The CONTROVERSY of the 1967 Philadelphia Eagles | Norm Snead

In 1967, after a loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles WR Gary Ballman, recently acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers, took the opportunity to trash his quarterback, Norm Snead, by saying that he wasn't getting the ball enough, and that Snead couldn't read a defense to save his life. And after those comments were made, everything went downhill. This is the story of the drama and controversy surrounding the 1967 Eagles
LINK TO PATREON: / jaguargator9
Get early access to videos, your name featured in the credits, and the ability to request future video topics by joining today for as low as $3!
LINK TO TWITCH: / jaguargator9_nfl
Play live NFL trivia every Tuesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific with the chance to win cash prizes!
Check out the video below to learn more: • WEEKLY LIVE NFL TRIVIA...
LINK TO DISCORD: / discord
LINK TO TIK TOK: vm.tiktok.com/ZMJmVTKpr/
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by following JaguarGator9 on Tik Tok!
SUBSCRIBE TO 60 SECOND NFL HISTORY: / @jaguargator8
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by subscribing to 60 Second NFL History on KZbin!
SUBSCRIBE TO JG9 HIGHLIGHTS: / @jg9highlights184
See daily highlight videos on random players throughout NFL history!
#nfl #eagles #nflthrowback
Members of the 1967 Philadelphia Eagles:
Norm Snead
King Hill
Timmy Brown
Izzy Lang
Tom Woodeshick
Ron Goodwin
Ben Hawkins
Chuck Hughes
Gary Ballman
Mike Ditka
Fred Hill
Jim Kelly
Bob Brown
Lane Howell
Jim Skaggs
Bruce Van Dyke
Jim Ringo
Don Hultz
Floyd Peters
Gary Pettigrew
Mel Tom
John Meyers
Dave Lloyd
Ron Medved
Mike Morgan
Harold Wells
Fred Whittingham
Al Nelson
Jim Nettles
Nate Ramsey
Joe Scarpati
Taft Reed
Sam Baker
Harry Jones
Joe Kuharich (head coach)

[@richardgazinia5482]

The real question is "How much was Ballman drinking at the banquet that evening"?

[@michaelrusso6822]

Interesting note... Norm Snead was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1971, then a year later was part of a package traded to the New York Giants to acquire Fran Tarkenton. Gary Ballman remained with the Eagles until the end of the 1972season, then in 1973 played the final year of his career split between the Vikings & Giants. As a member of the Giants, he caught one pass for 16 yards... from... you guessed it... Norm Snead.

[@williamford9564]

Norm:" Hi Gary. Welcome to New York. How do you like being a decoy?"

[@SteelerFanInRI]

"They now had Ditka, they now had Ballman, and coming off a 9-5 season, expectations for this team were sky high, to the point where head coach Joe Kuharich was calling this the best team since he'd been there." Orginal Eagles Dream Team?

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

And just a year later was the infamous team where the fans booed Santa during the last game.

[@gluserty]

More of that Norm Snead action; Yeah, Gary Ballman picked a strange year to bash Snead's game, since he was lights out in 1967 (3rd in passing yards, tied for 2nd in TD passes, 5th in QB rating with 80, which was a high number for that era).

[@nickoftime602]

Important note: Ballman didnt just criticize the guy he expects to throw the ball to him, he also was criticizing the OFFENSIVE PLAYCALLER FOR THE EAGLES. Back then the QB called most of the plays, especially if they were good (which Snead was). So imagine if you’re a receiver and you call your OC AND your QB clowns. Not a great idea if you expect more touches

[@centrist1008]

Love the vintage uniforms.

[@TommyRibs]

Snead was throwing laser beams out there.

[@crustymcgee6580]

I just found your channel a few days ago and it's already one of my favorites. I love the fact that you devote a considerable portion of your coverage to pre-1980s NFL, an often neglected era. Keep up the great work!

