Harold Carmichael's Complement Best to Wear Eagles’ No. 85
No. 85 hasn’t foreshadowed a ton of success in Eagles’ history but there have been some pretty big names who wore the number in Philadelphia like Hall of Fame receiver Art Monk and former All-Pro tight end Mickey Shuler.
Both of those stars did almost all of their damage for other organizations and finished their careers with the Eagles when there was little left in the gas tank..
The top 85 in Eagles’ history is one of the better role players the organization has had, long-time Harold Carmichael running mate Charlie Smith.
From now until the Eagles begin the season at Washington on Sept. 13, SI.com EagleMaven will do a jersey countdown, listing the current Eagles player to wear the corresponding number to the days left before the season opener. As a bonus feature, we will list the top three players in team history to have that number.
Here’s what we came up with for No. 85 with Smith taking the top spot:
Current number 85:
Alex Ellis. Ellis is a versatile backup who figures to push Josh Perkins for the third tight end spot behind stars Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Doug Pederson will have a number of options to choose from with Perkins, a flex player who was once a former college receiver at the University of Washington, undrafted free agent Noah Togiai out of Oregon State, a more traditional TE, and Ellis, who is a Swiss-Army type player with the ability to line up at fullback as well as in-line and as a flex player.
Top 3 to wear number 85:
3. Mickey Shuler. The Harrisburg native and Penn State product was a star tight end for the New York Jets and a three-time All-Pro there as perhaps the best player in franchise history at the position. He finished his career in Philadelphia during the 1990 and 1991 seasons, being a part-time starter in ‘90 when he had 18 receptions for 190 yards.
2. Gary Ballman. A two-time Pro Bowl receiver early in his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ballman spent six of his 12 NFL campaigns with the Eagles (1967-1972) and was pretty productive, hauling in 166 receptions for 2,379 yards as a starter at TE for parts of all six of his seasons with the Eagles.
1. Charlie Smith. Smith was the “other guy” opposite Carmichael for many years with the Eagles. Ironically, he and Carmichael were rivals in college with Smith starring at Grambling State and Carmichael a star at Southern University in the SWAC.
Smith played all eight of his NFL seasons with the Eagles and was a starter for significant parts of the final seven, tallying 218 receptions for 3,349 yards and 24 touchdowns. Philadelphia’s first Super Bowl season was the best of Smith’s career when he snared 47 receptions for 825 yards from Ron Jaworski en route to Super Bowl XV.
Runner-up (TIE):
Bob Schnelker/Art Monk: Although Schnelker played only one season with the Eagles (1953) he did play eight years in the league as a one-time 29th round (yes, the 29th round) draft pick. His biggest impact, however, came as a long-time assistant coach topping out as an offensive coordinator for both the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings in the 1980s.
Monk was a Hall of Fame receiver who was an all-time great for the Washington Redskins and played the final three games of his brilliant career with the Eagles in 1995, snaring six of his 940 career receptions for 114 yards.
Others: John Shonk, Tony Bova, Charles Gauer, Bob Friedlund, Jay MacDowell, Billy Hix, Ralph Smith, Marlin McKeever, Mel Hoover, Ron Johnson, Jesse Bendross, Jeff Sydner, Mark Ingram, Antwuan Wyatt, Chris Fontenot, Na Brown, Freddie Milons, Sean Morey, Darnerien McCants, and James Casey.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
