“Marion Campbell will be missed by the Eagles community but also remembered for his spirited impact on our game”, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said in a statement. “He played with the type of toughness that our town so deeply admires”. During his six year span in that role, the Eagles allowed the fewest points in the NFL.
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Marion Campbell, who served the Eagles as a player on the 1960 NFL Championship team, an assistant coach on Dick Vermeil’s Super Bowl team and later as a head coach, died on Wednesday, the Eagles announced Sunday night. Buddy Ryan, who also specialized on the defensive side of the ball, passed on June 28. As Smith indicated, Campbell played most of that year with torn ligaments in his ankle, which required painkilling shots before games and during halftime breaks.
Originally selected in the fourth-round out of Georgia, Campbell broke into the league with the 49ers in 1954 before moving onto to Philadelphia from 1956 through 1961.
As a coach, Campbell first served as the Falcons’ defensive coordinator from 1969 through 1973 before being promoted to the franchise’s head coach in 1974.
When Vermeil retired after the 1982 season, Campbell took over the head coaching job.
After Norman Braman fired Campbell late in the 1985 season, he returned to the Falcons for a second stint as head coach, this one running from 1987 through 1989.
But Campbell’s legacy with the team extends beyond his days as a head coach.
He was a two-way lineman on their 1960 championship team and was a first-team All-Pro selection that season.
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Campbell played both offense and defense on a great Eagles team and was known for his rough play at a time when players could trade punches on the field without penalty flags being thrown.