[@alfjgist]

Gary Ballman : inspiration for Keyshawn Johnson and T.O.

[@charlesmak534]

Give Me The Damn Ball! (c) some book by a WR.

[@tuckercarlsonsmicropenis1283]

“I love me some ME”

[@SteelerFanInRI]

The "my QB sucks lol jk everyone lighten up" defense is not one I've seen yet!

[@Dennis-zf7jr]

Been binging this channel for a couple of days and IMO this man should have at least 10x the sub count that he has.... Keep up the great work, my friend

[@yeildo1492]

That is Ditka at 6:13 wearing #98. Some ILB was wearing #89

[@artistamisto]

outside LB Mike Morgan wouldn't give it up. But Ditka took 89 in '68 when Morgan went to the Redskins.

[@CTubeMan]

At 10:26, the game Howard Cosell left early because he was “drunk”.

[@orbyfan]

That was one of the last Eagles games at Franklin Field. I think Howard left at halftime after throwing up on Dandy Don's shoes.

[@gr8avocado]

Imagine that. A diva WR.

[@glenwest1911]

In Philadelphia of course.

[@dwightlove3704]

@@glenwest1911 And ppl talk about the WRs of this era

[@orbyfan]

Ballman should have used a line Maxwell Smart used in those days: "Look, I hope I wan't out of line with that crack about..."

[@CTubeMan]

The Eagles didn’t have a winning record between 1967 and 1977. This included starting off the 1968 season 0-11, then winning two straight, costing them the opportunity to draft O. J. Simpson. Curse of Gary Ballman?

[@williamford9564]

Ha, ha. I just read your comment. I posted a "Curse" comment above.

[@floydian022]

"...in fact, it's so bad that, if you were the Wide Receivers Coach that year, you were in serious danger of having to coach the Houston Texans."

[@ericfitzgerald9214]

So deserved

[@yeildo1492]

@@ericfitzgerald9214 Houston, we have a problem.... actually, we have many....

[@diaz5292]

Bring back the Eagles' white helmets!!...😂🤣😅🤣🤣😂😀👍

[@SteeleZack]

Speak of David Culley who was mostly hired as WR coach, he was Buffalo's QB coach (his only other QB coaching jobs were with college teams in the 1980's) from 2017-18 ( McDermott's 1st year as HC and Allen's rookie year).

[@dodge96neon]

a twilight zone episode would have gary ballman playing on the lions with bobby layne as the qb

[@DolFan316]

Layne would've kicked his ass for making comments like that. Literally. Probably in the middle of a game, too.

[@bobscott7440]

@@DolFan316 Yep.

[@benmclinjr9607]

I love you always add context...at least as much as you can. Due diligence. Well done.

[@riverbandit58]

@2:27 The Steelers are in the shotgun formation. Tom Landry gets the credit for installing it in 1975 for the Cowboys, but wasn't it the 49ers and Red Hickey who invented it?

[@jewsco]

Yes but America’s team during the golden era of football get credit for it

[@kimblandino]

Namath with the Jets in the early 70s... 71 or 72. That's where I first saw the shotgun.

[@waltwilliams7063]

@@kimblandino staubach used the shotgun playing at annapolis. (steve belechick maybe?)

[@jewsco]

@@kimblandino the 49ers used it in the 1950s

[@gluserty]

@@jewsco It's like what Sammy Baugh once said in 1994, that he hasn't seen anything new concerning wrinkles & formations in the NFL in a long time: the shotgun is really a variation of the original Double Wing, but the 49ers did use it as their exclusive offense, while the 1970s Cowboys are credited with reloading the shotgun (they are Cowboys after all:-). I guess NFL formations are like fads or fashion, they come and go.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

This was when I was a young kid but we didn't get many NFL games, so you had to watch teams that received the coverage. The Eagle's weren't one that had much coverage in Denver. In fact the Bronco's had a contest to send a lucky fan to one Eagle's game. Second place recueved tickets to two Eagle's games.

