There are many stories about the NFL vs. AFL battle for players that occurred during the 1960s. However, few are like the tale of Tom Woodeshick.

Following his final college game in Nov. '62, the West Virginia running back was approached outside of Syracuse's Archbold Stadium by two men representing the AFL's Buffalo Bills.

"Not only did they talk about whether I had interest in going with them or not, they actually signed me," Woodeshick said. "They came with contract in hand, which was incredible to me because prior to that moment nobody showed any interest whatsoever."

RB Tom Woodeshick

That certainly wasn't the case a week later when the Bills selected Woodeshick in the fourth round of the AFL draft and the Eagles chose him in the eighth round of the NFL draft two days after that.

"Jim Gallagher, the head of publicity [for the Eagles] at the time, called and told me I was just drafted by Philadelphia and immediately started talking about the prospect of signing with the Eagles," said Woodeshick. "I couldn't string him along. I told him I'd already signed with the Buffalo Bills.

"The general manager called back and said that it was illegal (to sign a contract prior to the draft) and suggested that if I still wanted to sign with the Eagles, there's a possibility I could do that. So I went to the dean of the law school at West Virginia and he indicated to me that it was totally illegal. The contract was null and void, and if I chose to sign with the Eagles, I could do that. So I did.

"If it was any other team in the NFL than Philadelphia, I probably would have gone to Buffalo and stayed true to my original signing. Except that I was born here in Northeastern Pennsylvania [Wilkes-Barre], raised here and was a big Eagle fan. And to have an opportunity to play for the Eagles, it didn't take much to convince me to change my mind."

With the legal issues settled, Woodeshick tried to convince head coach Nick Skorich during training camp that he belonged on the team's roster of running backs that included Timmy Brown, Clarence Peaks and Ted Dean. And in a roundabout way, that's what he did.

"I was the very last one to be cut. It's hard to break onto a team that returns all of its running backs from the glory days of (the NFL Championship team of) 1960," Woodeshick said. "I was going to participate on the taxi team, (but) I was picked up by Norm Van Brocklin, who was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

"However, I got a stroke of luck in (Eagles' running back) Ronny Goodwin coming down with appendicitis. As the last waiver, they can call you back. Prior to the last cut, once you were on waivers and somebody claims you, you were obligated to go to that team. So they brought me back and activated me."

RB Tom Woodeshick

The Eagles struggled during Woodeshick's first three seasons, but in '66, showed signs of promise by winning their final four games to finish 9-5 and make the post-season for the first time in five years.

"That period of time when it looked like we were on the rise, we were certainly hopeful of maybe the next year in growing with that," said Woodeshick. "But we were one of those teams... you hate to use injuries as an excuse, but we certainly were plagued with injuries. And (head coach) Joe (Kuharich), for some reason, broke a good tandem up in me and (quarterback Jack) Concannon, by trading Jack at the end of that season to Chicago for (tight end) Mike Ditka.

"But we had a lot of injuries and I have no idea how we could come on and look so convincing and look as if we had a prosperous future ahead of us, but it never materialized."

What did materialize were three consecutive years ['67-69] when Woodeshick led the Eagles in rushing. Averaging over 800 yards per season, he scored 17 touchdowns [13 rushing, 4 receiving] and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in '68.

"Unfortunately, I was cut short of a 1,000-yard season twice. And that's a shame because for a fullback to be able to accomplish that was considerable," said Woodeshick, Philadelphia's seventh all-time leading rusher with 3,563 yards. "In '68 and '69, a couple of things prevented me from reaching that goal. One touchdown on a run of 60 yards that was called back would have put me over the hump. And then the next year, having an injury with two games remaining and missing a game due to the death of my mother-in-law were unfortunate incidents.

"But everybody has to suffer injuries or have some kind of traumatic experience while they're playing. They can't be fortunate all the time.

"I'm kind of humbled in a way. I was just happy to have hung around for 10 years [nine with the Eagles]. I played an awful lot when you consider the life span -- when I was playing -- of a professional football player was about 4.5 years. The lowest end of that group of players were the running backs, who were like three-something. So to be able to sustain for 10 years was quite an accomplishment. I was proud of that."

Now living in the Poconos, Woodeshick has two sons, Karl and Klaus. For the past 10 years, he has worked as an independent marketing representative for Harrah's Casinos.

"Most of my business is in Atlantic City, where we own Harrah's, Caesars, Showboat and Bally's. And six properties out in (Las) Vegas, which also include Paris and Rio. I send new players to those properties," said Woodeshick, who was an Atlantic City casino host for 10 years prior to becoming independent.

"Whether you gamble or not, if you haven't been to Harrah's over any recent period of time, I can introduce and represent those players that are new to the property."