Chuck Bednarik

Eagles legend and the last great 'Sixty Minute Man', playing both center and linebacker at an elite level, whose game-saving tackle sealed the 1960 NFL Championship.

Born on 1 May 1925 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Chuck Bednarik served as a B-24 waist gunner completing 30 combat missions during World War II before enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became a three-time All-American and finished third in the 1948 Heisman Trophy voting. The Philadelphia Eagles made him the first overall pick of the 1949 NFL Draft. Bednarik became the last prominent two-way player in the modern NFL, starring simultaneously at center and linebacker for most of his 14-year career and earning the nickname 'the 60 Minute Man'. He missed only three games in 14 seasons, playing 169 career games, and was named First-Team All-Pro ten times across both positions. Bednarik delivered one of football's most famous hits in a 1960 game against the Giants, flattening Frank Gifford with a crushing tackle that knocked Gifford unconscious and sidelined him for the rest of that season and all of the next, immortalized in an iconic photograph. Weeks later, in the 1960 NFL Championship Game, Bednarik played virtually every down at both positions and sealed Philadelphia's 17-13 victory over Green Bay by tackling and holding down Packers fullback Jim Taylor as time expired — handing Vince Lombardi the only postseason defeat of his head coaching career. Bednarik was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967, his first year of eligibility, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969. His number 60 was retired by the Eagles, and he remained an outspoken, blunt commentator on the modern game until his death on 21 March 2015 at age 89.

Relentless, punishing two-way player excelling at both center and linebacker

Widely regarded as one of the toughest and most complete players in NFL history