by Neal Kenney, Special Collections Library Assistant II
Unbeknownst to many of us, the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League have a long history of preseason training camps being held at West Chester University and its predecessors. Training camps usually last about three to four weeks from late July until mid or late August. The goal of training camp is to prepare the players, coaches and teams for the upcoming regular football season.
The first Eagles’ training camp held at West Chester State Teacher’s College was in 1938. The team practiced at Wayne Field, ate their meals in the dining room of Old Main Hall and slept on the third floor of the men’s dormitory, Old Wayne Hall. (1) See the aerial photo of WCSTC campus from 1936. Wayne Field, the Wayne Field Grandstand and Old Wayne Hall are located at the top left, and Old Main Hall is the large building on the bottom front of this photo taken from the 1936 Serpentine Yearbook, pages 200 and 201.
Eagles training camp was again held at West Chester State in 1940. Although the Eagles ended up with a dismal record of 1-10 in 1940, wide receiver Don Looney lead the NFL with 58 receptions. (2)
1n 1944 and 1945, the Eagles flew back to West Chester State Teacher’s College for preseason training camp. In the 1940s, NFL players were not millionaires. Many had other jobs – especially during World War II. In a 1944 Eagles press release quoted in the August 24, 1982, Daily Local News, page 22, West Chester was selected as their training camp site due to its excellent field and lights at Wayne Field which allowed the players to attend practices at night and “remain at their war jobs during the day.”
Note the advertisement on the right for the Eagles intersquad game to be held Tuesday, September 5, 1944. (The advertisement was in the 9/5/1944 issue of the Daily Local News, page 10.) The scrimmage was held at Wayne Field and was attended by an estimated crowd of 3,000 people, according to the September 6, 1944 issue of the Daily Local News on page 6.
After 35 years and much speculation, The Philadelphia Eagles returned to West Chester State College for their preseason training camp in 1980. Read the exciting details on the front page of the April 15, 1980 issue of The Quad.
The first year the Eagles returned to West Chester, the Eagles won the NFC championship and went to the Super Bowl – more than a coincidence?
From 1980 – 1995, The Eagles training camp was held at West Chester University. The team practiced at the South Campus athletic fields and facilities. The Eagles’ players used Schmidt Hall as their sleeping quarters. Schmidt became the first dorm with air conditioning. The Eagles ate their meals at the cafeteria in Lawrence Center.
Having the Eagles at West Chester had many positives. It was very prestigious that the Eagles selected West Chester to be their summer training camp home. One could not beat the free publicity that went along with it. It helped West Chester University with recruiting college athletes – not just for football, but for all sports. The Eagles training camp provided a number of student athletes employment during camp in such areas as security, housekeeping and other jobs. For example, WCU great and future NFL star Lee Woodall had a job driving a van that drove the Eagles players to-and-from the playing fields to the dorms. (3)
Having the Eagles’ players including Eagles greats such as Ron Jaworski, Wilbert Montgomery, Reggie White and Randall Cunningham practicing on the South Campus fields of West Chester University and seeing them up close and personal was a thrill to many Eagles fans locally, regionally and beyond. (See “Camp Kotite” photos to the right from Daily Local News, July 20, 1993, page B-1.)
There were some negatives also. Keeping the Eagles funding and expenses separate from University funding for a state funded school like West Chester was sometimes difficult. There was the wear and tear on the fields and facilities the Eagles used, and the rush to prepare campus for the West Chester University students attending classes in the fall. (4)
In 1996 the Philadelphia Eagles and West Chester University had a mutual parting of the ways. The Eagles flew off to Lehigh University for their training camp. Their training camps were held at Lehigh through 2012. Since then, the Eagles training camp has been held at their NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia.
Go Eagles! Go Golden Rams! Go West Chester University!
Notes and Additional References
Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp Locations taken from Pro Football Reference.
(1) "Philadelphia Eagles Set Up Training Camp at West Chester." Quad Angles July 8, 1938, pg. 3.
(2) Ray Didinger, and Robert A. Lyons, The EAGLES Encyclopedia (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2005, p. 258.
(3) Neil Geoghegan, “Birds would look good at WCU” Daily Local News, 8/16/2003, page C-1.
(4) Ibid., page C-2
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