1996 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1996 season was the Philadelphia Eagles' sixty-fourth in the National Football League (NFL). The team matched its 10–6 record from the previous season and qualified for the playoffs for the second year in a row.

1996 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	Jeffrey Lurie
Head coach	Ray Rhodes
Offensive coordinator	Jon Gruden
Defensive coordinator	Emmitt Thomas
Home stadium	Veterans Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd NFC East
Playoffs	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at 49ers) 0–14
Pro Bowlers	RB Ricky Watters WR Irving Fryar DE William Fuller
← 1995 Eagles seasons 1997 →

Background

After a season-ending injury to Rodney Peete, Ty Detmer took over the starting role. For the second time in three seasons, the Eagles stood at 7–2 at the nine-game mark, thanks to a fan-thrilling win November 3 on the road against Dallas. The cap to that contest was a combined 104-yard interception return between James Willis and Troy Vincent during the game's final moments, which turned a potential game-winning drive by the Cowboys into a Philadelphia victory.

But, as it did in 1994 under Rich Kotite, the team wilted. This time, after piling up four losses in five games, including an embarrassing 27-point setback on national TV at Indianapolis, the team scrambled in the playoff picture. Wins against the Jets and Cardinals managed to right the ship, however, resulting in a wild-card matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. Despite that success, the Eagles' season ended in San Francisco with a 14–0 first-round loss to the 49ers.

The 1996 season was also the first season the Eagles debuted the midnight green, white, and black look, with new helmet designs and the logo and endzone font as well.

Offseason

The Eagles held training camp for the first year at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, home of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.

The Eagles signed college free agent Hollis Thomas, a defensive tackle out of Northern Illinois, and also signed former Miami Dolphins cornerback Troy Vincent as a free agent.

Veteran San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Steve Wallace was signed via free agency to a one-year contract, but after a poor showing in the preseason was cut at the end of training camp and promptly re-signed by the 49ers.^[1][2]

NFL draft

The 1996 NFL draft was held April 20–21, 1996. No teams elected to claim any players in the supplemental draft that year.

With a 10–6 record in 1995, and tying with two other teams, the Eagles rotated picking between the twenty-third pick to the twenty-fifth pick during the seven-round draft and chose eight players in the six rounds in which it had picks. During its first pick, the Eagles chose Jermane Mayberry, an offensive tackle from Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The table below shows the Eagles selections, what picks it had that were traded away, and the teams that ended up with those picks. (It is possible that Eagles' picks ended up with those team via trades made by the Eagles with other teams.)

1996 Philadelphia Eagles draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	25	Jermane Mayberry *	OT	Texas A&M-Kingsville
2	54	Jason Dunn	TE	Eastern Kentucky
2	61	Brian Dawkins * †	FS	Clemson	Compensatory pick
3	85	Bobby Hoying	QB	Ohio State
4	121	Ray Farmer	DB	Duke
5	147	Whit Marshall	LB	Georgia
6	194	Steve White	DE	Tennessee
6	197	Tony Johnson	TE	Alabama
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1996 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office Owner/Chief Executive Officer – Jeffrey Lurie Senior Vice President of Administration – Joe Banner Director of Football Operations – Dick Daniels Director of College Scouting – John Wooten Director of Scouting – Chuck Banker Head coaches Head Coach – Ray Rhodes Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Jon Gruden Running Backs – Dick Jamieson Wide Receivers – Gerald Carr Tight Ends – Ted Williams Offensive Line – Bill Callahan Offensive Assistant – Juan Castillo

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Emmitt Thomas Defensive Line – Mike Trgovac Linebackers – Joe Vitt Defensive Assistant – Chuck Knox Jr. Special teams coaches Special Teams – Danny Smith Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Mike Wolf Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Tom Kanavy Part-Time Strength and Conditioning – Martin Streight Volunteer Strength and Conditioning – Kevin Tolbert

Roster

1996 Philadelphia Eagles roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Ty Detmer  7 Bobby Hoying 11 Mark Rypien Running backs (RB) 30 Charlie Garner 34 Kevin Turner FB 29 Adam Walker 32 Ricky Watters 31 Derrick Witherspoon KR Wide receivers (WR) 86 Dialleo Burks 80 Irving Fryar 82 Chris T. Jones 81 Mark Seay PR 84 Freddie Solomon 89 Calvin Williams Tight ends (TE) 87 Jason Dunn 88 Jimmie Johnson 83 Ed West