[@bens5661]

3:45 had me on my ass, that was PERFECT

[@ac9559]

You do a tremendous job with these and I thank you. I do not watch the NFL anymore and these give me my pro football fix.

[@chrisrobinson8339]

It's crazy how trash stats for some star players was back in the day. Compared to now and even compared to a couple decades ago.

[@warblerab2955]

An Eagles wide receiver having a feud with the Quarterback, where have heard of that before?

[@Staceyatkinson4496]

Must be something about eagles wide outs, t o and macnabb comes to mind

[@CTubeMan]

At 6:10 you’re saying that Snead’s passer rating was better than...well, you know.

[@CTubeMan]

@Travis Hanks New to this channel?

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

@Travis Hanks NO ONE LIKES US, WE DON'T CARE!! #Philadelphia4Life

[@CTubeMan]

@Travis Hanks Watch a few more videos and you’ll understand how my question relates to this channel.

[@jamesage24]

His passer rating was better than if he spiked the ball into the ground on every single play!

[@orbyfan]

Suggestion for topic: the team that was undefeated going into the last game of the season, and missed the playoffs. I won't name it, because you can figure it out quickly enough.

[@russellseilhamer4552]

1967 colts are the best team of all time to miss playoffs 11-1-2.

[@orbyfan]

@@russellseilhamer4552 You got it.

[@rwboa22]

The T.O. of his time. Both were good throwing their QBs under the bus.

[@matthewdaley746]

Yeah, but, to be fair, while, TO's comments, "might," have lacked a certain tact, he, was, spot, on, Donovan McNabb, never really lived, up, to his potential, simple as that.

[@TomG1555]

@@matthewdaley746 T.O. never had a QB he got along with - there was usually a honeymoon period, then things would go south really quickly. Garcia, McNabb, Romo - he threw them all under the bus in turn. I also disagree about McNabb - before his first injury, he was pretty much the only thing the Eagles offense had going for them, and was both their leading passer *and* leading rusher in 2000 (his 2nd year). b/c of how his career ended, people forget how good DM was. Unfortunately, he started having injury issues by the time the rest of the offense started getting players to surround him with.

[@matthewdaley746]

​@@TomG1555 Yeah, but, he, and, Andy, Reid, made, a, career, out, of, underachieving, with, the, Eagles, Doug, Pederson, and, Nick, Foles, didn't, last, long, but, somehow, would, win.

[@rwboa22]

@@TomG1555 it was after McNabb came back from that ACL injury is when everything started to go downhill for him. Only after he was traded to D.C. is when McNabb finally broke down and became the shell of his former self.

[@matthewdaley746]

​@rwboa22 He, was, the ultimate case of a QB that, was, rather, easy, to root, for, but, was, simply, never, going to get the job done, period.

[@erickennedy5993]

So, this was original T.O. and McNabb feud

[@williamford9564]

1967: Eagles 3-5-1 after the remarks. 1968 Start the season 0-11, finish 2-12. 7 combined wins in 1969 and 1970. Looks like Ballman started the Eagles Curse.

[@Joseph-cu8lg]

Cool to see Harold Jackson ( though that must be 69 footage) who'd still be in the NFL till 83

[@daviddechamplain5718]

Apparently WR's have always been prima donas.

[@rjsweda]

love 60s stories, would you do one on joe kapp and to patriots controversy?

[@richardadams4928]

I'll second that...

[@rjsweda]

@allinfun829 that sounds about right.

[@rjsweda]

@@richardadams4928 thanks. have a nice day.

[@KWCline91]

Well, as a Texans' fan, thanks for the slight jab. Still, they do need to fix their issues before they can be really great. There's a little optimism out there.

[@velvetdogg7375]

He has been found the very first ever Diva wide receiver!

[@matthewdaley746]

These stories, only, make me respect, Jerry Rice, and, Marvin Harrison, more, they had the stats to talk the, most, and, talked the, least.

