The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday that Eagles Hall of Fame executive Jim Gallagher was chosen as an Awards of Excellence winner for 2026 in the Public Relations Directors category. The late Gallagher will be honored along with the other Awards of Excellence winners in Canton, Ohio in June. Gallagher is one of only 17 public relations personnel to be recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Jim was one of the kindest and most remarkable men you could ever meet," said Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie upon Gallagher's passing in 2017. "His dedication to this organization went far beyond the 46 years he spent here, and his impact was far reaching. Everyone who was fortunate enough to meet Jim knows how much he loved the Eagles, but also how much he truly cared for and invested in the lives of others. To borrow one of his famous phrases, Jim was a 'first-round pick.'"

Among the longest-tenured executives in the Eagles' storied 93-year history, Gallagher spent 46 years in a variety of positions with the organization. At the time of his retirement in 1995, "Jimmy Gal" had been with the Eagles for all but 16 years of their existence as an NFL franchise.

A Philadelphia native who graduated from Northeast Catholic High School and Korean War veteran, Gallagher's tenure saw him work alongside 17 Eagles head coaches and with 12 owners, GMs,and team presidents. In that time, Philadelphia won two NFL titles and one NFC Championship. After first joining the franchise in 1949 as an office clerk, he was promoted to personnel director in 1957 before serving for more than three decades as the Eagles' director of public relations. He also held positions as the director of sales and marketing as well as alumni relations director and traveling secretary.

Upon his retirement in 1995, Gallagher was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame, joining Leo Carlin as the only front office executives to earn that recognition. After leaving the Eagles in an official capacity, Gallagher continued to maintain a regular presence around the team's practice facility and in the press box on gamedays until his death in 2017 at the age of 88.