More than 1,400 men have played for the Eagles. Twenty-one men have served as the head coach. However, only three: Jerry Williams, Marion Campbell and Ed Khayat have done both.

Khayat began his 35-year association with the National Football League in 1957 by word of mouth.

"I wasn't drafted and the way I got in the NFL in the first place was because John Mazur, who at one time was a coach with the Eagles, was one of our coaches at Tulane. He called the Redskins where (Joe) Kuharich was the coach and got me a contract as a free agent," says Khayat, a defensive tackle. "I made the team and started quite a few of the games as a rookie and then the next year, I got cut on the last cut.

"So I went back to school and helped coach for two or three weeks and then (Eagles general manager) Vince McNally called about being on the cab squad. And the way that worked was, (center) Ken Farragut was from my hometown and he talked to the Eagles about giving me a shot. So I went to Philadelphia on the cab squad for $150 a week."

DT Ed Khayat

When Khayat reported to training camp in 1959, out of necessity, he was moved to the offensive line.

"We had lost all three of our guards," Khayat said. "Galen Laack was killed in a car wreck and two had retired. So they had a whole bunch of us who were having a try at the position and filling in until they could trade for Stan Campbell and Gerry Huth.

"I said to (assistant) coach Nick Skorich, 'I need to get a shot over on defense before I get cut.' And I won the starting job there."

Khayat was still there when the following season began, albeit a little larger than when he went into the offseason.

"I talked to Don Joyce, who was a great player with the Baltimore Colts. He said, 'Boy, you've got to get bigger!' I said, 'Yeah, I know that.' In those days, very few people knew anything about lifting weights. He said, 'You've got to eat! It works just opposite of a diet. Force feed yourself about three or four days. Just eat until you're sick. After that, you'll need that much to be happy.'

"So on Feb. 1 I weighed 232 pounds. On June 1, I weighed 259 pounds. I looked like a sumo wrestler or something. I worked to get in shape and went to camp weighing 255 pounds and then I played at 250."

Regardless of what he tipped the scale at, in 1960, Khayat was one of Philadelphia's heavyweights when the Eagles won the NFL title and were crowned World Champions.

"We could feel it coming. We finished second in '59 and we knew we had a good ball club," said Khayat. "When you've got (Norm) Van Brocklin and (Sonny) Jurgensen as your quarterbacks, you're way ahead of the whole bunch of them.

"That preseason, we beat the Colts who were the defending World Champs and we felt pretty good about ourselves. You hear people talk about chemistry, the guys we had were teammates. The closeness that we had and the way that we took care of each other, nobody messed with the Eagles, I'll tell you that right now!

"We had a couple of free-for-alls -- one in San Francisco in a preseason game that lasted about 30 minutes. Maxie (Baughan) won't tell you this, but that's when he became an Eagle. He was a rookie and had just arrived from the College All-Star Game. We had a free-for-all and it erupted right in front of our bench.

"In the process, I was on the ground and (49ers fullback) Hugh McElhenny kicked me in the head just as hard as you could kick a football. I had a concussion and the next thing I knew, I was at another part of the field participating in additional fisticuffs. Anyway, Maxie came off the bench and chased that guy all the way to the opposite side and down to the other end zone. All of the veterans immediately accepted this draft choice before they ever got to see what a great player he was because they knew what a great man he was.

"The kid jumped right in there and got with it. It's really difficult to explain to anybody who did not experience it, exactly what it was like to be a part of the very best the world has to offer."

Following the 1961 campaign, Khayat was traded back to the Redskins for a draft choice and then returned to the Eagles two seasons later. He returned to Philadelphia again in 1971 as an assistant coach. But after three games, all losses, Eagles' owner Leonard Tose dismissed head coach Jerry Williams and promoted Khayat to the top job.

"Jerry was light years ahead of anybody on coverages. He was a brilliant guy," said Khayat, who had spent the previous four seasons as the defensive line coach with the Saints. "It was a difficult thing when you're working somewhere and you lose a guy like that and you're asked to, on an interim basis, finish the year. It's difficult to say that you won't.

"If you're working somewhere and they ask you to do a job, then that's what you have to do. We had some degree of success. We lost the first two games to Minnesota and Oakland, two great ball clubs, but then we went 6-2-1 the rest of the year. And, of course, the next year we were not that successful. We didn't win but two games that year and tied one."

After that two-year stint with the Eagles, Khayat went on to work as a defensive assistant coach for the Lions, Falcons, Colts, Patriots and Buccaneers. In 1991, he went to the Arena League as a head coach in New Orleans. Six years later, with the Nashville Kats, Khayat was named the AFL's Coach of the Year and would become the team's general manager.

Now a public speaker, Khayat also advises college defensive linemen who are hoping to make it to the NFL.

Residing in Nashville with his wife, Deborah Dearing Khayat, an author and illustrator, who has just released a book entitled Gathered Blooms, the Khayat's have two sons: Ed Jr. and Bill, an assistant coach with the Arizona Cardinals.