[@tygrkhat4087]

@@matthewdaley746 Include Andre Reed with those two. Although his numbers have slipped down, but when he retired, he was among the top to ever play the game.

[@matthewdaley746]

​​@@tygrkhat4087 I, think, not, winning, a, SB, and, not, reaching, 1,000, receptions, delayed, his, HOF, enshrinement, I, can't, find, another, reason.

[@tygrkhat4087]

@@matthewdaley746 After Michael Irvin went in, with lower career numbers than Andre except rings, he was asked which elligible WR should next go in, he said Andre. IIRC, Andre was the next in.

[@matthewdaley746]

​@@tygrkhat4087 Yeah, plus, James Lofton didn't even play in all, four, SBs, and, he, was, already, in, that, was, the next logical step, it, was.

[@tedkijeski339]

"Philly coach Joe Kuharich . . . " whose name is pronounced "Kuh-HAR'-ik", by the way.

[@gluserty]

The only reason I know the pronunciation is due to viewing an NFL Films segment on Kuharich (I learned SO much from all those NFL Films episodes that aired on ESPN after Monday Night Football in the early 1990s).

[@tedkijeski339]

@@gluserty Was it the one where some fan threatened to shoot him with a rifle during a game?

[@gluserty]

@@tedkijeski339 That was mentioned in the segment, along with Kuharich having a habit/routine of drinking from the water ladle & trading for Ollie Matson, who contributed to that 9-5 1966 season.

[@orbyfan]

He was nicknamed "The Barracuda," and was blamed for killing the football program at U. of San Francisco in the early '50s after holding training camps in Death Valley. When he joined the Eagles, he signed a 15-year contract, but was let go after 1968 and Santa Claus getting pelted with snowballs. His son Lary Kuharich had a memorable and controversial reign as head coach of the Calgary Stampeders (1987-1989). Joe died the day the Eagles played in their first Super Bowl in 1981.

[@gluserty]

@@orbyfan I find the note on Kuharich passing away the day of the Eagles first appearance in a Super Bowl to be interesting.

[@1USACitizen192]

gary ballman should be hall fame.

[@ryanmarshall4332]

Sounds like the pre Noll Steelers. “We have one good player on offense. Let’s trade him. If we are lucky, maybe we can throw in our 1st round pick so we don’t have to get any useless young players”.

[@VinnyXwolf]

Wow using the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Ogdensburg Journal. My area.

[@chadwickwhite6107]

If Norm Snead CAN'T read a defense how come he made the Pro Bowl as the New York Giants Quarterback?

[@davidbranin969]

My first pro game at Franklin Field. Snead throws an INT first play from scrimmage. Falcons 42-3 Male fans in Hats and overcoats and whiskey flasks. 10 years of the same til Vermeil changed the culture.

[@thomasanderson6124]

6 commercials for a 10 minute video. KZbin has to be kidding me

[@symphonynut3291]

Snead's 257 career interceptions would suggest that Ballman may have been on to something.

[@TheDan14]

I'm not old enough to have seen him play but all the old heads always complained about Norm Snead too. I just assumed it has something to do with the guy the Iggles had before (Sonny Jurgensen) and after (Roman Gabriel) both being better though.

[@freeparking301]

1968 was worse. Imagine your team is terrible and only win one game for the first eleven games of the season. The city has accepted its fate. They start to set their eyes towards the draft and there’s a great prize waiting for them with the number 1 pick. His name was O.J. Simpson. Then the team blows it by winning two of their last three games. The coach is getting death threats and there’s some drunk asshole on the field dressed as Santa Claus. Now do you understand why we booed Santa? It was all that frustration coming out at once.

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

The last game of that abysmal season was against the Vikings, and they were losing 7-0 at halftime. I'd like to think that the Eagles fans had accepted their fate before the game, but if they played even halfway decent against Minnesota, MAYBE that drunk Santa wouldn't have gotten pelted with crap. CORRECTION: The Eagles led 7-0, but the defense gave up a 57 yard pass from Kapp to Bill Brown before the intermission.