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Barrett Brooks T 77 Richard Cooper T 75 Troy Drake T 73 Lester Holmes G 71 Jermane Mayberry T 62 Guy McIntyre G 63 Raleigh McKenzie C 65 Bubba Miller C 72 Joe Panos G Defensive linemen (DL) 90 Ronnie Dixon DT 95 William Fuller DE 97 Rhett Hall DT 79 Greg Jefferson DE 59 Mike Mamula DE 96 Keith Rucker DT 98 Michael Samson DT 78 Hollis Thomas DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Ray Farmer OLB 93 Darion Conner OLB 56 Joe Kelly MLB 58 Whit Marshall OLB 51 William Thomas OLB 50 James Willis MLB 57 Marc Woodard OLB 52 Sylvester Wright OLB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Deral Boykin SS 20 Brian Dawkins FS 22 James Fuller FS 28 Don Griffin CB 21 Bobby Taylor CB 42 Johnny Thomas CB 23 Troy Vincent CB 36 Mike Zordich SS Special teams (ST)  1 Gary Anderson K  4 Tom Hutton P 68 Morris Unutoa LS

Practice squad 39 Chris Buckhalter RB 64 Ben Cavil G 46 Fred Ford S 16 Brandon Harrison WR 27 Thomas McGaughey S Reserve 91 Andy Harmon DT (IR) 85 Mark Ingram WR (IR)  9 Rodney Peete QB (IR) 53 active, 3 inactive, 5 practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Network	TV Announcers	Kickoff (ET)	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	at Washington Redskins	W 17–14	FOX	Pat Summerall & John Madden	1:00pm	53,415
2	September 9, 1996	at Green Bay Packers	L 39–13	ABC	Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf	9:00pm	60,666
3	September 15, 1996	Detroit Lions	W 24–17	FOX	Dick Stockton & Matt Millen	1:00pm	66,007
4	September 22, 1996	at Atlanta Falcons	W 33–18	TNT	Verne Lundquist & Pat Haden	8:00pm	40,107
5	September 30, 1996	Dallas Cowboys	L 23–19	ABC	Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf	9:00pm	67,201
6	Bye
7	October 13, 1996	at New York Giants	W 19–10	FOX	Dick Stockton & Matt Millen	4:00pm	72,729
8	October 20, 1996	Miami Dolphins	W 35–28	NBC	Marv Albert & Sam Wyche	1:00pm	66,240
9	October 27, 1996	Carolina Panthers	W 20–9	FOX	Kevin Harlan & Jerry Glanville	1:00pm	65,982
10	November 3, 1996	at Dallas Cowboys	W 31–21	FOX	Pat Summerall & John Madden	1:00pm	64,952
11	November 10, 1996	Buffalo Bills	L 24–17	NBC	Charlie Jones & Randy Cross	1:00pm	66,613
12	November 17, 1996	Washington Redskins	L 26–21	FOX	Pat Summerall & John Madden	1:00pm	66,834
13	November 24, 1996	at Arizona Cardinals	L 36–30	FOX	Joe Buck & Bill Maas	4:00pm	36,175
14	December 1, 1996	New York Giants	W 24–0	FOX	Kevin Harlan & Jerry Glanville	1:00pm	51,468
15	December 5, 1996	at Indianapolis Colts	L 37–10	ESPN	Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann	8:00pm	52,689
16	December 14, 1996	at New York Jets	W 21–20	FOX	Dick Stockton & Matt Millen	12:30pm	29,176
17	December 22, 1996	Arizona Cardinals	W 29–19	FOX	Kenny Albert & Tim Green	1:00pm	63,658

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 10

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Eagles	7	7	7	10	31
Cowboys	7	3	3	8	21

• Date: November 3
• Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
• Game start: 12:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 64,952
• Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C); wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
• TV announcers (Fox): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Scoring summary

Q1		DAL	Emmitt Smith 1 yard run (Chris Boniol kick)	DAL 7–0
Q1		PHI	Ricky Watters 5 yard run (Gary Anderson kick)	Tie 7–7
Q2		DAL	Chris Boniol 19 yard field goal	DAL 10–7
Q2		PHI	Ty Detmer 6 yard run (Gary Anderson kick)	PHI 14–10
Q3		DAL	Chris Boniol 37 yard field goal	PHI 14–13
Q3		PHI	Irving Fryar 14 yard pass from Ty Detmer (Gary Anderson kick)	PHI 21–13
Q4		DAL	Emmitt Smith 7 yard run (Eric Bjornson pass from Troy Aikman)	Tie 21–21
Q4		PHI	Gary Anderson 30 yard field goal	PHI 24–21
Q4		PHI	Troy Vincent 90 yard interception return (Gary Anderson kick)	PHI 31–21

^[3]

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(3) Dallas Cowboys	10	6	0	.625	286	250	L1
(5) Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	363	341	W2
Washington Redskins	9	7	0	.563	364	312	W1
Arizona Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	300	397	L1
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	242	297	L2

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Network	Kickoff (ET)	Attendance
Wild Card	December 29, 1996	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14–0	FOX	4:00pm	56,460