Jim Skaggs had a decision to make when he left the University of Washington in 1962. Travel down the Pacific coast to Oakland and play for the still wet behind the ears Raiders or head cross-country to Philadelphia where he'd join the Eagles, who were only two years removed from capturing the NFL championship.

"That's when the American Football League was brand new. I think it was only two years old. There had been some start-up leagues in the past that hadn't made it and I know it sounds funny now, but back then, they were so new that it seemed like they were sort of a junior league," said Skaggs, an offensive lineman who was drafted by both teams. "Most of the guys who had a choice went to the NFL. I know within a couple years that wasn't the case because of the salaries that they were offering in the American Football League, but when I looked at it, it seemed to be the logical choice for me."

After playing in the East-West Shrine Game, the Hula Bowl and the Coaches All-America Bowl, his fourth all-star game commitment didn't go well.

"I went to that Coaches All-Star Game, that's the one when the All-Stars used to play the (defending) NFL champions. It was Green Bay that year. They had a week or a 10-day long camp and while I was at camp, I broke my ankle," Skaggs said. "I came to the Eagles that year as a rookie, crippled. I had a cast on all the way up and sat out that whole season on the injured reserve. And then in '63, I was starting at tackle and I tore my left knee up in the third game and sat out the rest of the year."

OG Jim Skaggs

Even though he was only able to be on the field for three games during his first two seasons with the Eagles, Skaggs learned from and was readily accepted by his veteran teammates.

"We were all kind of tight there. Eddie Khayat was a defensive lineman, and we were pretty good buddies. I was rooming with (quarterback/punter) King Hill and he took real good care of me. He loaned me his car once in awhile," laughed Skaggs. "I didn't travel with the team so when they went out of town, if I needed to go get a pizza or something, I could always take his car. The guys were pretty close and I felt close to a lot of them. I probably got into the swing of things as well as I would have had I been playing right along. I would say the team took me under their wings and I learned a lot from them."

After winning just five of 28 games during the previous two seasons, the Eagles made a fresh start in '64. Joe Kuharich was hired to be the head coach. Veteran players including quarterback Norm Snead, running backs Ollie Matson and Earl Gros, and kicker Sam Baker were acquired. Future Hall of Fame offensive tackle Bob Brown was drafted in the first round. And a healthier not to mention more mobile Skaggs became a stalwart at guard.

And while football historians didn't exactly start loitering around Franklin Field collecting memorabilia, the new look Eagles did show some improvement. They went 6-8 in '64 and followed that with a 5-9 record in '65. Frustratingly, seven of those losses were by eight points or less.

How did Skaggs maintain a positive attitude?

"Well, it was hard," he said. "The motivation, I guess, was just the fun of the game and wanting to do your best. I'm sure that we'd all been a lot higher if we'd been winning a few more games. And it was hard on the coaching staffs. We went through quite a few coaches in those days. And quite a few players. So it was hard, but I think probably the personal pride in doing the best you could had to be all knotted together."

In '66, Philadelphia recorded its first winning campaign [9-5] in five years and returned to the post-season. Granted, it was in the Playoff Bowl against the Colts in Miami and not for the NFL title, however, the door they had been knocking on to succeed on the field was now slightly ajar.

"(Making it to the post-season) is a fond memory," said Skaggs, who played 10 seasons for the Eagles, not including his rookie year when he was injured. "At least being able to show up and go to that game. We ended up losing [20-14], but it was a little bit of a fluke deal that we did. That was fun going down there. It brought back old memories of college bowl games and that type of thing. I'd say that and our training camps in Hershey. They were fun days."

When the guard's playing days concluded following the '72 season, Skaggs, in a sense, continued to work protecting people.

"I went from the NFL straight to work for State Farm Insurance. I was an agent for three years and then I went into management and worked my way up to what they call an agency field executive. I stayed with State Farm Insurance in those capacities for my whole working career, 29 years, and then retired (in 2000)."

Making their home in Ellensburg, Washington, Skaggs and his wife, Diane, have two married daughters, Sally and Linda, and three grandchildren. True, he may be retired, but Skaggs is still keeping busy.

"I have 33 acres and I'm raising a little bit of hay. And I've always been a bird hunter. I have English Pointer birddogs, a kennel of those. I spend a lot of time keeping things green around here and playing around with the birddogs."