Carson Wentz is Still Chasing 'The Dutchman' at No. 11

Carson Wentz is the face of the Eagles franchise and if you check back in a few years, Philadelphia's current QB1 is almost surely going to be the top No. 11 in franchise history.

For now, however, “The Dutchman” is next up with 11 days to go in our jersey countdown to kickoff, the legendary Norm Van Brocklin.

Van Brocklin is a Hall of Famer and a two-time world champion quarterback, the second of which came in 1960, his final professional season with Philadelphia.

A University of Oregon product, Van Brocklin was a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1949 and spent nine seasons in Hollywood before coming east to finish up with the Eagles for three more seasons.

He was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection, going three-for-three in Philadelphia and was a four-time All-Pro, including the 1960 season when he went out on top.

In Van Brocklin’s final season he not only won the championship as a first-team All-Pro, he also won the MVP Award and the Bert Bell Award, which is the Maxwell Club’s NFL Player of the Year honor. He also still holds the NFL record for passing yards in a game with 554

The next season he was off to become the inaugural head coach of the expansion Minnesota Vikings where he kickstarted the development of Fran Tarkenton, another Hall of Fame signal-caller.

Van Brocklin spent six years the helm of the Vikings and after a year out of the coaching ranks took over the Atlanta Falcons for seven seasons.

Current number 11 and No. 2 overall:

Carson Wentz. Wentz already beats Van Brocklin in longevity with the Eagles and has his own world championship although the North Dakota State product was injured and watched Nick Foles finish what he started in Super Bowl LII.

At 11-2 in 2017 and playing at the highest level he ever has Wentz would have almost surely been named MVP before the torn ACL and LCL ended things prematurely for him.

So far Wentz has one Pro Bowl appearance and All-Pro nod in 2017 and he, like Van Brocklin, won the Bert Bell Award.

Since then, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft hasn’t quite reached those heights but he’s been a home run as a top-10 level QB in the NFL.

He’s already the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for over 4,000 yards (2019) and has the Eagles’ record for most passing touchdowns in a season with 33 (2017).

Other team records Wentz hold are most completions in a season with 388, consecutive games with a TD pass (19, ongoing), and the highest completion percentage in a season at 69.6 % (2018).

Top 3 to wear number 11:

3. Tommy Thompson. You might think the dropoff after Van Brocklin and Wentz is pretty dramatic but No. 3 might be the best QB in franchise history no one remembers. Thompson started 44 games over eight seasons with the Eagles (1941 and 1942 and after World War II from 1945-1950). He missed two seasons serving in the Army and amazingly was blind in one eye from childhood.

He was an on and off starter but helped lead Philadelphia to three consecutive NFL Championship games and back-to-back titles in 1948 and 1949. He made the Pro Bowl in 1942, led the league in passer rating during the two championship seasons, and also was tops in TD passes in 1948.

Thompson is one of only three quarterbacks with multiple championships who have not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Jack Kemp and Jim Plunkett.

2. Carson Wentz. See Above.

1. Norm Van Brocklin. See Above.

Runner-up:

Mark Rypien. Few remember the one-time Washington Redskins Super Bowl quarterback played one game for the Eagles in 1996 in relief of Ty Detmer and he was pretty effective, completing 10 of 13 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Of course, the Eagles were routed by Indianapolis 37-10.

Others: Lee Woodruff, Jack Knapper, Ed Manske, Fritz Ferko, Bernie Lee, Francis Murray, Lou Ghecas, Richard Erdlitz, John Rauch, Bobby Thomason, Rick Arrington, John Walton, Jeff Christensen, Kyle Mackey, Scott Tinsley, Casey Weldon, Matt Bahr, Mark Rypien, Jay Fiedler, Ron Powlus, Tim Hasselbeck, Jeff Blake, Jeremy Bloom, Steve Smith, Trent Edwards, and Josh Huff

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, and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportMap Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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