. He also found the end zone 9 times. Both players made the Pro Bowl but the following year Gabriel couldn’t repeat the form he had found the year before and Carmichael’s numbers dipped as a result. He was still a great threat to the end zone though and despite the QB struggles the Eagles had over the next few years Carmichael would still score plenty of touchdowns. 8 in ’74 and 7 in ’75.
In 1977 the Eagles brought in quarterback Ron Jaworski from the Rams in exchange for All-Pro tight end Charlie Young. This meant the receiving game fell squarely on Carmichael’s shoulders now and he would work hard to build up chemistry with his new young quarterback.
Their first year together seen Carmichael’s numbers rise slightly on previous years but as both players got more comfortable with each other and the system of head coach Dick Vermeil the results started to show through in both Carmichael’s numbers and the teams results over the following seasons as they would qualify for the post season four straight years between 1978 and 1981.
 In 1978 Carmichael breeched the 1000 yard barrier for the second time in his career and did so at a massive average of 19.5 yards per catch. He also scored 8 touchdowns as the Eagles made post season as a wild card. In the wild card game Carmichael scored the Eagles opening touchdown but they were denied a win by the Falcons and a late Steve Bartkowski comeback. 1979 would see him maintain that high average per catch with 16.8 yards per grab but whilst he didn’t quite reach four figures in yardage he did score a career high 11TD’s which played a part in helping the Eagles secure their first NFC East crown since 1960. In the 1979 play-offs he again showed he could be a performer in big games as he scored two touchdowns and caught 6 balls in total for 111 yards against the Walter Peyton-led Chicago Bears. The following week the Eagles would fall too far behind early on to the Buccaneers but Carmichael scored another TD in amongst his 3 receptions for 92 yards.
1980 would see the Eagles build on their reputation and ability one step further as they won the NFC East again with a 12-4 record. Carmichael again put up a big average per catch number of 17 yards and found pay dirt 9 times. In the play-offs he caught 7 balls and a TD against the Vikings in the divisional round but took a back step to running back Wilbert Montgomery in the NFC Championship game win over the Dallas Cowboys.
With that win the Eagles were in their first ever Super Bowl and had their first chance of a NFL Championship since 1960 and they would face the AFC representative Oakland Raiders who had battled through to the big game as a wild card. The Eagles had won a tough defensive battle against those same Raiders in the regular season 10-7 but this time the Raiders got off to a fast start from which the Eagles would never recover. Carmichael managed to have some success in the game with 5 receptions for 83 yards but the Eagles game slipped with Jaworski throwing uncharacteristic interceptions and the Eagles offense in general being out of sync with too many pre-snap penalties and the like. For the Raiders it was the first time a wild card team had won a Super Bowl and also the first time a team had avenged a regular season defeat from the same season in the Super Bowl.
The Eagles would go back to post season in the 1981 season but this time as a wild card. Carmichael actually saw his stats rise again with 61 catches for 1028 yards. He also scored 6TD’s including a career long 85 yarder against the Cowboys. The Eagles had actually started the year 6-0 before slipping to 10-6 and it was the beginning of the end for this collection of players under Vermeil. Carmichael would add one more post season TD to his collection in the wild card loss to the divisional rival Giants but it would be the last time he made post season with the Eagles.
 The strike shortened 1982 season saw Carmichael robbed of another great statistical season as he managed 35 catches for 540 yards and 4TD’s in only 9 games but age was starting to catch up with him now and with Vermeil gone after posting a 3-6 record the offensive system and success was been taken apart. He’d manage 15 games in 1983 but his 38 catches for an entire year were way below what he had been producing in previous seasons and with Mike Quick now the number one receiver Carmichael was released after the season.
He joined the Dallas Cowboys for the 1984 season but saw little action, only active for two games he caught one pass for seven yards as a Cowboy and decided the time was right to call it a day.
He finished his career as a 4 time Pro Bowler with 590 career receptions for 8985 yards and 79TD’s. He averaged over 15 yards per catch for his career and if you remove the one catch as a Cowboy from the stats all those marks were Eagles team records that still stand today. He was named to the 1970’s All-Decade team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters and is he is unquestionably one of the Eagles all-time greats.