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

Also, no one bothered to clear the stands in Franklin Field of the tons of snow that covered it, so fans who were already miserable had to sit and watch their embarrassing, moribund franchise get handled by a playoff bound Vikings team while sitting balls-deep in snow. AND they canceled the traditional Christmas show at halftime. I'd be throwing shit too!

[@freeparking301]

@@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040 Damn it was even worse than I ever imagined! I know Franklin Field is supposed to be a historical site but I imagine fans thinking the Vet was an improvement. Which the city brought the tradition of not clearing snow and ice over there. And this was around the time that Mike Ditka was pissing away his career as well which I’m pretty sure the only highlight of his time in Philly was when he ran into the goalpost.

[@DolFan316]

Everybody loves to think teams tanking for the draft's top pick is a recent thing, but just like a lot of other behavior that people think is recent is was actually being done decades ago. Tanking for OJ was real, and the Eagles weren't the only ones in that race.

[@brucedavis3816]

You know I could of sworn when I was very young I saw an nfl films presentation called not to look back and it was about players who teams gave up on that when traded preformed well!!! I know one was Mike Garrett along with Norm Snead!!!! But I cant find it its not in NFL films library and even when I google it doesnt come up!!!

[@nats2523]

Well it hurts when you got traded for a hof qb in sonny Jorgensen who was A great qb on some bad skins teams.

[@TheAlfrulz]

Norm Snead reminds me alot of Matthew Stafford today. Both are physically gifted, have impressive statistics, but no greater team success. If Stafford played under the more limited playoff field back then, he would've never sniffed the postseason. Will Stafford improve now that he's in LA?

[@matthewdaley746]

Improve, yes, but, the Lions, are a bar, so, low, as to trip, over it, and, if the defense falters, it won't matter, anyway.

[@TheAlfrulz]

I don't know what to make of Stafford. Yes, Detroit is one of the most inept franchises in the league, but how much blame should be divided between their former star and the team as a whole?

[@matthewdaley746]

​@@TheAlfrulz We'll find, out, this year, the, only, question is did, The, Ford, Family, do, more, lasting damage to the Lions, or, the auto industry, we'll wait, and, see, it's, bad.

[@astrostar49]

Before Antonio Brown, before Terrell Owens, there was Gary Ballman.

[@karlcooper8460]

I wish they had NHL videos like this with these kind of weird stories and I know they exists like Terry Sawchuck being one example I would like to see a video link.

[@ryanmarshall4332]

His name is frickin BallMan.

[@davanmani556]

George Allen said the same thing about Sonny Jurgensen.

[@matthewdaley746]

George Allen said tons of weird stuff, but, at, least, his son, later, became, The, Governor Of, The, Commonwealth Of Virginia, many years, later.

[@Fireyninjadog]

Norm sneed as a rookie was truly awful. 11 tds, 22 ints, winning only 1 game. He was the captain of the nfl's worst offense in 1961

[@karlcooper8460]

Everybody doesn't have a technical mind but he (snead)was probably the type of qb that compensated in other areas.

[@chaosgreyblood]

Where was Mike Ditka in all of this, and why he didn't clobber Ballman for his shenanigans? I can't help but ask this.

[@tuckercarlsonsmicropenis1283]

Ditka’s image hadn’t been cultivated enough by this point. He wasn’t “DITKA!!” Yet.

[@Dannypuck]

You used an Ogdensburg Journal story? I'm from there.

[@scottconner7930]

54 Years Ago

[@guiseppe8032]

I'm guessing Ballman was expendable in Pittsburgh because of the emergence of Roy Jefferson, easily the best receiver the Steelers had pre-1970s. Probably would've made it to the early Super Bowl teams had not for him clashing with Chuck Noll.

