"Defensive tackle has not been a particularly strong position over the years with the Eagles, but there is a pretty good representation here. I start with Mike Jarmoluk, a Philly guy who went to Frankford High School and then Temple. When he was in high school he played all sports, but he was a better basketball player, and in fact his senior year at Frankford he led the Public League in scoring.

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"They called him Big Mike, and he was because he was 6-feet-5 and 265 pounds. Because he was a basketball player, in addition to being big, he was real agile for a big man of that time. He intercepted seven passes and scored three touchdowns, which for linemen in those days was pretty remarkable. It speaks to what a good all-around athlete he was.

"Jess Richardson was born and raised in Philadelphia and was the only member of the 1960 NFL Championship team who was a native son, and after a collegiate career at Alabama the Eagles drafted him in the eighth round in 1953. He was not pretty – he looked like a throwback, playing without a facemask – and he was incredibly tough. He was a street fighter. He took on the best guards and centers in the league and battled them. When Tom Brookshier was describing him for The Eagles Encyclopedia, he said Richardson was the kind of guy who could look bad for two or three plays in a row and then step up on third down and stop a drive by folding up a guard or center, shove him into the backfield and make a tackle for a 3-yard loss.

"Richardson made a couple of Pro Bowls, including after the 1960 season, and he probably had his best season that year. He was a real tenacious, tough guy who made his best plays when the defense needed him most.

"Floyd Peters played six years with the Eagles and was really their best defensive lineman. He looked much older than he was – he was completely bald. They used to joke on the charter flights the stewardesses used to think he was a coach, and when they came around serving the meals they would always bypass him because they were told to serve the players.

"He made two Pro Bowls as an Eagle, and in 1967 he was the Most Valuable Player of the Pro Bowl, and that was back in the day when people used to play the game seriously. He wasn't super big. He was 6-4, 265 pounds, but he was extremely smart and was quick for his size. At a time when the Eagles weren't a great team, he was week in and week out one of their most consistent players.

"Charlie Johnson and Ken Clarke were both on the Dick Vermeil teams at the same time. After playing the 4-3 in 1977, Vermeil's second year, they wanted to move to a 3-4, but the key to having the whole thing work was getting a nose tackle. They didn't just get one guy, they got two of them.

"Charlie had been in the service in Vietnam before he went to Colorado, so he was a little bit older than most guys when he was in college. Some teams backed away from him in the draft, but Vermeil took a shot at him, and Charlie was just a rock at nose tackle. His ability to take on the double - and sometimes triple-teams inside was just invaluable to that defense. It freed up the ends and inside linebacker positions, he was a force in there.

"Clarke backed him up, so whenever Johnson would come out Clarke would go in, and he was very effective. After the '81 season, they traded Charlie and put Clarke into the starting lineup. Everybody asked the question of whether he could carry the whole load, and he was kind of a revelation. He was really, really good. You look at some of his stats: in '83 he had 110 tackles, and led all defensive linemen, a number that was a lot for a nose tackle. In '84, he had 10.5 sacks and 123 tackles, and was voted the team's Most Valuable Player.

"Clarke was also just indestructible. He played 139 consecutive games, which is way, way up there on the team's list. He finished his career with the Eagles with 31 sacks, again a lot for a nose tackle.

"Everybody knows Jerome Brown's story. He was a first-round draft pick from Miami who had tremendous talent. He had tremendous physical ability. He was sort of squatty looking at 6-2, 300 pounds, but he had the quickness of a basketball point guard. When you saw him do drills and when you saw him on the field, his ability to get past blockers and get through the gap almost without being touched was really stunning.

"The only problem Jerome had early in his career was that he wasn't always in the best physical condition and his level of play wasn't always what it could have been. He sort of played on his natural ability for a while, and a result he was not as productive as he could have been.

"In 1990 and 1991, when he got himself in shape, he was tremendous. Jerome lost 30 pounds, weighed under 300 pounds for the first time that I can remember and was tremendous. He had 88 solo tackles in that 1991 year, most in the league at defensive tackle. He had nine quarterback sacks and made the Pro Bowl and was coming into his own before his tragic death.

"Andy Harmon was a surprise to me. He was a sixth-round draft pick out of Kent State and at the time the defensive line was loaded in Philadelphia. He didn't look that big, didn't say a word and kind of stayed off to the side. I looked at him and said, 'Where is he going to fit in?' I found out in a preseason game when Andy played a lot and played very well.

"Andy moved from end to tackle after Brown's death and he overcame the lack of size and he flourished. Harmon battled some injuries and produced good numbers in sacks and tackles. He built up his body and gained about 30 pounds over the course of time and became stronger. I remember a quote – he was so consistent every week and played with great effort – and Bart Oates, the center from the New York Giants, said, 'Playing against Andy Harmon is a full day's work.' I thought that was a great compliment from one professional to another.

"If I had to vote for two of these players, I would probably go with Brown and Charlie Johnson. I just think that Johnson was a key, key player on the Vermeil defenses, a group that allowed the fewest points in the league during the period of time from the 1978 season through 1981.

"Brown, at his highest level, was higher than the other guys. You just wish he would have played at it more often."