In his early days Carmichael had a great rivalry with Redskins cornerback Pat Fischer. Standing 11 inches taller than his rival he was always capable of been able to out jump and out-reach his opponent but Fischer was a crafty player and his style is used today to show smaller defensive backs how to handle big receivers. Whatever happened on the football field, Carmichael’s freaky height would get him noticed but his play was just as deserving of being the subject of attention and that’s why we at the Diner have made him our all-time #17.
Honourable Mentions:
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Turk Edwards, Tackle (Washington Redskins)
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Red Badgro, End (NY Yankees, NY Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers)
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Don Meredith, Quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
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Jim Hart, Quarterback (St Louis Cardinals, Washington Redskins)
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Brian Sipe, Quarterback (Cleveland Browns)
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Doug Williams, Quarterback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins)
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Dave Krieg, Quarterback (Seahawks, Chiefs, Cardinals, Lions, Bears, Titans)
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Phillip Rivers, Quarterback (San Diego Chargers)
 Two-way players have been popular in our articles on this subject so far and another great two-way player from the early years, Albert Glen Turk Edwards of the Redskins, was very nearly the choice at this number. A member of the Hall of Fame, the 1930’s All-Decade team and a part of the Redskins 1937 NFL Championship team, his career was ended by a freak injury when turning away after the coin toss against the Giants with opposite team captain Mel Hein, Edwards injured his knee and never played again.
Red Badgro became the oldest person to ever be elected to the Hall of Fame when he was enshrined in 1981, 45 years after he quit playing. A talented receiver on offense and a tough defender he helped the Giants win the NFL East three times between 1933-35 and become Champions in 1934. Badgro came back to pro football and joined the Giants after leaving the NY Yankees in 1928 to try his hand at baseball.
Dandy Don Meredith was one of the first Cowboy heroes. A true Texan, he played his college ball at SMU and then joined the Cowboys where he would become a three time Pro Bowler and the 1966 NFL MVP. He led the Cowboys to their first post season games and whilst he never won a championship, he started a trend of success for the franchise that lasted into the mid-80’s. He was the Cowboys QB in the famous Ice Bowl defeat and went on to join the Monday Night Football commentary team upon his retirement after the 1968 season.
 We have given an honourable mention to two other Cardinals QB’s recently (Kurt Warner and Neil Lomax) but Jim Hart is the player who holds all the Cardinals passing records. He led the Cardinals to back-to-back NFC East division crowns in 1974 and ’75 and over the period of 1974-76 the team posted three straight double digit winning seasons.
In the late 70’s and early 80’s the Cleveland Browns offense was known as the The Kardiac Kids because of their late comeback heroics. Brian Sipe was their leader at quarterback and he produced one of the best seasons by a quarterback at the time in 1980 as he threw for 4132 yards, 30TD’s and helped take the Browns to their first post season appearance since 1972. He was named to the Pro Bowl and the NFL’s MVP for the season as a result.
The Doug Williams story has already been the subject of a Diner history article but as a quick reminder Doug Williams started off in Tampa Bay leading the new Buccaneers franchise to within a game of the Super Bowl in 1980. After a contract dispute, the death of his wife and an ill-fated spell in the USFL, Williams was out of football but he got another chance with the Redskins and in Super Bowl XXII had the game of his life to win the game’s MVP award.
Dave Krieg was the long time Seattle Seahawks QB who at one time was the victim of a seven sack game by 2009 Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas. However, in that game Krieg avoided sack number eight to throw the winning TD pass and that sums Krieg up, he was a gamer. A three time Pro Bowler, he succeeded Jim Zorn in Seattle and teamed up with Steve Largent and later on Brian Blades. After his career in Seattle was ended, he would serve as back-up on a few teams and lasted 19 seasons in the NFL.
The best number 17 around in today’s game is Phillip Rivers of the Chargers. He has just come off his career best season with over 4000 yards and 34TD’s to only 11 interceptions. At only 28, he has plenty of time to establish himself as one of the best QB’s of his generation.
Learn More about past NFL greats in our History Archive
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