[@waltwilliams7063]

5:16 that is the late, great j.d. crow,1957 heisman winner, blocking for willard.

[@waltwilliams7063]

sorry, that was gary lewis, not ken willard running.

[@Zoyx]

RIP Norm.

[@BadOpticon]

Are you going to do a video about Norm Chuck?

[@Rockhound6165]

I was going to ask if you were joking if Snead belonged in the HOF but looking at his numbers, they're comparable to Namath. And let's face it, had Namath never won a Super Bowl would he be in the hall? But Snead's 60 more interceptions than TD's is a concern.

[@mdoerty13]

One thing people don’t realize is how different the offensive philosophy was then. Passing was for long gains so it was high risk. That meant no interceptions. That also meant no short TD passes. And the defense could do a lot more to stop passers and passing. (Please note the No is a generalized No and not an absolute No as I am referring to trends rather than it never happened).

[@1USACitizen192]

norman snead should be hall fame.

[@large42]

Snead had one of the best arms ever.

[@16ktsgamma]

Gary Ballman the original AB.

[@karlcooper8460]

With qbs like this you have to condense the playbook and let them ad-lib and throw check-downs to recievers the same with some actors and actresses that can't remember their lines so they ad-lib.

[@billywalik6411]

Ko-hair-ICK...Please!

[@rafa521NOLA]

I live in Santa Cruz so I find it really interesting that you're always citing the Sentinel. I assume you're from Florida due to your user name. LOL

[@iceman4408]

Ballman could play.

[@dapumpking7202]

can you do a video about the craziest super bowl ever cause that would be cool

[@targettoad691]

Which one?

[@dapumpking7202]

@@targettoad691 probably 49

[@dapumpking7202]

cause ya know what happened

[@osaji922]

Modern NFL sucks. Not only that but he does stories that aren’t widely known. Everybody knows about that stupid super bowl.

[@matthewdaley746]

​@@osaji922 SB 52, was, crazier, everybody, on, the Eagles had, The, Game Of Their Lives, and, they still, probably, lose, if Bill Belichick doesn't bench Malcolm Butler.

[@GeeCoach35]

NFL's first WR diva?

[@gkiltz0]

The Eagles got Snead from Washington for Sony Juergensen! A wide Receiver named Ballman?? You KNOW that's a ball hog!!

[@Cooley710]

3:30 yikes.

[@dwightlove3704]

Ballman was another Don Hutson clone

[@jonahfalcon1970]

However, as good as Snead's stats were, after the Eagles traded Sonny Jurgenson for him, they went to 0 playoffs in 14 years. Not til Jaworski did they ever return.

[@DolFan316]

Jurgensen was the Marino of his day. Probably the league's best pure passer but had almost no help. Then when he finally got to a good team he was old and hurt all the time.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

@@DolFan316 Yes, but Dan Snead was nothing for the Eagles, and they had a 14 year drought. Not so for the Skins and Jurgenson.

[@yusufu9]

@@DolFan316 Even when Sonny was old and hurt, he still pulled off a number of amazing comebacks and great games, the playing-on-one-leg victory over the Giants and the thrilling last-second win over the two-time defending champion Dolphins being the most memorable.

[@dwightlove3704]

And pro scouts say black QBs could not read defenses!!!!!

[@stever1791]

Ben Hawkins was WWAAYY better the gary ballman - Not even Close

[@yebobbummann1622]

Yeah, Gary was right.

[@nujeru99]

Norm Snead NEVER, at ANY POINT, was the best QB in football 😂😂

[@jamesage24]

So after 4 games with 11 TDs and zero INTs with a 130 passer rating, who was better?

[@artistamisto]

@@jamesage24 4 games do not make a season. He had a good start, but Snead was always an average journeyman QB. A backup material QB who started when the teams he was on didn't have anyone better. He was the Steve DeBerg of his time.

[@benmclinjr9607]

I love you always add context...at least as much as you can. Due diligence. Well done.